Florida High School Mock Trial Competition

About the High School Mock Trial Program

The Florida High School Mock Trial Program was designed in 1991 by Annette Boyd Pitts and former Florida Bar Executive Director Marshall Cassedy. Hundreds of student participants have graduated, attended law school, and become members of The Florida Bar or other state bar associations. Many former student participants have returned to coach teams at the schools they once attended or at other schools throughout the state.

The Florida High School Mock Trial Competition has grown into a multi-level academic championship. Its popularity among students, coaches, parents, and the legal and judicial communities continues to strengthen and expand the program. At the program’s inception in 1991, the competition was an open invitational where any school could send a team to compete at the state level. As the program grew, county level competitions were implemented. Winning teams from participating counties would advance to the state competition. When that model became too large, the competition was organized by judicial circuits. In this model, counties hold competitions to advance teams to the circuit level and one team from each judicial circuit advances to represent the circuit at the state competition. This is the model currently implemented in Florida. With 20 judicial circuits, a maximum of twenty teams may advance to the state finals.

Hundreds of attorneys and judges volunteer to participates in the circuit and state competitions annually. Members of The Florida Bar Law Related Education Committee develop the case materials annually. The winning state team is eligible to represent Florida in the National High School Mock Trial Championship held annually in different host states.

Students learn critical thinking skills, legal reasoning, analysis, and professionalism, in addition to the structure and function of the courts and the legal process.

Hundreds of attorneys and judges volunteer to participate in the circuit and state mock trial competitions. Cases are developed by Florida lawyers and law students annually. The winning state team is eligible to represent Florida in the national championship held annually in different host states.

The Florida program is sponsored by the Justice Teaching Center for Civic Learning and is named in honor of JTC founder. R. Fred Lewis. We are grateful to Florida Southern College for sharing its infrastructure and for the attorneys statewide that have contributed to the program's growth and success.

For additional information, see the links below or contact Annette Pitts at apitts@flsouthern.edu.

2023 High School Mock Trial Registration - Deadline October 31, 2022 Florida State Finals Registration

Finals registration form to be completed by the team that wins the circuit competition only.