From Tragedy to Triumph: San Bernardino Attorney Coaches Redlands High School Team to Win Record Breaking 14th Mock Trial Competition

Redlands, California: The Redlands High School team has won it’s 14th county level title against Cajon High School, breaking their own previously held record for a chance at State Finals in March 2017. The team has worked extra hard this season for the victory, despite low team recruitment and their attorney-coach, Stephen Levine, suffering major injuries in a car accident earlier this year.

This year’s competition required students to argue People v. Awbrey, a fictional human trafficking and false imprisonment case. This type of case resonated with the students, “I want to be an employee benefit lawyer, so I can help people with, really, the type of problems this case is about,” said Angela Monroy, a junior at Cajon. However it was the Redlands team’s performance that persuaded the scoring attorneys to crown the Terriers as San Bernardino County mock trial champions. Redlands team adviser Donna St. George attributed the tradition of success to assistance from attorney coaches who graduated from Redlands High and to hardworking students who are always learning, she said “This round on Saturday is for (Stephen). He’s our inspiration.”

Stephen Levine, a San Bernardino lawyer, works with the students as an Attorney-Coach bringing over four decades of legal experience including his work as a California Public Defender. He is also one of five San Bernardino County criminal defense attorneys who is a Board-Certified Specialist in Criminal Law. Each year Milligan, Beswick, Levine and Knox awards a scholarship to a High School senior who has participated in Mock Trials. They believe the experience from mock trials is invaluable and have been personally involved with future law students for years. Unfortunately earlier this year it seemed like Mr. Levine might not be able to participate with the students after suffering injuries related to a car accident. Suddenly the man who had helped so many families during tough times was facing his own battle. Stephen, much like the students, had to rally to pull off the win this year, breaking their own record and learning a great deal in the process.