VOLUNTEER MOCK TRIAL JUDGES NEEDED!
UCLA’s Undergraduate Mock Trial Program seeks volunteer judges, attorneys or law students to serve as Presiding Judges or Scoring Judges for the two Los Angeles area collegiate mock trial tournaments of 2018:
1. The 2018 UCLASSIC Mock Trial Tournament on January 13 – 15, 2018 (at UCLA). Trials will be on Saturday PM, January 13 (Round 1), Sunday AM & PM, January 14 (Rounds 2 & 3) and Monday AM, January 15 (Round 4) at UCLA.
2. The 2018 Opening Round of the National Championship on March 10 – 11, 2018 (at the Santa Monica Courthouse). Trials will be Saturday, March 10 (AM - Round 1, PM - Round 2) and Sunday, March 11 (AM - Round 3 and PM - Round 4). No law students or non-attorneys can judge in this tournament.
Please read the information below and sign-up to volunteer one of two ways:
General Mock Trial Program Information
The UCLA Mock Trial Teams participate in the American Collegiate Mock Trial Association program. Over 600 teams from colleges around the nation compete by presenting the Plaintiff (Prosecution) or Defense side of a mock civil or criminal case, including Opening Statements, Direct & Cross Examination of witnesses and Closing Arguments. Students must follow the rules of evidence of the “State of Midlands” (an imaginary state that follows the Federal Rules of Evidence). Many California universities field teams at these tournaments, including UCLA, USC, Cal, Stanford, UCI, USCD, UCSB, Cal-Poly and the Claremont colleges. Teams from around the nation will also compete at UCLASSIC.
2018 UCLA Tournaments Information
40 teams will compete at the January UCLASSIC Tournament and the top 24 teams in the Western U.S. will compete at the March tournament. The students will present the Prosecution or Defense side in the case of People v. Hendricks. This criminal case involves an a defendant charged with the attempted murder of his or her lover’s spouse.
Trials will be held at the UCLA (UCLASSIC tournament in January) or at the Santa Monica Courthouse (March tournament). Free parking and meals will be provided to volunteers. We seek attorneys, judges and law students to volunteer as trial judge and/or scoring judge in each trial. The trials are a fun and rewarding experience for volunteers. For attorneys with aspirations to sit on the bench one day, it is a great opportunity to be a bench officer in a very realistic case. We try to accommodate your preference for serving as Presiding Judge (ruling on evidence & exhibits) or Scoring Judge. You may volunteer for more than one trial. Please share this flier with other members of your firm or legal organization.
Volunteer Information
Trials are strictly timed and typically last 2.5 hours. Volunteers will receive a link containing the Rules of Evidence, the witness affidavits and the mock trial rules. You need not prepare or read any documents in advance of the trials. One trial judge (must be an attorney or judge) will preside over each trial (as the bench officer overseeing the trial and making evidentiary rulings). The winning team is based on total points received from scores awarded for Openings, Closings, Examinations and Witness Performances. We will outline these procedures at the training sessions prior to each round and will send e-mails prior to the trials with detailed information. There is no Pre-Trial hearing, as in high school competitions.
If you volunteer, we will send you confirmation and detailed tournament information about 2-3 weeks prior to the tournament. If you can serve as a volunteer for one or more sessions/rounds, please go to the registration link above or contact Prof. Gonzalo Freixes at gonzalo.freixes@anderson.ucla.edu. We appreciate your support!
