SOME COACHES LOVE TEENS WHO ARGUE 10 AREA HIGH SCHOOL TEAMS SHOW TALENT IN MOCK TRIALS.

Byline: Karen Maeshiro Staff Writer

LANCASTER - The combatants wear suits instead of athletic jerseys, listening and speaking skills are more important than, and spectators sit hushed as they observe the competition unfold in a courtroom.

Ten teams from public and private high schools are in the midst of annual mock trial competition in which students take the roles of attorneys, witnesses, bailiffs and clerks in trials presided over by a real judges. Real lawyers score the teams.

``I enjoy the arguing,'' said Antelope Valley High School junior Shawn Heckerman, 16, who plays a defense attorney. ``Even if you are right or wrong, if you use the right words, then you can still come out on top.''

The final round of competition will take place on Thursday at the Lancaster courthouse, and winners will be announced next week.

The competing schools include the six comprehensive high schools and the west valley campus of Desert Winds Continuation High School in the Antelope Valley Union High School District, Desert Christian High School and Paraclete High School.

The 10th team combines students from R. Rex Parris Continuation High School and Bethel Christian High School.

Four teams with 2-0 records - Antelope Valley, Highland, Quartz Hill and R. Rex Parris/Bethel Christian - have moved to the winners' bracket, and the other teams are in the consolation rounds.

Teachers and students are remarking about the improvement shown by the competitors from Antelope Valley High, which students said had trouble finding enough members even to field a team a few years ago, and Littlerock High, where, until recently, teams struggled for years on their own without an attorney coach.

``Two years ago, I heard there weren't even five people who would do it. It wasn't organized. Last year we'd lose people. We would just ask anybody - ask friends: Are you interested in doing this? We are short,'' said Heckerman, who also is on the track, football and wrestling teams.

This year the team's adviser is Rebecca Berry, a teacher with a law degree who left a family-law practice in Burbank for an education career she finds more fulfilling. During practice for team competition, her father, a retired Los Angeles County prosecutor, helps out by taking the judge's role.

Antelope Valley also has become the only public school this year to offer a mock-trial class. Students must come to school at 6:30 a.m. for it, but they receive credit.

Heckerman said the class filled up and couldn't accommodate the 70 additional students who wanted to enroll.

``Antelope Valley couldn't get a team a couple of years ago. They've never done this well. This is the best they've ever done,'' said Pat Reed, a Quartz Hill High teacher. She and another teacher, Sandy Schultz, coordinate the competition for the district.

For years, Littlerock students were unable to get an attorney to volunteer some help.

``Each team usually has an attorney-coach and a teacher-coach,'' Reed said. ``Some teams have more than one attorney. Littlerock couldn't get an attorney to go out there. The kids would pull it together themselves. They got together and practiced.''

Attorney Michael Mercy, who lives in Antelope Acres and works in Glendale, decided to help them out three years ago after judging the competition.

``There was one team that was worse than all the rest. It was Littlerock. I wondered who their coach was who would let them enter the competition with no idea of what they were trying to do. Then I (found) out they didn't have an attorney-coach,'' Mercy said.

When Mercy inquired, Schultz said no attorney was willing to drive out there, so Mercy said he would.

``All somebody needed to do is tell them why they needed to do something a certain way. This year they have a couple of firebrands on the team. They've improved a 100 percent,'' said Mercy, whose daughter has been on the Quartz Hill team for three years.

Last year, Littlerock made the championship rounds, finishing fourth overall. This year, they are 1-1 but barely missed making the winner's bracket. They meet Mondays and Wednesday for two hours after school.

Mercy said he hasn't been able to help much this year, and Acton attorney Larry Layton is pitching in.

Mercy has been able to meet with the team about a half dozen times since January and has attended all the competitions.

It means ``making a little detour'' en route home from work, he said. Then he drives clear across the valley to his home near 90th Street West and Avenue D.

``This is purely a labor of love,'' Mercy said.

Berry got a law degree from Pepperdine University School in 1997. of Law. After practicing for three years, ``I had extreme job dissatisfaction,'' Berry said. ``I wasn't happy as an attorney.''

At a women's soccer match in San Diego 2 1/2 years ago, Berry sat on the sidelines with a client's folder in her lap, ``working my weekend away,'' and complaining that she hated her job.

A teammate, Glenda Potts, said she loved her job at Highland High. ``She said, 'I'm a teacher, and in fact we're hiring right now; you should work where I work,''' Berry said.

Berry said she applied to the district but also sent in applications to the District Attorney's Office and the Public Defender's Office.

She took a long-term assignment as a substitute teacher in the 1999-2000 academic year at Antelope Valley High, a place others had warned was a tough school.

When other job offers started coming in, Berry realized she didn't want to leave.

``I was so happy here. The kids were fantastic. They made me laugh. In my job as a family-law attorney, I never laughed,'' Berry said. She decided Antelope Valley deserves a better reputation. ``It's not scary. I think it's reputation is worse than the school. It's a very safe place. The kids are just as respectful,'' Berry said.

Antelope Valley has so far won against Paraclete, which is a private school, and Littlerock.

Reed said some former mock trial students are now finishing college and applying to law school.

``This gives kids another chance to do something academic and competitive,'' Reed said. ``The academic part is incredible. They learn to listen. I teach speech, and it's hard for teens to stop and listen.''

Team members need not be sports-motivated or outstanding scholars, Reed said, although they may become more motivated and improve their grades if they develop desire to go to college and law school.

Parents show up in great numbers, filling up the courtroom seats and sitting on the floor. They become engrossed, although they are not allowed to cheer as they would at a sporting event.

``They have to sit there and be quiet,'' Reed said.