“I really enjoyed getting to prepare for the trial at the end of the week because it was really fun to get to use the skills we had learned in a low stakes environment and work with our teammates.”
– Summer ’20 Participant
A Virtual Learning Experience
Monday, June 28 – Friday, July 2, 2021
Have you had some experience with mock trial but would like to learn more? Would you like to become a more effective student attorney? Would you like to learn how to develop a more believable witness character?
We invite you to sign up for Josh McGuire’s Mock Trial Boot Camp (MT Boot Camp)! Entering its second summer of operation, MT Boot Camp is a tried and tested virtual intensive program. MT Boot Camp is a terrific opportunity for students to develop their confidence, critical thinking, and performance abilities by improving their mock trial skills. This program is for incoming 9th grade through 12th grade students.
MT Boot Camp is designed for those students who have been exposed to mock trial and possess a basic understanding of the activity but want a leg up in next year’s tournament. This course will offer a valuable opportunity to increase your ability through pointers, practice, performance, and feedback. A combination of lectures, workshops and critiques of student performances will prepare you to compete on a mock trial team as an attorney or witness. MT Boot Camp will cover all aspects of mock trials, including how to write direct and cross examinations, how to develop a case theory and theme, and how to create a memorable character for a witness role. Students will then have the opportunity to put all of this knowledge into practice. Throughout the week, you will study and develop both sides of a mock trial case in preparation for a full mock trial on the final afternoon of the camp.
Daily Schedule
Students will participate in workshops on key skills each morning, including demonstrations and discussion. The afternoons will provide time for individual and small group work, and participants will have the opportunity to receive personalized coaching and feedback. At the end of the week, students will demonstrate their progress by performing roles as witnesses and attorneys.
“I really liked the team aspect of this week. Being able to talk to multiple people about the case and working on different angles and themes was really enlightening.”
– Jocelyn Li, Summer ’20 Participant
Application Information
If you are interested in signing up, please submit an application found at the following link: https://forms.gle/o6Y6tZhUf3PSpbnC7
Please note that space is limited. This program will be offered via Zoom. The program fee is $600.
Faculty:
Josh McGuire is a practicing attorney at the Law Office of Josh McGuire and is an experienced and successful high school mock trial participant, coach, and judge. A long-time mock trial enthusiast, Josh won four state championships as a student and has coached teams that have won the tournament eight times. Josh is a former member and chair of the MBA Mock Trial Committee and a co-organizer of the annual pre-season Garden City Invitational Mock Trial Tournament. In the summer of 2020, Josh first organized this Mock Trial Boot Camp. Most recently, Josh was the co-creator of a new, state-wide, virtual, high school mock trial tournament, entitled Massachusetts High School Mock Trial (MHSMT). The 2021 MHSMT Tournament had 60 participating teams, more than 50 volunteer judges, and recognition as the official Massachusetts’ tournament for 2021 by the National High School Mock Trial Championship.