A Brief History of Chicago Mock Trial

       The Mock Trial RSO was founded in 1997 by Dave Horan, a law student at the University of Chicago Law School, and Parag Gupta, a student in the undergraduate college. For the 1997-1998 school year there were 8 competing members in the organization. Many members of the team had previous debate or public speaking experience, but most of the members had never competed in a mock trial competition.

       At the end of February the Mock Trial team went to compete at the Dupage County Courthouse in the Great Lakes Regional Tournament. They made a strong showing, but faced tough competition from experienced teams and finished 14th out of 18 teams with a 3-5 record. Two members of the team, Jennifer Trout and Yingtao Ho, won Outstanding Witness awards. In the following years the team flourished, winning bids to the National Tournament and racking up Outstanding Witness and Attorney awards. In 2002, 2003, and 2005 they took third place at the National Tournament.