All across New Jersey, high school students have been reviewing rules of evidence, brushing up on trial procedures and prepping opening statements. The 2017-18 Vincent J. Apruzzese Mock Trial Competition season is under way.

The annual competition is now in its 36th year. It is sponsored by the New Jersey State Bar Foundation in cooperation with the state's county bar associations and the New Jersey State Bar Association, and seeks to increase comprehension of the American system of justice, demystify the law and help students develop and improve basic life and leadership skills.

Each team that enters must have a teacher-coach. In addition, the competition sponsors make every effort to match teams with volunteer attorney-coaches.

“I have so many positive things to say about the experience,” said Kathleen M. Dotoli, who volunteered as a mock trial coach for Brick High School from 2006 to 2012, and now sits on the foundation's mock trial committee, which selects and prepares the fact pattern for the competition.

“Watching students metamorphose into critical thinkers, competitive litigators, and dynamic and convincing witnesses was so exciting,” she recalled. “When the competitions were finished, their own parents barely recognized them, they had grown and matured to such a great degree.”

The experience, she added, personally helped her improve her own trial skills. “I have gone on to open my own workers' compensation and Social Security disability firm, and I can honestly say that my participation as a mock trial coach is one of the highlights of my career.”

Over 200 high schools are signed up to take part in this year's competition, which centers around the case State v. Dana Martin. The case covers a subject that has received increasing attention in the last few years: the opioid epidemic. In the fact pattern, the state and the parent of the young man who died of a Fentanyl overdose seek justice from Dana Martin, who they believe provided the deadly drug. Meanwhile, Martin maintains innocence.

Teams are currently competing against other schools in their own county. County champions will then visit the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick in February for a two-phase playoff round, with semi-finals and finals to be held in March. The winner will represent New Jersey in the National High School Mock Trial Championship in Nevada in May.