On January 21, 2021, the Newton High School Mock Trial team successfully defended their title as Sussex County Champions of the Vincent J. Apruzzese NJ High School Mock Trial Competition. The team’s volunteer attorney coach is Travis W. Nunziato, a lawyer in Laddey Clark & Ryan’s Personal Injury Practice Group. 

This season marks Travis’s fourth year volunteering as coach to Newton’s Team. In all four years, the team has advanced to the final round of the County Tournament. For the past three years, the team has won the County Tournament and maintained the title of Sussex County Champions. In 2019, the team, led by Nunziato, placed third in the state out of over 150 teams. On February 4, the team competed in the opening rounds of the Statewide Regional Tournament. The team beat Warren County in their first trial, and unfortunately, lost their second trial to Morris County.  Ultimately, the team led by Nunziato ended their season as Sussex County Champions and Northern Region Semi-Finalists.  

Due to the global pandemic, this year’s competition has been conducted entirely in a virtual format. “Though the virtual format has presented some unique challenges as a Coach, it gives the students an opportunity to experience how real-life attorneys are practicing law during the pandemic,” said Attorney Nunziato. Since March of 2020, the New Jersey Courts have largely been closed to the public. Many of the typical, in-person Court proceedings have transitioned to a virtual format.