Ventura County Mock Trial
Ventura County Bar Association is working for you…
On behalf of the 700+ students who participate in the Ventura County Mock Trial program, the Mock Trial captures the imagination and engages the students of our community like no other activity. The students have been steadfastly studying and practicing for hours each week since September. They participate out of sheer joy and determination to grapple with the intricate issues that are the heart of the legal profession. In large part, these students participate in Mock Trial because the VCBA has validated the program by years of support from attorneys like you volunteering as an attorney scorer and/or judge.
The 2025 Mock Trial Competition will take place the weekends of February 22-23, and March 1-2 (9:00 AM – 4 PM) at the Ventura County Courthouse. Breakfast and lunch will be provided to volunteers. We ask that all volunteers commit to one full day to participating in the competition and we will provide a scoring orientation on Thursday, February 13, from 12:00 PM to 1:30 PM via Zoom. 1 hour of MCLE credit is available for the meeting. This will be the third year that the competition will include middle schools. We expect that more than 800 students will be participating. Volunteer attorneys are needed to serve as scoring attorneys, presiding judges, and many schools need attorney-coaches.
Thank you to everyone who has previously volunteered and helped to make the program successful. You sign up for this year’s competition online at: www.vcoe.org/Competitions/Mock-Trial/Volunteers. If you are interested in helping a school as an attorney coach you can contact my secretary, Art Alvara, at 805.289.8853.
HIGH SCHOOL 2025 DATES
- High School Mock Trial Rounds
February 22 & 23, 2025 - High School Mock Trial Championship Rounds
March 1 & 2, 2025
MIDDLE SCHOOL 2025 DATES
- Middle School Mock Trial Rounds
March 1 & 2, 2025 - Middle School Mock Trial Championship Round
March 7, 2025
Volunteers, please arrive by 1:30pm at the VCOE Conference Center on March 7th – 5100 Adolfo Rd, Camarillo 93012
Since 1983 the Ventura County Office of Education has partnered with the Constitutional Rights Foundation (CRF) to provide the Mock Trial for our students. Each year approximately 600 Ventura County students, in grades 9-12, actively experience the excitement of working in teams, exchanging ideas, setting goals, and examining issues while interacting with positive role models from their communities. The winning county team is then invited to the State Mock Trial to compete with their peers from across California where many of our past teams have then gone on to compete in the National Mock Trial. The Mock Trial is designed to clarify the workings of our legal institutions for students through first-hand experience. Students in grades 9 to 14 portray each of the principals in the cast of courtroom characters. Student teams study a hypothetical case, conduct legal research, receive guidance from volunteer attorneys in courtroom procedure and trial preparation, and present their case before volunteer judges. The goal of the Constitutional Rights Foundation is to “instill in our nation’s youth a deeper understanding of citizenship through values expressed in our Constitution and its Bill of Rights and to educate young people to become active and responsible participants in our society.”
