We are in need of judges for a two collegiate mock trial tournament taking place on Nov. 9th & 10th of 2024 and January 11th & 12th of 2025 at the University of California, Irvine.

Our first tournament (called "The Anteater Invitational" or just "Anteater") is on November 9th and 10th of 2024. This tournament will have just one volunteer judge per courtroom. All participating judges will need to both preside and score the round. This event is ideal for volunteers who have judged undergraduate ("AMTA") mock trial competitions before, but we are also happy to have new judges sign up. Before each round, we will offer all judges an orientation session which will explain what you'll need to know in order to judge. 

The second tournament (called "Beach Party") is on January 11th and 12th of 2025. All rounds of this winter tournament will have two judges, which will allow some volunteers to be exclusively scoring (non-presiding) judges; if you wish to judge with a friend, just let us know and we can pair you together. This event will also feature elite teams participating from across the country. There will also be an orientation session before each round which will explain wha you'll need to know in order to judge.

If you are willing to judge at both events, please do consider signing up for both. We are fully reliant on the generosity of volunteer judges like you, and it is a struggle for us to find enough volunteers each year. Every trial round you can judge is a BIG favor to us and to the participating students. 

You can sign up to judge by clicking HERE.

NEW - MCLE Credit Hours: The State Bar of California has recently approved a new 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 our trials last up to three hours, so judging even one trial can both help our 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 to 12:00 PM and then an afternoon round from ~2:00 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 -- we'll provide a judge orientation session before each round (described below). Or, if you'd prefer NOT to preside, we're also recruiting judges for our 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 civil matter about the death of millionaire Avery Bancroft while aboard a train in Australia. Mr. Bancroft's adult child, Taylor Hopson, who was also onboard the train at the time, was set to inherit Bancroft's estate ($400 million). Now, Shannon Shahid, who is Mr. Bancroft's only other child, has brought a Slayer Statute proceeding, alleging that Hospson caused their father's death and therefore cannot inherit. The evidence, charges and witnesses available vary across the rounds, which makes each trial unique and interesting to watch.

Judge orientation: Before each round, we will hold a 30-minute judge orientation session. In that session, we 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, we will be providing bagels, coffee and lunch.

Here's the link to sign up for our tournaments this year: https://forms.gle/n4mXyZ jqK wTb9