RULES GOVERNING MOCK TRIALS
d) The opposing theories of the case are both
1. Grouping. The members of the class shall be
organized into groups of three law students each. One
member a group shall conduct the direct and another
member, the cross. The third member shall orally argue its
case at the end of trial. The members may, however, assign
among themselves segments of the trial as they see best.
One group shall be matched against another group.
2. Suggested case. Each group shall scout for and
submit a case for trial derived from an actual legal dispute,
whether civil or criminal (not including labor cases that do
not undergo trial). The chosen case may still be in the
process of trial or has already been decided. Possible sources
of these cases are records in the hands of litigation lawyers
or records that courts keep. To protect the identities of the
personalities involved in these cases, such as the parties,
their counsel, and the judge, their names shall be changed for
the purpose of the mock trial.
3. Case Criteria. To be acceptable for the purpose of
the workshop, the chosen case for trial must meet the
following criteria:
a) The basic documents of the case should be available
for copying. In a civil case, these would be composed of
copies of the complaint, the answer, the record of trial, and
the documentary exhibits; and, in a criminal case, these
would be: copies of the information, the documentary
exhibits, and the sworn statements or testimonies of the
witnesses. These sets of documents shall be collectively
called source materials.
b) The circumstances of the case appeal to human
interest;
c) The testimony of one witness for each side would be
sufficient to prove their respective cases; and
plausible, thus giving each side a good fighting chance to win.
4. Selection of cases to be tried. Each group shall
submit to the professor on the agreed date a one-page
summary of the case it suggests for trial and make a five-
minute presentation of its substance in class. The
presentation should give the opposing versions of each side
of the case. After all the groups have made their
presentations, the professor shall choose half of these cases
for mock trials in the classroom.
5. Service of documents on opponent. When a case is
chosen for trial, the group that proposed such case shall
immediately give the group that is matched against it, copies
of the source materials mentioned above. The source
materials define the basic storylines that shall bind the
opposing groups. For the classroom trial, however, the
parties may add factual details and submit such documentary
evidence, as they desire, provided that these do not change
the basic storylines in the source materials. The professor
shall determine by drawing of lots which group shall
represent the plaintiff and which shall represent the
defendant.
6. Exchange of conflicting stories of witnesses. Each
group shall serve on the opposing group, at least one week
before the scheduled trial, a copy of the judicial affidavit of
its sole witness (in question and answer form), stating the
facts that he or she shall testify on. No fact can be elicited
from the witness during direct examination that is not
contained in his or her judicial affidavit. If documentary
exhibits shall be presented as well, these must be included
as annexes to the judicial affidavit of such witness. Surprise
evidence shall not be allowed.
 7. Individual case file and trial brief. Each member of a
group shall prepare and maintain his own individual case file,
containing copies of all the documents that shall be adduced
in the case, the affidavits of the witnesses from both sides
and their respective documentary exhibits. The members
name shall appear on the cover of the file. He shall also
prepare his individual trial brief on the case, a copy of which
he shall submit to the professor (thru the college office)
within one week after the exchange of opposing affidavits.
Any student who is unable to submit the required individual
trial brief on time shall be excluded from the trial. The
individual trial brief shall contain the following:
a) An abstract of the conflicting claims of the parties;
b) A statement of the factual issues of the case based
on the abstract made;
c) The relevant laws and an analysis of how these laws
shall operate on the facts of the case;
c) A detailed outline of the testimony of the witness
that shall be presented to prove the facts needed to support
the clients theory of the case;
d) A detailed outline of the probable testimony of the
adverse partys witness; and
e) A cross-examination guide containing its objectives,
the admissions sought to be elicited, and the probable
questions to ask, arranged in proper sequence.
8. Group trial brief. The members of the group shall
then meet and discuss the various individual trial briefs,
debate their merits, and come up with a group trial brief, copy
of which they shall submit to the professor on the first day of
the trial of their case.
