Cal Poly Mock Trial is a collaborative team activity where students engage in simulated legal cases that combine elements of law, public speaking, debate and performance. Over 70 students participate in Mock Trial at Cal Poly, representing majors ranging from political science, communications and business to philosophy and engineering.  

The team competes in tournaments throughout the year hosted at various college campuses, including universities across California and as far away as Harvard. During each competition, team members are given a case scenario and reenact what happens in a courtroom during a civil or criminal trial. Students play the roles of attorneys and witnesses, while local attorneys and judges volunteer to serve as judges and jurors while they evaluate the students’ performances.

Sada Andrews is a lawyer, Cal Poly political science lecturer and the advisor to the Mock Trial team. She explained how the team’s biggest expense is traveling to tournaments. Because competitions take place at colleges around the country, the team fields several different travel groups of eight students. While it receives modest funding to support activities, the team must raise additional funds to attend larger events that require airfare and lodging. As a result, not all members can travel due to budget constraints.  

“They have to fundraise for a lot because so many students are involved and there are so many tournaments,” said Andrews. “They ask their family and friends for money, but if we could expand that to alumni and donors then more students would have the opportunity to be involved.”  

Amanda Shea is president of the Mock Trial team and oversees everything from communications and logistics to fundraising. A fourth-year student double majoring in environmental science and interdisciplinary studies (law, social justice, and ethics), the Orange County native joined during her second year at the encouragement of a friend. Two years later, she says the experience has been transformative.  

“You have to learn to adapt, speak and present yourself in a clear and concise way,” Shea said. “It's genuinely transformed how I'm able to do presentations, and it's helped me so much with learning how to engage people in public speaking and critical thinking in the moment.”

Andrews said students join for different reasons. Some find community and camaraderie similar to any other competitive team. Others want to build confidence and learn to think on their feet. Still others hope to pursue careers in law, advocacy or policy and want to develop professional skills in persuasion and critical thinking. Regardless of their motivation, the skills developed in Mock Trial create effective advocates in any field.

“Students who participate in Mock Trial have a leg up when they're applying to graduate schools, especially law schools, because these schools know how the Mock Trial experience develops those essential skills,” Andrews said.  

Cal Poly’s team performs well and is ranked among the top programs in the country. Last year, the team qualified for the National Championship Tournament as one of the top 50 teams out of more than 600 nationwide. Donor funds helped pay for that unexpected trip.  

“They didn't expect to go to Nationals, so they had to scramble to find money to fly a team to Ohio so that they could participate,” said Andrews.

Teams at larger schools often have paid coaching staff, but Cal Poly’s team is entirely student-run — yet still competes against the best.

"They could be even better with more funding,” Andrews said. “They don't have a paid coach, but they're still nationally ranked and competing at a very high level, completely run and coached by students.”

As she prepares to graduate, Shea is grateful for her time with the Mock Trial team, which has set her on a new path she hadn’t considered before joining.

“Mock Trial made me want to be an attorney, and that's why I love the club — I owe so much to it because it was something I never knew I’d be good at or interested in,” she said.  “I'm applying to law school, and in all of my personal essays I talk about how passionate I am about Mock Trial and about the prospect of pursuing science and law, which I never would have known unless I’d put myself out there and tried something new.”

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