Bar Mock Trial Competition Barrister Mentors
We are contacting you on behalf of the Citizenship Foundation regarding the national Bar Mock Trial Competition (BMT). The BMT is a nationwide competition which sees schools from non-fee paying schools competing in mock trials in real court rooms in front of real judges.
Your role as a Mentor would principally be to support your chosen school in its preparation for the Regional Heats. Understandably, many schools will have had minimal exposure to the intricacies of the legal system, and so the expertise of a practitioner is invaluable to the participants. You would be required to provide advice and feedback to students, explaining the basics of the court process and how to prepare and present legal advocacy in a trial context. Obviously, the level of your involvement is entirely up to you, but we recommend that you attend your chosen school at least once to observe a run-through of the cases, and then provide constructive criticism and suggestions for improvement. We have found, however, that in previous years many Mentors have enjoyed their involvement so much that they have returned several times to aid the preparation, and have even attended the Regional Heats to support the pupils.
The competition was a huge success last year due in large parts to our dedicated and generous professional volunteers. With their help we reached many students who, without the BMT, would have no access to any legal education. The work our volunteers do is priceless and has a profound effect on school students around the country.
Please sign up HERE if you are interested in becoming a Barrister Mentor.