Ali Berner of Kirkwood to Participate in National Mock Trial Tournament

GEORGETOWN, TX (03/03/2011)(readMedia)-- Ali Berner of Kirkwood will be participating in the National Mock Trial Tournament to be held March 24-26 at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn.

Berner is a member of the Mock Trial Team at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas. The team received a bid to the national tournament following its performance in the American Mock Trial Regional Tournament in Houston Feb. 5-6. At that tournament, the team won rounds against Rice University, Southern Methodist University and the University of Houston.

The team also did well in two invitational tournaments this year. They placed fifth out of 23 teams at the University of Texas at Dallas Tournament in November 2010 and they placed fifth out of 26 universities at the University of Missouri - Kansas City Tournament in January 2011.

This is the second time in four years that Southwestern's Mock Trial Team has made it to the national tournament. The case team members will be arguing this year is a product liability case involving the parents of a young child who swallowed some beads that were later discovered to contain a toxic substance.

Southwestern University is a selective, nationally recognized undergraduate liberal arts college with an enrollment of 1,300 students. It is the oldest institution of higher learning in Texas. For more information on Southwestern, visit www.southwestern.edu.