Mock Trial 25-26

The Tenth Year of UMBC Mock Trial Being on Top

The 2024-25 season marked another historic season for UMBC Mock Trial! Last season, UMBC Mock Trial returned to the AMTA National Championship Tournament for the seventh time in the past nine years. Advancing to the National Championship is incredibly challenging, as only 50 teams qualify out of over 700 teams that compete each year. This accomplishment was the crowning achievement on top of the most successful invitational season in the program’s history where UMBC Mock Trial earned a top 5 finish at almost every single tournament they attended, including a 1st place finish at the national quarterfinal tournament.

UMBC A holds their trophies after qualifying for the 2025 National Championship Tournament

In addition to advancing to Nationals, UMBC Mock Trial also sent both of its teams to the national semifinal tournament for the fifth time in the past ten years. Over the course of the season, UMBC Mock Trial members amassed a whopping 26 individual awards and lifted 6 team trophies. Attorney Fadil Adeite was named an All-American at the National Championship, the highest individual honor in collegiate Mock Trial. He also competed at Trial By Combat, the most prestigious one-on-one trial competition in collegiate Mock Trial over the summer, marking the fifth time UMBC has sent a competitor there in the tournament’s seven year history. UMBC maintained its program-wide dominance this year and continued to show that it is one of the most elite Mock Trial programs in the country.

UMBC’s B team gearing up for the national semifinal tournament in March 2025

It’s impossible for UMBC Mock Trial to succeed at the level it did this year and in years past without support from donors like you. The program is still dealing with significant budget cuts that occurred a few years ago, and our 2025-26 budget is a fraction of what it has been in years past.

If we can meet and exceed our $3,000 fundraising goal, we can use those funds to cover various expenses throughout the fall and winter seasons, such as:

$500 in registration fees for fall and winter invitational tournaments
$500 in transportation costs such as train tickets, rental vehicles, and gas and toll expenses needed to get us to those tournaments, and
$2,000 in hotel and lodging expenses.

Every dollar of our budget goes to paying for hotels, transportation, tournament exhibits, and team meals. We have a program policy that allows every member of UMBC Mock Trial to compete regardless of financial circumstance, and most of our budget goes toward making that possible.

We are excited for Mock Trial’s Tenth year of being a top program in the nation, and we look forward to traveling to invitational tournaments in Philadelphia, New Jersey, Washington D.C., and more. We have a passionate and motivated group of returning members working hard to guide the program to another National Championship appearance, and we just welcomed our biggest class yet of nearly 20 brand new members to help in that effort. UMBC Mock Trial has a storied past, from our 2021 National Championship to our seven Nationals appearances since 2017, and we need your help to build for the future.

UMBC Mock Trial competitors Anna Kim (left) and Fadil Adeite (center) prepare for One-on-One National Championship with Coach Thomas Azari (right)

If you are not able to donate, we understand and would appreciate you sharing this page on social media or with friends and family who may be able to give. Thank you for your support of UMBC Mock Trial, and we are excited for all the amazing things to come!

All contributions are administered by the UMBC Foundation, Inc., for the benefit of UMBC.