On April 8 and 9, 2022, teams of students from some of the best law schools in California will participate in the San Fernando Valley Bar Association’s 2nd Annual Virtual Mock Trial Competition.
The Zoom event will feature teams from:
- Caruso School of Law | Pepperdine University;
- UC Davis School of Law | University of California at Davis;
- Western State University College of Law;
- Thomas Jefferson School of Law;
- UCLA School of Law | University of California at Los Angeles;
- University of San Diego School of Law;
- University of West Los Angeles School of Law; and,
- San Francisco Law School | Alliant International University.
Awards will be presented for:
- Best Advocate;
- Best Opening;
- Best Closing;
- Best Direct Examination; and,
- Best Cross Examination.
Scholarships to the winners are graciously provided by the Valley Community Legal Foundation, the charitable arm of the San Fernando Valley Bar Association.
Volunteer Attorney Information
The San Fernando Valley Bar Association is proud to host its Second Annual Mock Trial Competition, held virtually over Zoom, on Friday, April 8, and Saturday, April 9, 2022. We are looking for attorney volunteers to help us evaluate the competitors and give feedback to the competition teams.
We have nine competition teams from eight law schools committed to participating this year. We need additional volunteer support during the two preliminary rounds;
April 8, Preliminary Round, from 9 AM to Noon
April 8, Preliminary Round, from 1 PM to 4 PM
The competition this year is being held virtually through Zoom, so please do not let geography stand in the way of participation.
There is no pre-requisite for participating as a volunteer evaluator other than being an attorney. We will offer volunteers guidance on performing evaluations ahead of the competition itself. The competition prompt for this year is provided below, but any additional information will be presented to you during the competition by our law student competitors:
Plaintiff worked for Defendant, a private school, and was fired for displaying a controversial bumper sticker that caused a social media backlash. Plaintiff is suing for breach of their employment contract and alleges that Defendant violated Labor Code Sec. 1101, for having a “rule, regulation, or policy” that seeks to control Plaintiff’s political affiliation.
You are welcome to sign up for one or both rounds on April 8, and we encourage you to reach out to us if you have any questions about the competition.
Volunteer Judicial Officer Information
We are recruiting judicial officers to preside over each round of competition and give feedback to our law student competitors.
The competition will be held remotely over Zoom, and will be split up into two timeslots where we will need judicial officer volunteers:
April 8, Preliminary Round, from 9 AM to Noon
April 8, Preliminary Round, from 1 PM to 4 PM
The competition prompt is a California Civil Law matter that involves breach of contract, wrongful termination, and free speech issues. If you are available to assist this year, we would sincerely appreciate your time, and you are welcome to sign up for either or both timeslots if you are available.
We want to ensure that we have a judicial officer presiding over each competition round if possible, so please invite sitting or retired bench officers you know would be interested and available to assist; we would sincerely appreciate the reference.
To volunteer or for more information on the 2022 SFVBA Mock Trial Competition, contact Kyle Ellis at elliskylem@gmail.com
