COURT ROLES KIDS LEGAL EAGLES.

Byline: Sabrina Decker Staff Writer

THOUSAND OAKS - Although they claim they don't all want to be lawyers, they can sure act the part.

The girls of La Reina High School's winning mock trial team are headed to the state championships this week, and listening to their final practice run-through Sunday morning was like watching a slightly-more-lively version of the real thing, judge and all.

``They're very ready. We've had good teams throughout the years and good attorneys, but this team is really well-balanced,'' said school librarian Eileen DeBruno, a faculty moderator since 1987 for mock trial teams at the private Catholic school for girls.

For Sunday's final practice, the part of judge was played by Cindy Pandolfi, a real Ventura County deputy public defender and a volunteer coach for the team that includes her 15-year-old-daughter, Ashley.

In between her mock rulings, Pandolfi offered the girls last-minute advice on how to handle any surprise rulings that a real judge might make during the state finals and how to improve and tighten their legal arguments.

Several parents who are working lawyers and judges help coach the girls each year, giving the La Reina team an edge over teams from some other schools in the county.

``It's just a phenomenal training opportunity for their careers, whatever their careers might be,'' Pandolfi said, saying girls on the team gain self-assurance while they sharpen their speaking skills and ability to reason quickly.

Real judges will be on the bench for the state championship competition that will start Friday in San Jose. La Reina's team will leave Thursday for the competition.

Prosecution and defense in trial are scored by a panel of five real lawyers, DeBruno said. Others on a team act as attorneys handling pretrial motions, witnesses and court personnel.

La Reina will be competing at the state level for a fifth consecutive year. The team has made it to state competition for county champions an impressive 10 times since Ventura County students first became involved in the competition - for both public and private schools - in 1987, DeBruno said.

Some alumnae of La Reina mock trial teams have gone on to compete at the college level and to become lawyers, DeBruno added.

When freshmen and sophomores, many of the girls join the team as witnesses or as understudies to witnesses, and then they play the roles of lawyers when they are juniors and seniors.

Most of the girls playing lawyers on this year's team also had attorney roles last year, when the team placed fourth statewide.

This year the team hopes to do as well or better.

``We work really hard. We're friends. We are a team, so we help each other out,'' said senior Melissa McCabe, a lawyer on the team. ``It's a lot of time. We put in a lot of hours.''

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Senior Swayta Reddy rehearses Sunday for her role as a lawyer on the La Reina High, Thousand Oaks, mock trial team headed to state competition in San Jose later this week.

(2) Freshman Alana Maiello, right, administers an oath in her role as a court worker on La Reina High's mock trial team.

Evan Yee/Staff Photographer