The San Francisco County Mock Trial program works with local high school students. High school teams compete in the trial of a hypothetical criminal case. Each school fields a team of students to act as lawyers, witnesses, and bailiff. Students prepare their case based on a packet of witness statements and evidence.
Lawyers volunteer in the fall to coach students. They teach students the fundamentals of persuasive public speaking and evidence advocacy. Leading up to the city-wide competition in March, volunteers also critique students' performance.
During the competition in the spring, attorneys volunteer to act as scorers and judges. The citywide competition takes place at San Francisco Superior Court over four evenings in February. The winning team goes on to represent San Francisco in the statewide competition in March. The winner of the statewide competition represents California in the national competition in May.
Make a difference! To learn more about the program, and to volunteer, email educationalprograms@sfbar.org.
Mock Trial Coach Sign-Up
To become a Mock Trial Coach, volunteers must have at least 2+ years of experience in litigation. Be able to provide training to their teams from September to January both in person or virtually. Coaches are also expected to attend the Mock Trial Competition which has 4 preliminary rounds, 1 semi-final, and the final round. In addition, coaches provide support to their students for the courtroom artist and journalist competition. To sign up fill out the form below.
Judges & Scores Sign-Up
We ask that volunteers that wish to serve as judges for the mock trial competition either be a Partner at a law firm or a Superior Court Judge. Scores can be attorneys, paralegals, or law students. No prior experience is required as we provide training and MCLE each date of the competition. To sign up to judge or score go to the following registration links:
- Mock Trial Competition Round 1, January 27, 2026: https://portal.sfbar.org/event.aspx?EventKey=X267212
- Mock Trial Competition Round 2, January 29, 2026: https://portal.sfbar.org/SFBAR/Events/Event_Display.aspx?EventKey=X26721
- Mock Trial Competition Round 3, February 3, 2026: https://portal.sfbar.org/SFBAR/Events/Event_Display.aspx?EventKey=X267214
- Mock Trial Competition Round 4, February 5, 2026: https://portal.sfbar.org/SFBAR/Events/Event_Display.aspx?EventKey=X267215
- Mock Trial Competition Semifinals, February 10, 2026: https://portal.sfbar.org/SFBAR/Events/Event_Display.aspx?EventKey=X267216
Mock Trial – Demetria Vong-Spillan, Bank of America
I was so very impressed with the quality of the teams and their knowledge and enthusiasm. As for corporate lawyers, they should not be afraid of volunteering either as a scorer or even a presiding judge. It helped me to know that the facts, case law and grounds for objection were a closed universe, so actual courtroom knowledge (though preferable) was not an absolute necessity.