Mock Trial is a competitive speech and debate activity focused on trial advocacy. Students simulate the roles of both attorneys and witnesses in criminal or civil trials against teams from other institutions. Students develop critical thinking and public speaking skills, as well as a knowledge of legal practices and procedures. Mock Trial boasts the most competitive field of any undergraduate activity; thousands of students from more than seven hundred teams compete each year.

Mock Trial teaches invaluable skills: speaking with conviction, critical thinking, arguing, and persuading. It takes these skills to a whole new level. Whether you want to be a trial attorney or not, the skills learned in Mock Trial apply to any career, helping you excel in job interviews, pitches, and persuading others. Members from various fields have benefited from Mock Trial, including criminal justice, finance, engineering, and psychology. And above all, Mock Trial is fun. It brings satisfaction when hard work pays off in epic rounds and fosters camaraderie among team members, leading to lifelong friendships.

Our teams typically meet three nights a week for group practice. Outside of these sessions, members work on their own materials. We typically spend about 10 to 15 hours per week practicing. This might seem like a lot, but success in Mock Trial, like in many areas of life, requires time and hard work.

Absolutely! All of our members are very active on and off campus, whether in Greek life, student government, or work/internships. It’s all up to you—if you’re good at time management, you can certainly balance GW Mock Trial with other activities.

In recent years, we have had between 100 and 120 people try out each fall. Of those, we typically accept 8 to 12 new members. For example, in 2022, 124 people tried out, and 10 were selected to join the team.

No. We have many members who specialize as only attorneys or witnesses, and we have spots for roles of every kind on all three of our teams. Most members, however, compete as attorneys and witnesses at some point in their GW Mock Trial career and are often surprised at how much fun performing as one or the other can be. We hope you’ll be willing to try new things!

Mock Trial is a competitive speech and debate activity with a significant acting component. Many of our most successful members have experience acting and are interested in theatre and drama. Autumn Reeser, star of the television series, The O.C., won the Intercollegiate Mock Trial All-American Award in 1999 for her stellar performance as a competitor at UCLA.

Nope! Many of our most successful members have come to GW without prior mock trial experience. We also typically don’t prioritize prospective members who are already knowledgeable about the law or courtroom procedure. If you make the team, we’ll teach you everything you need to know about trial advocacy.

Potential. We aren’t so much looking for people who are already good at Mock Trial as we are looking for people who learn quickly and have a good attitude. That’s because it’s easy for us to teach you how to write a direct examination or impeach a witness. It’s a lot more difficult for us to teach you how to appear confident, speak with presence, or be charismatic. We want to see these qualities in your tryout. You’ll have 15 minutes to impress us with your personality, enthusiasm, and presentation.