Mock Trials & Debate Coaching
As part of its Kids First Initiative, McDermott Will & Emery's lawyers and staff devote their time and energy to acting as coaches for mock trial and debate programs in inner-city schools. In our Silicon Valley office, McDermott lawyers have served for several years as mock trial coaches to sixth and seventh grade students from the McKinley Institute of Technology School in Redwood City, California, as part of the Citizen Schools' Mock Trial Program, and were recognized in 2009 by the Redwood City School Board for their "dedicat[ion] and generous service."
In our New York office, McDermott lawyers serve as mock trial coaches and judges for high school students at August Martin High School in Queens, New York. McDermott lawyers in our Boston office participate in the Discovering Justice Through Mock Trials program, sponsored by Discovering Justice: The James D. St. Clair Court Education Project and the Citizen Schools. Through the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Orange County, McDermott lawyers in our Orange County office have also served as mock trial coaches to high school students at Valley High School of Santa Ana, California.
In our Chicago office, McDermott lawyers and staff, in collaboration with the Chicago Urban Debate League and the National Association for Urban Debate Leagues (NAUDL), act as debate coaches in Chicago urban high schools. Because of the Chicago office's dedication to and mentorship of these high school students, on March 29, 2008, the Firm received the Richard M. Daley Award for Youth Leadership, which was presented by the Chicago Debate Commission at DePaul University in connection with the 11th Annual Chicago Debate Championship.