Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele announced the winners of the DA’s Office 19th Annual Summer Intern Mock Trial Competition for second year law students, according to a press release.

The winners were Kimberly Kaelin from Drexel University Thomas L. Kline School of Law and Karla Pisarcik from Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law. Taking Second Place were Jonathan Parrish from Temple University Beasley School of Law and Robert Waeltz from Drexel University Thomas L. Kline School of Law.

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The mock trial competition was held over one week with a final round on August 9 in the Montgomery County Courthouse. The law students prosecuted a fictitious murder case that involved legal hurdles and factual challenges to create difficulty. Other interns acted as witnesses and detectives. In the final rounds, the jury was made up of District Attorney Steele, Deputy District Attorneys and Assistant District Attorneys. First Assistant District Attorney Edward F. McCann, Jr. sat as the judge for the final competition.

The competitors were certified legal summer interns – all second year law students – who were approved and certified under Pa. B.A.R. 321 and 322 by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. That certification allowed them to practice law in Magisterial District Court and the Court of Common Pleas this summer under the supervision of the office’s Assistant District Attorneys and staff. Throughout the summer, the second-year law students handled Gagnon hearings, guilty pleas, summary appeals and other legal proceedings.

The 11 second-year law students were part of a summer intern class of 33 that included undergraduate, first-year law and second-year law students as well as a couple of high school students. College and law school interns came from Bryn Mawr College, University of Delaware, Drexel University, Hamilton College, Lafayette College,  Penn State, Ponoma College, Rutgers University, Temple, Villanova, and Widener University.

For more information go to monctopa.org

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