LEWISTON – Fifteen Lewiston High School students will take on the roles of lawyers, witnesses and defendants today when they compete against Hampden Academy for the State Mock Trial Championship.

The Lewiston team has defeated four teams – Portland, Waterville, St. Dom’s and Cape Elizabeth – to make it to the finals.

The competition will take place in a real Portland courtroom before Maine’s chief justice, Leigh Saufley.

Students will perform the mock trial twice, once as prosecutors and once as defenders of the case, which is a suit over paintball injuries.

The goal of the mock trial competition is to teach high school students about the legal system, attorneys’ roles and the rules of evidence, effective communication, critical thinking and team work.

Lewiston High began competing in mock trials in 1995. The school made it to the state finals several times, but has never won, said teacher Michelle Crowley. Reigning champ Hampden is vying for a third consecutive win.

Students began preparing for their day in court in September. On Wednesday, mock trial students met in a second-floor classroom to hear last-minute tips from one of their lawyer coaches, Jodi Nofsinger of Berman and Simmons in Lewiston.

Nofsinger told students that when dealing with objections, their eyes should be locked on the judge. They’ll need poker faces in court, so they should avoid facial expressions, she said.

“The thing I think I’m best at as a lawyer is that nobody has a clue when I’m surprised or upset,” Nofsinger said. “Something absolutely off the wall can happen that I was never expecting, and I act like I knew it was the next thing that was going to happen.”

Nofsinger is one of three coaches working with Lewiston students. The other two are Superior Court Justice Ellen Gorman and attorney Rob Hoy of Hoy and Main in Gray. The high school is lucky to have the three coaches, said mock trial teacher Joan Macri.

Hoy, who has coached Lewiston trial students for 12 years, said they face a tough match against Hampden. Regardless of the outcome, all students in the final “are winners,” he said. The students will do something many adults have never done: stand up and make coherent presentations during rugged circumstances with time restraints, he said.

The 15 students on Lewiston’s team are: Athena Andoniades, Ernest Brown, Michael Butler, Husayn Carnegie, Ann Danforth, Stephanye Doucette, Tobias Farnsworth, Cassandra Jensen, Luke Jensen, Tanya Lama, Ashley McWhorter, Ashley Morgan, Calder Phillips-Grafflin, Matthew Shaw and Danielle Taylor.

On Dec. 14, Lewiston became a semifinalist when the team defeated Cape Elizabeth High School. Hampden defeated Catherine McAuley High School on Nov. 29.

The Mock Trial Competition is sponsored by the Maine State Bar Association with support from the Maine Bar Foundation.