2024 National High School Mock Trial Championship Homepage2024 National High School Mock Trial Championship

Welcome to Wilmington

Volunteer

Event volunteers serve a vital role in the success of the competition and serve as presiding judges, scoring judges, and volunteer helpers to ensure that the championship itself and the attendant events run smoothly. Descriptions and qualifications for presiding judge, scoring judge, courtroom liaison, and event volunteers are provided below.

Last year, the national competition began using Tabroom, a program originally designed for speech and debate, to manage the competition. This year, we are expanding our use of Tabroom such that all volunteers will register through Tabroom.

Volunteering is easy and only requires a few steps. 

Below is a brief explanation of the various roles and the qualifications needed for each. Please sign up for the area which best fits both your skill set and interest. We appreciate your time, care, and expertise to ensure the best possible events for our students!

Hotel Accommodations: See the Travel page for reservation information.

Still have questions about volunteering for the event? Click here to send us any questions.

Presiding Judge

Description:

  • The Presiding Judge is a legal professional who will preside over the case proceedings.
  • The focus of the Presiding Judge is to welcome everyone and oversee all trial matters. A suggested script will be provided. They will also have an opportunity to provide feedback to the teams at the end of the round.
  • The Presiding Judge will score student performance; however, that score will only be used in an emergency, should a Scoring Judge be unable to complete their ballot.

Qualifications:

  • Knowledge of and experience working in the legal field, specifically knowledge of courtroom procedure and objections
  • Experience judging High School Mock Trial 
  • Willingness to invest time into learning the NHSMTC case materials
  • Willingness to attend a judges’ orientation in advance of the event
  • A desire to support and encourage students’ learning and development
  • Sitting and retired judges who fulfill the qualifications listed above will be given preference

Scoring Judge

Description:

  • Scoring Judges are legal professionals who assess and score student and team performance.
  • There will be three Scoring Judges per courtroom.
  • In addition to scoring, Scoring Judges will have the opportunity to provide feedback to teams at the end of the round.

Qualifications:

  • Knowledge of and experience working in the legal field
  • Willingness to invest time into learning the NHSMTC case materials
  • Willingness to attend a judges’ orientation in advance of the event
  • A desire to support and encourage students’ learning and development

Courtroom Liaison

Description:

  • Individuals who are familiar with court procedure and courtroom layout who assist the presiding and scoring judges during a round.
  • There will be one courtroom liaison per courtroom.
  • The Courtroom Liaison helps get the presiding and scoring judges to the appropriate courtroom, serves as a contact with the Nationals board in the event a board member is needed in the courtroom, ensures that all ballots are submitted at the end of the round, and collects any materials that need to be turned in from the round. The Courtroom Liaison may also be required to “open” the round and announce the presiding judge.

Qualifications:

  • Knowledge of how a courtroom functions
  • Organization skills
  • Willingness to attend a courtroom liaison orientation in advance of the event
  • A desire to support and encourage students’ learning and development

Event Volunteers

Event Volunteers will serve a vital role in the success of our competition. We need people to help with registration, managing events, and assisting teams and spectators as they are traveling to and from the courtrooms and venues. We also need people willing to serve as Courtroom Liaisons who will be assigned to judging panels and ensure that score sheets are collected and returned to Competition Staff.

Note: If you are a licensed attorney or judge, we hope that you will be willing to sign up as a presiding or scoring judge rather than an event volunteer.