Virtual Peer Court
CRF-OC will be hosting Virtual Peer Court sessions over the summer. The sessions are open to all Orange County high school students. In order to be eligible to serve as a juror, students must first complete a 1-hour virtual training. Below are the dates of our upcoming trainings. Once a student has completed the training, they will be on a list of eligible jurors. When a Virtual Peer Court session is scheduled, we will inform the trained jurors on how they can register to serve on the jury.
Upcoming Juror Training Sessions
Wednesday, June 16, 2021 at 3:30 PM Register: https://bit.ly/3tDwOBu
Wednesday, June 23, 2021 at 3:30 PM Register: https://bit.ly/3gsZk5h
Wednesday, June 30, 2021 at 3:30 PM Register: https://bit.ly/32xNWgh
Students must use their personal email to register (not their school-issued one) in order to ensure they receive communications from CRF-OC staff. Virtual Peer Court sessions are filled on a first come, first served basis.
If you are a judge interested in presiding over a Virtual Peer Court session or an attorney interested in volunteering as a jury advisor, please contact Assistant Program Manager Jennifer Fisher at [email protected]. Sessions will take place on weekday afternoons and will last about an hour and 15 minutes.
Congratulations to University High School, the 2020-2021 Orange County High School Mock Trial Champion!
On February 25th, University High School and Valencia High School competed in the championship round of CRF-OC’s Orange County High School Mock Trial Competition. It was a hard-fought match with excellent performances by both teams. University High School ultimately won and represented Orange County at the state finals this past weekend. Congratulations!
Middle School Moot Court Competition
Top Row: Ryan O’Malley and Melissa Warner – Ladera Ranch Middle School
Bottom Row: JD Cavalluzzi and Mia Demonte – Tuffree Middle School
On April 29th, CRF-OC piloted its Middle School Moot Court program. Sixteen students from Ethel Dwyer (Huntington Beach), Ladera Ranch, Sierra Vista (Covina), and Tuffree (Placentia), participated in this program virtually through Zoom. The students, paired in teams, presented arguments on the issue of whether a fictional boardgame company, by selling an educational boardgame called Fort-Night, had infringed the trademark of Epic Games, the creator of the popular video game Fortnite. The arguments were heard by the Hon. Shashi Kewalramani, Hon. Douglas McCormick, Hon. Karen Scott, and the Hon. Autumn Spaeth, all magistrate judges in the Central District of California. Melissa Warner and Ryan O’Malley from Ladera Ranch Middle School won first place, and Mia Demonte and JD Cavalluzzi from Tuffree Middle School came in second. Congratulations to all participants and thank you to our Moot Court Committee members, sponsors, and volunteers who made this program possible! If you are interested in participating in next year’s Middle School Moot Court program, please contact Program Director Theresa Bernard at [email protected].