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The UC Irvine Mock Trial Team will host an elite collegiate mock trial tournament this November 22-23 and January 10-11, featuring top schools from across the state. Attorney volunteers from the community are needed to serve as competition judges.
MCLE Credit Hours:
The State Bar of California has approved a measure to allow attorneys to get up to two (2) hours of participatory MCLE credit for serving as a volunteer judge at a mock trial competition. Each of the trials last up to three hours, so judging even one trial can both help the students AND help you earn two participatory credit hours.
The Trials:
The trials are approximately three hours long and require no preparation. There will be two days of trials, both consisting of a morning round from ~9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and then an afternoon round from ~2:00 PM to 5:00 PM. Depending on your availability, you can judge as many or as few as you would like.
Presiders Needed:
For this November tournament, all trials will have a single judge. That means all participating judges will be asked to preside over the rounds -- interacting with students, making rulings on objections and moving the trial along, in addition to scoring the trial.
If you'd like a refresher on judging, don't worry -- there will be a judge orientation session before each round (described below). Or, if you'd prefer NOT to preside, they’re also recruiting judges for their winter tournament, which will have a second, non-presiding scoring judge in each round. If you'd prefer to do that event instead, you can sign up for the winter tournament through the same link above.
The Case:
This year’s case is a criminal matter about the death of a reality TV game show contestant, Rob Armstrong. His death occurred during the filming of the game show called The Saboteurs. Mr. Armstrong's fellow contestant, Charlie Martin, was later indicted for murder. Prosecutors allege the defendant killed Mr. Armstrong by tampering with scuba equipment and creating dangerous conditions for Armstrong during an underwater challenge. The defendant has pleaded not guilty. The evidence and witnesses available vary across the rounds, which makes each trial unique and interesting to watch.
Judge Orientation:
Before each round, there will be a 30-minute judge orientation session. In that session, they will explain how to judge the trials, how to score the trial ballot, and other logistics. No other preparation is needed to judge (i.e., you don’t need to read any part of the case ahead of time).
Judge check-in will open 30 minutes before the orientation session, making morning check-in at 8:00 AM and afternoon check-in at 1:00 PM each day. During both days of the trials, there will be bagels, coffee and lunch.
Register Now:
Click HERE for more information and to sign up to volunteer.
Questions:
Contact the UCI Mock Trial Team at tournaments.anteatermocktrial@gmail.com.
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