atLaw
Seven fourth-graders from the Dever Elementary School in Dorchester premiered at the Moakley Federal Courthouse last month in front of the Honorable Diane Kottmyer to try a mock civil action over the alleged wrongful termination of an employee with FMS (fibromyalgia syndrome). The program, a collaboration of the Citizens Schools and the James D. St. Claire Federal Court Public Education Program, assigns groups of young people from Boston’s schools to Boston law firms over a ten-week period during which they are taught to try a case. The semester culminates in a mock trial with volunteer jurors, witnesses and an authentic judge. Our student “apprentices” were Meira Morrison,
Jan Carlos Martinez, Shondreaka Lott, Peter Ramirez, Nhu Dao, Sekwane Horton-Thomas, and Oreidy Nunez. While the plaintiff-employee (our own legal assistant, Michelle Dominguez) did not prevail on her claims that night, we understand, as consolation, she has retained her position at H&K.
