Artists & Journalists

2025 Winners

1st Place High School 

Karah Richardson
Tooele High School

2nd Place High School 

Genevieve Dyches
American Heritage School

3rd Place High School

Aeris Lau
Hillcrest High School

1st Place Junior High

Charlotte Desmond
Integritas

COURTROOM ARTIST CONTEST

Artist Contestant

  • Contestants must be affiliated with a participating mock trial team and enrolled at the team’s school.
  • The contestant may not participate in any other role on the mock trial team.
  • Contestants must complete Student Registration by the registration deadline.

Submission Guidelines

  • The art submission may be done in color or in black and white
  • The drawing must be on paper with dimensions 11” X 14” in a horizontal format.
  • The drawing may be done in the following mediums: colored pencil, pen and ink, pastel, or marker. Watercolors or paint are not allowed.
  • The art submission must have the artist’s name and team code placed on the back of the sketch; no signatures on the front of the submission are allowed.
  • The courtroom artist must create and complete the drawings without the help of any source or person during a single preliminary trial.  Drawings may not be taken home or worked on outside of the trial.
  • The courtroom artist may only observe and draw a trial in which their team competes.
  • The drawing must depict the actual courtroom scene observed by the courtroom artist. 
  • Participants may attend any of their team’s preliminary rounds as courtroom artists but may only work on their submission during the trial and may only submit one drawing.
  • The final deadline for drawings is the conclusion of the team’s Round 4.  Submit your drawing to the Mock Trial Coordinator immediately after the trial concludes.  
  • Only drawings submitted by the end of Round 4 to the Coordinator by registered students will be entered in the contest.  

 

During Trials

  • During the trial, introduce yourself with your team after the bailiff.  Say your name, and identify yourself as the courtroom artist. Do not say what school you are from.
  • You must wear your name tag. 
  • Once the trial begins, you may not move about the courtroom. Artists may not communicate verbally or non-verbally with any member of the Mock Trial teams or any visitors in the courtroom during the trial rounds.

Courtroom Artist Training Video

Artist Contest Evaluation Criteria

Each courtroom art entry will be judged based on the following criteria:       

 

Telling the Story: Does the illustration give the viewer an immediate feeling of an event taking place? Does the artwork evoke an emotion or show action? Does the sketch provide enough information to hold the eye for a period of time?  

 

Composition: Is there a definite indication of the Courtroom interior to describe the place? Are the figures in the illustration large enough to focus on yet small enough to be placed within the structure of the courtroom? Are the elements of witness, judge, attorneys, etc, placed in an arrangement proportionate to the page and create balance on that page?  

 

Color/Contrast: Is the illustration harmonious in the distribution of line, color, and tone? Are there good balances of dark and light that play off each other to give richness to the artwork? Is the medium of choice, be it colored pencil, marker, watercolor, etc., used to the best advantage in documenting the illustration?  

 

Authenticity: Does the artwork convey a professional feeling without seeming cartoonish? Does the illustration, no matter the style, i.e., sketchy, ultra-realistic, highly rendered, or loosely drawn, carry the idea of adhering to a respectful, convincing depiction of a courtroom event?

 

Source: National High School Mock Trial Championship

High School Nationals

ULRE will determine whether a student who wins the competition will be sent to nationals on a year-by-year basis. This is determined by a minimum number of participants and budget allowance. 

The student who wins the contest has seven days from the awards ceremony to commit to attending. The winner forfeits the right to represent on the eighth day. If the winner cannot attend the National High School Mock Trial Championship, the state may invite the second-place winner to attend the competition. If the second-place winner cannot attend, winners may be invited based on ranking. 

The student winner must provide a chaperone to travel with them. The chaperone must be a legal guardian or parent.

ULRE will provide a stipend (varies by year) for travel expenses for only the student and one chaperone (not for any other friends or family).  The winner is responsible for covering the difference and making all travel arrangements. Separate receipts must be turned in to show expenses for only the student and one chaperone. The winner will pay for all expenses and, upon turning in receipts, will be reimbursed up to the stipend amount. 

For questions about the Courtroom Artist Contest, email m.orton@utahlawrelatededucation.org

COURTROOM JOURNALISM CONTEST

Journalist Contestant

  • Contestants must be affiliated with a participating mock trial team and enrolled at the team’s school.
  • The contestant may not participate in any other role on the mock trial team.
  • Contestants must complete Student Registration by the registration deadline.

Submission Guidelines

  • No computers are allowed in the courtroom. 
  • Participants must draft the article independently without the help of any source or person.
  • Submitted articles should be in the voice of a reporter covering the trial.
  • The article must be double-spaced, 12-point Times New Roman font with one-inch margins.
  • Put team code only – not name or school – at the very end of the document.
  • No article may exceed 850 words, excluding the journalist’s name and team code.
  • Participants may attend any of their team’s preliminary rounds as courtroom journalists. 
  • E-mail articles to m.orton@utahlawrelatededucation.org.  Only articles submitted by the deadline by registered students will be entered in the contest. 
  • Articles are due by 5:00 p.m. Monday, 3/3, for High School students and Wednesday, 3/19, for Jr High students.

During Trials

  • During the trial, introduce yourself with your team, say your name, and identify yourself as the courtroom journalist. Do not say what school you are from. 
  • You must wear a name tag. 
  • No computers are allowed in the courtroom. After attending the trial, you will take notes on paper and then type your article from those notes.
  • Once the trial begins, you may not move about the courtroom. Journalists may not communicate verbally or non-verbally with any member of the Mock Trial teams or any visitors in the courtroom during the trial rounds

For questions about the Journalism Contest, email m.orton@utahlawrelatededucation.org