It was the spring of 2020 — the height of the COVID-19 pandemic — and mock trial had disappeared. High schools, colleges, and law schools had sent their students home for the semester and shifted classes online. And as a result, mock trial at every level of competition had come to a grinding halt. 

As the activity that meant so much to students nationwide vanished, our founders Riya Lakkaraju and Michael Zhou were thinking the same thing: mock trial is more than just competition. It was community. It was friendship. It was confidence, critical thinking, mentorship, growth, identity, and above all else — it had the power to transform the lives of high school students.

And that's when they had an idea; an opportunity to make mock trial more accessible than ever before. That summer, Elias Neibart, Drew Evans, and Bennett Demsky joined the team—and MockOn was born. 

But we didn't stop there. MockOn expanded the following year by offering consulting services to coaches, students, and programs around the country. Whether it’s reviewing scripts, judging a scrimmage and giving feedback, or hosting an in-depth coaching workshop—our team does it all.

We still wanted to find creative and unique ways to help competitors and coaches achieve excellence — so we organized a lineup of nationally-recognized competitors to lead our Expert Series. The Expert Series helped us achieve our goal of creating a one-stop-shop and universally accessible platform for mock trial knowledge.  

In the spring of 2021, nearly a year after our founding, we hosted the inaugural Tournament of Champions, a virtual invitational competition for the most high-achieving and successful high school mock trial programs in the nation. With inventive and fun case problems, one of the most advanced levels of competition, and a judging pool with more mock trial experience than you can find at any other mock trial competition in the world, the Tournament of Champions has continued to be a success. 

Just as mock trial has changed since 2020, MockOn has grown too. We partnered with Stand Up Mock Trial to host the Gladiator Olympics. We partnered with International Mock Trial to support their mission in creating free mock trial tournaments abroad.  Our team has expanded as well, with Ben Wallace and Adam Selcov coming aboard to help make Tournament of Champions what it is today.

We have no doubt we will continue to change, to adapt, and to grow. But we will remain committed to the idea that pushed us off the ground: if you want to get better at mock trial, you should always have somewhere to go. Even if it’s in the middle of a global pandemic. Especially when it’s just a few clicks away.