Mock Trial Volunteer Judge Training

Welcome to the 2023-2024 Oregon High School Mock Trial Season!

Please visit the Civics Learning Project’s Volunteer Hub to register as a volunteer, learn more about Mock Trial opportunities, and find the competition location and date that works best for you.

The resources on this page will support your preparation as a volunteer judge. Below you will find the case materials for this year’s competition, as well as rules, training videos, and a calendar of events.

Mock Trial Judge Preparation Checklist

Presiding Judge Checklist

Scoring Judge Checklist

Sign up for a Training Workshop Read and review the Full Case Materials Watch applicable training videos (see below) Know the details of the Affidavits and evidence Exhibits Know the Modified Rules of Evidence Review the Judge Guidelines & Introductory Matters Review the Rule Violation Trial Forms If you need to score a trial: Review the Scoring Ballot Review the Evaluation Guidelines Review and understand the Scoring Rubric

Sign up for a Training Workshop Read and review the Full Case Materials Watch applicable training videos (see below) Know the details of the Affidavits and evidence Exhibits Review the Scoring Ballot Review the Evaluation Guidelines Review and understand the Scoring Rubric

Training Videos

General Guidelines A high level overview of the role of a Mock Trial judge, general volunteer expectations

 

The Presiding Judge Walk through the role and responsibilities of the Presiding Judge during a round of Oregon High School Mock Trial

The Scoring Criteria Overview of the scoring rubric for each role scored during a trial round, review scoring best practices

The Scoring Ballot  Walk through each of the components of the scoring ballot and how best to use the ballot as a scoring judge during a trial round

Giving Verbal Feedback Helpful dos and don’ts for sharing verbal feedback with teams at the end of an Oregon High School Mock Trial round

Case Materials and Rules

Mock Trial Q&A

The Q&A process allows teams to highlight contradictory or unclear information published in the Case Materials. Any information in the Q&A document that contradicts information from the case materials supersedes the original case materials. This year’s Q&A document will be published in January 2024.

Full 2023-24 Case Materials

Case materials include the case, witness statements, procedural rules, and the modified rules of evidence for this season. The last section of the case materials is designed specifically for judge preparation.

Case Materials

USA v Wright – OR MT Case 2023-2024.V2

Full Rules of Competition

2024 OR Mock Trial Full Rules

Rules of Evidence

2024 OR Mock Trial Rules of Evidence

Presiding Judge Checklist

Presiding Judge Checklist & Tiebreaker (23-24)

Exhibits 1-7

Exhibit 1.V2

Exhibit 2.V2

Exhibit 3

Exhibit 4

Exhibit 5

Exhibit 6

Exhibit 7