Built to compete — and to belong.
A student-run program since 1993, Duke Mock Trial pairs serious competitive ambition with a community that lasts well beyond graduation.
What is mock trial?
Mock trial is an activity in which students compete in fictional court cases as attorneys and witnesses. Each year the American Mock Trial Association releases a case — witness statements, depositions, exhibits, and legal precedent — that teams argue from on both sides.
The result is part courtroom, part chess match, part theater: you learn a record cold, build a theory of the case, and persuade a panel of judges in real time.
What is Duke Mock Trial?
Established in 1993, Duke Mock Trial is a fully student-run group. We field three teams of seven to nine students each fall and spring, and practice two to three times a week in the trial room at Duke Law School.
We look for smart, creative, and competitive people from every academic background — no prior mock trial experience required.
By the numbers.
A snapshot of the program today.
How a tournament works.
A season of mock trial, from the first invitational to the National Championship.
Three weekends a semester
Fall is invitational season; spring runs through the AMTA playoff series toward the National Championship.
Four trials, both sides
Each tournament a team tries four full trials — twice for the prosecution or plaintiff, twice on defense.
On the road
Tournaments run two to three days and have taken us to Nashville, Atlanta, Washington D.C., New York, and Los Angeles.
We host, too
Every year Duke and UNC co-host the Tobacco Road Invitational, now in its 20th year and drawing around 250 competitors.
The network shows up for you.
“Our alumni — over 150 of them, in law, business, education, and medicine — stay close through a monthly newsletter and a habit of showing up when current members need them.”