(Posted April 18, 2018)

David P. Andrews '74 

David P. Andrews '74 

Huntingdon, Pa. — Altoona-based attorney David P. Andrews will coach Juniata College’s new mock trial team. The team will compete at the collegiate level in fall 2018. The team also will be the first mock trial team the college has sponsored for intercollegiate competition.

“We are quite happy to now offer mock trial at Juniata,” says James A. Troha, president of Juniata College. “Students seek the experience and expect a college of our caliber to offer it. I am pleased not only that we will offer it this fall but that we have someone of Dave Andrews’ experience and enthusiasm, who is known in the state and region, to lead the team quickly to being competitive regionally and nationally.”

Mock trial refers to programs in which student teams participate in trials that follow legal procedures to simulate real litigation. The programs are not exclusive to those students pursuing law as a career. Students from a wide array of academic interests can and often do join teams to learn about the legal system, to develop skills in communication and argument, or to study advocacy. Intercollegiate competition is governed by the American Mock Trial Association. 

Andrews has coached mock trial teams at both the high school and college level, including most recently coaching a team for Mount Aloysius College in Cresson, PA, where for the last two years he served as general counsel. Andrews also co-coached the Altoona Area High School Mock Trial Team for ten years, leading the team to a state championship in 2014 and a top-20 finish at the national competition. Recently, Andrews has judged at the national collegiate level for a regional championship hosted at Penn State’s University Park campus in February 2018 and at the Johns Hopkins Invitational in Baltimore, MD.

“I get great satisfaction from seeing students succeed on the teams I have coached, and it will be especially rewarding to coach now for my alma mater,” Andrews says. “I know that the quality of Juniata students and the education in which they participate will lead to us being able to build a great team in short order. It will also be a great tool to attract students to the college.”

“The quality of Juniata students and the education in which they participate will lead to us being able to build a great team in short order. It will also be a great tool to attract students to Juniata.” --David P. Andrews '74  

Andrews is a 1974 graduate of Juniata who earned his law degree from the Dickinson School of Law in 1977. He served as the managing partner in the law firm of Andrews and Beard in Altoona, PA until 2016 and had concentrated his practice in the area of employment law. Andrews’ experience includes representation of companies all over the U.S. for negotiation of collective bargaining agreements, labor arbitrations, and employment discrimination cases. Andrews is admitted to practice law before the United States Supreme Court, the Federal District Courts in Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Andrews also is an adjunct professor at the Penn State World Campus in the Graduate School of Labor and Employment Relations, where he teaches human resource management.

From 1992 to 1995, Andrews served Juniata as an alumni trustee and served again as a Juniata College trustee from 1999 to 2011, chairing the Board of Trustees from 2006 to 2011. He was conferred Emeritus Trustee status when he left the board in 2017.

In addition to coaching Juniata’s mock trial team, Andrews will teach courses in human resources, organizational leadership, and in other areas of his expertise. He also will serve as general counsel for the college.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.