Valwood Mock Trial Students Attend State Bar of Georgia Law Academy

Valwood Mock Trial Students Attend State Bar of Georgia Law Academy

HAHIRA, GA – September 5, 2025 – Valwood students Julia Soshnik and Lillie Moore attended the State Bar of Georgia’s annual Law Academy, held in August and September in Atlanta and additionally, for the first time, in Macon.

Soshnik, a senior, is entering her fourth year as a member of the Valwood Mock Trial team, school officials said in a statement. Moore, a junior, will be entering her second season.

“Julia and Lillie are gifted members of our program, self-starters and natural born leaders,” said Daryn Beasley, Valwood Mock Trial Coach. “Law Academy is such a great opportunity for them. It’s a second-to-none mock trial intensive, and the attendees receive a wide array of competitive guidance that they can share with their teammates during the season.”

Soshnik and Moore have excelled in student attorney roles for the Valiants. Soshnik began in the role of paralegal as a freshman before two seasons as an attorney. In her first season, as a sophomore, Moore jumped directly into the role of attorney. Elected as Team Captains, they will reprise those attorney roles this season, handling a complex civil complaint.

Law Academy is designed to provide opportunities to High School Mock Trial students in Georgia to enhance their skills in the fields of trial technique and courtroom procedure, rules of evidence, witness presentation and team leadership. In recent years the curriculum has expanded and diversified to include even greater courtroom practice. The goal is to better prepare students for the demands and constraints of the state-wide mock trial competition. Soshnik stated, “We dedicated a significant amount of time to learning how to be a better public speaker. We focused on projecting, exhibiting confident body language and varying our pacing.”

Asked about her favorite part of Law Academy, Moore said, “the exposure to different types of lawyers. I met IP litigators, criminal defense attorneys, civil attorneys, and multiple judges. Even meeting other students was insightful. Whether it was fellow law academy students, law academy alumni like [former Valwood Mock Trial Team Captain] Thomas Griner, pre-law students, or law students, they had advice about everything!”

Soshnik and Moore were among only 90 applicants in the state accepted into the illustrious program. The pair carry on a long tradition of Valwood Mock Trial players attending Law Academy. For the first time, there were two sessions, with a Macon session being added to the long-running Atlanta session. Of the Macon session, Soshnik said, “It was really interesting to spend time talking with all the different attorneys and judges. I also loved meeting and becoming friends with kids from all over the state of Georgia. I still keep in touch with them.”

At the conclusion of the sessions, students took a written exam and performed a closing argument before a panel of evaluators to determine admission to the Student Bar of Georgia. At the Atlanta session, Moore was admitted to the Student Bar, and in Macon, Soshnik was admitted to the Student Bar with honors for her exceptionally high scores.

“I am very proud of Julia and Lillie, but I am not surprised by their achievements,” said Beasley. “They earned every bit of that recognition, and I know their Law Academy experience not only prepared them for this season as players and team captains, but it surely furthered ambitions for possible careers in law.”

Georgia High School Mock Trial involves, on average, 160 public and independent schools from around the state that compete head-to-head at three levels, culminating with the state finals held each March in Lawrenceville.