Judge & Juror Registration

Empire Stardust is scheduled for October 17-20 and October 28-29. You can volunteer for one trial or several—it is up to you. Please carefully review the below message prior to registering. 

Your Role

We are looking for volunteers to serve as either a presiding judge or a scoring juror.

• A juror sits in the (mock) jury box, scores the trial, and provides students with written and verbal feedback;
  
  
• A presiding judge sits on the bench, conducts the proceedings, questions the advocates during the oral argument, likely scores the trial (but may not), and provides students with written and verbal feedback. Serving as a presiding judge requires more preparation time than a juror—there are additional materials to review.

If you'd like to preside, we will try our best to honor your preference. But we typically have more people wish to preside than we have spots available. We thank you, in advance, for your understanding and dedication to our students.

Report Time

This fall, we have changed our practice for judging online. We asking that you do the following:

• Watch the training before competition day - there is a live Zoom training on Monday, 10/14 @ 5 PM ET
  
  
• Check-in via at the published time via PROcess - a link will be shared with you
  
  
• Report to your trial at the published time - the Zoom meeting room link will be posted on PROcess
  
  

NY CLE Credit

New York based attorneys are eligible to earn (3) CLE credits for completing the three parts of judging online mock trial (attend orientation, judge the trial and offer post-round feedback).

• The CLE credits are non-transitional (not for newly admitted attorneys)
  
  
• You cannot earn more than (3) CLE credits for judging more than one trial (NYSBA rules, not ours)
  
  
• Certificates are e-mailed 6-8 weeks after the competition

Subject to the conditions outlined above, attorneys admitted to practice in other states may obtain CLE credit for judging mock trial if their state of practice (1) has reciprocity with New York and (2) also rewards CLE credit in the same manner for judging mock trial. Please consult your state bar’s website and, if in doubt, contact your state bar to verify CLE eligibility.