Ohio Mock Trial Competition

The CMBA is pleased to host the District and Regional stages of the Ohio Mock Trial Competition for teams across Northeast Ohio. Each year volunteer judges and attorneys serve as competition judicial panelists. At this done-in-a-day volunteer opportunity, volunteers have the chance to observe the region's finest budding legal minds in an exciting afternoon of competition. The fictional case in 2016 involves a police officer’s defense of the use of deadly force as well as an exploration of Fourth Amendment protection against unreasonable searches and seizures as it applies to the use of force by an officer.

This is Ohio’s largest academic competition and Cuyahoga County high school participation is strong. With the help of volunteers from the legal community as legal advisers and judicial panelists, students are provided the opportunity to hone their communication, analytical, and courtroom skills. Judicial panels score students based on their understanding of the case facts and applicable law, the roles of the attorney and witnesses at trial, and courtroom procedures and decorum.

The Ohio Mock Trial program is conducted under the auspices of the Ohio Center for Law Related Education (OCLRE), sponsored by the Supreme Court of Ohio, the Ohio State Bar Association, Attorney General’s Office and ACLU Foundation of Ohio.

Want to know what it's like to volunteer? Click here for the January 2013 Bar Journal article featuring friends of the program sharing their experiences.

Congratulations to Orange High School Team Polaris -
2016 State Champions!

The Cuyahoga District and Regional Competitions are programs of the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association, with funding support provided by the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation.

The CMBF is a 501(c)(3) organization; gifts to it are tax deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes.



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Thank you, volunteers and participants!

For the District stage of the competition, the CMBA offered to host ALL teams from our area in 2016, which historically have been divided up between the various other competition sites outside Cuyahoga.  The change is intended to benefit teachers, advisors, and students as we welcome them all to compete in their home county, eliminating the need for many teams to travel far from their schools and making the competition fairer for everyone.

The CMBA congratulates all participants and volunteer judicial panelists for successful District and Regional Competitions in 2016!  On Jan. 29, 49 teams from 19 local high schools presented their best legal arguments in the biggest District Competition statewide, with the help of more than 80 volunteer judicial panelists.  For the Regional Competition on Feb. 19, 20 teams from 10 schools went head-to-head for the chance to advance to the State Tournament in Columbus March 10-12. The CMBA also extends its sincere thanks to all volunteers and the judges and staff at the Justice Center and Cuyahoga County Courthouse for their contributions to the program!

Special congratulations to the following six teams that competed in the State Tournament in March:

  • Lake Ridge Academy Teams Blue and Red
  • Notre Dame Cathedral Latin Team Lions
  • Orange High School Team Polaris - 2016 State Champions
  • Solon High School Team Kennedy
  • St. Edward High School Team Andre - 2016 State Finalists
Our sincere thanks to the judges and magistrates of the Court of Common Pleas, Cleveland Municipal Court, Cuyahoga County Eighth District Court of Appeals, Common Pleas Court, Probate Court, and Domestic Relations Court for allowing us to use their courtrooms for this special event, and to the Justice Center, Lakeside Courthouse, and Law Library staff for their gracious assistance.

For photos of participating teams and of the volunteer judicial panelists, please visit the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Foundation’s Facebook page.

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