On Friday, Jan. 30, and Saturday, Feb. 7 of 2026, the mock trial team of North Forsyth High School competed against various schools through three rounds. The first round was held on Friday and the other two were held on Saturday at the Forsyth County Courthouse.
Mock trial is a performance-based competition where students act as attorneys as well as witnesses in which they analyze a hypothetical criminal or civil case within a simulated courtroom setting. Students use different trial strategies, question witnesses and deliver opening or closing statements, and they are evaluated on their overall performance.
Students learn and strengthen important skills such as their critical thinking and analysis, challenging them to sift through large amounts of information, identify conflicts and evaluate evidence to build an organized case theory. They can also strengthen their confidence, public speaking and of course their legal knowledge.
During the trials, in round one, North’s mock trial team played as the defense whereas the opposing school acted as the prosecution. In rounds two and three North acted as the prosecution and a different competing team played as defense. North would confute the credibility of the defendant, reveal strong motives, present strong evidence and point out violations of law. The opposing schools emphasized reasonable doubt, the unreliability of witnesses and pointed out rights violations.
Both schools were encouraging to one another, and congratulated each other after the trials. Overall, respecting one another, and demonstrating understanding of the law and learning from each other. They were able to exhibit their good nature through their light-hearted attitude in the court.
Additionally, many students displayed confidence and were persuasive, keeping an easy-going attitude while also staying professional. “I feel like we did really good at responding to the objections and thinking on the fly,” said Liliana Loscavio, a senior who was a prosecution attorney throughout the trials, revealing their strong self-confidence.
In conclusion, the opposing team awarded North’s Mock Trial Team the Outstanding Performance Award to Munn Patel in round two and Devynn Montelih in round three. Shravya Adiraju also got an award for being in mock trial for all four years as well as the Outstanding Attorney Award along with Bobby Hodges. Jayden Combs and Munn Patel also won awards for being outstanding witnesses. In the end, they won four ballots and enough points to receive third place. However, because of the ballots, they got fifth place making them unable to move on to district competitions.