9. Trial Proper. The Rules of Court shall govern the
trial. For classroom purposes, however, the following
additional ground rules shall be observed:
a) Each firm shall have a total of 50 minutes to conduct
both the direct and redirect examinations of its witness and
the cross-examination and re-cross examination of its
opponents witness. For example, if it consumes only 20
minutes for direct, it shall have 30 minutes left for redirect,
cross, and re-cross. The clock shall stop during objections or
class discussions. The assigned time-keeper shall warn the
student counsel through appropriate signs when his allotted
time for examining the witness is running out and signal him
to stop when it actually runs out.
b) Each party shall have only one witness. If some
other minor testimony is required, like a medical examination
report, this may just be identified and submitted in the course
of trial. Such report, if reproduced from the source materials,
shall be considered prima facie true.
c) Each party shall have 5 extra minutes for re-direct
and re-cross, if they want.
d) The assigned counsel from each side shall have 5
minutes for oral argument at the end of the trial.
e) After the argument, the panel of judges shall briefly
withdraw to deliberate on their verdict; it shall thereafter
immediately issue the same, which shall be inappealable.
f) Witnesses shall, unless otherwise permitted by the
professor, be drawn only from among the members of the
class. The student who acts as a witness shall be given
credit for plausible performance.
g) Trial shall be conducted with courtesy, civility, and
friendliness among counsel and witnesses.
10. Trial Sequence. The conduct of trial shall be in the
following order:
a. All shall rise when the judge enters the court.
b. The presiding judge shall bang his or her gavel and
take his seat with the other judges.
c. The trial clerk shall call out the title of the case for
trial.
 d. The lawyers shall enter their appearances by
introducing themselves, first the plaintiffs lawyers, then the
defendants lawyers.
e. The presiding judge shall then ask the parties if they
are ready; if they are, he shall require the plaintiff to call his
or her witness.
f. The trial clerk shall swear in the witness, then ask
him his personal circumstances.
g. The plaintiffs counsel shall ask courts permission
to proceed with the examination of the witness and this shall
be granted.
h. Before examining the witness, counsel shall make an
offer of his testimony.
i. Counsel shall begin his direct examination.
j. The stenographers shall record the questions and the
answers.
k. When documentary evidence is presented, counsel
shall, unless the evidence has been previously marked in the
judicial affidavit, requests that it be marked as Exh. A, if for
plaintiff, and Exh. 1, if for defendant; the trial clerk shall place
the appropriate marking on the document; counsel shall ask
the witness to authenticate the document by stating how he
relates to it.
l. When the direct examination ends, the defendants
counsel shall ask the courts permission to cross-examine the
witness.
m. After the cross examination, plaintiffs counsel may
conduct a re-direct examination; defendants counsel may do
a re-cross.
n. Plaintiffs counsel shall make a formal offer of his
documentary exhibits, stating the purpose of the offer.
o. Defendants counsel shall comment on or object to
the offer.
p. Court shall admit or deny admission of the offered
exhibits.
q. Plaintiffs counsel shall rest his case.
r. The defendant shall present his or her case in the
same sequence.
s. After trial, one of the plaintiffs counsel, followed by
one of the defendants counsel, shall argue their cases.
t. The panel of judges shall render its decision.
11. Trial Support Group. Three groups shall take part
in every trial. The groups that are paired to try a case against
each other shall be the principal groups. The third group
shall serve as the support group from which shall be drawn
the following: a) the judge; b) the trial clerk who shall call the
case, elicit the personal data needed from the witness, swear
him, and mark the exhibits; c) two stenographers who shall
divide between themselves the work of taking down the
questions and the answers of the witness; and d) the time
keeper who shall monitor the time consumed for direct
examination, cross-examination, re-direct examination, re-
cross examination, and oral argument.
Out of the six cases that shall be tried, the principal
groups in the sixth case shall be the support group for the
first case; the principal groups in the first case shall be the
support group for the second case; the principal groups in the
second case shall be the support group for the third case, and
so on until the last case. The principal groups whose case
shall be tried shall choose by consensus from the support
group the student presiding judge who shall hear their case.
The student presiding judge shall be the leader of the support
group and shall designate who shall be the trial clerk, the
stenographers, and the time keeper.