Was a private car sale gone awry a case of theft by deception or a simple misunderstanding?
That was the legal question posed to dozens of students from the greater Newark area, who came to the New Jersey Law Center in New Brunswick on Aug. 1 for a career and coaching session and mock trial workshop.
The group of rising ninth-graders who are part of the NJ LEEP (New Jersey Law and Education Empowerment Project) Summer Law Institute had the opportunity to learn from a host of New Jersey State Bar Association (NJSBA) volunteers at the program. The day was a collaboration between NJ LEEP, the NJSBA and the New Jersey State Bar Foundation, and made possible through funding from the IOLTA Fund of the Bar of New Jersey.
NJSBA President Jeralyn L. Lawrence welcomed the students and volunteers.
The mock trial workshop featured all the hallmarks of a traditional court proceeding, including opening and closing arguments, cross-examination and parsing through sworn affidavits. The fictional case involved a man who offered to sell his car through Facebook Marketplace to a potential buyer. But after the two men met for the exchange, the seller accused the buyer of fleeing with the car without paying.
Bruce Stavitsky, a tax attorney based in Fairfield, was one of the volunteers who helped students prep before going to trial. He did similar volunteer work at law school in Philadelphia, he said, and has always enjoyed teaching the concepts of law to young children.
“I thought this was a good case study. It brought a modern concept that the kids might experience in real life,” Stavitsky said. “The kids did great. They’re very sophisticated. I was happy to provide some mentoring and coaching.”
Michael Ansell, from Morristown, said the students excelled at analyzing the case’s fact pattern despite being first timers.
“It’s worth giving our time back to students who are taking an interest in law and their education,” he said. “I was pleasantly surprised that they were interested in the case and figuring out what they could do better.”