About Us
Online Mock Trial is a group of teachers, coaches, and alumni that love mock trial! In spring 2020 when the global pandemic canceled many states' mock trial programs, we hosted the first online mock trial competition for 230 students from 27 teams in 13 states. Our goal is to bring mock trial teams together from across the nation to give them the opportunity to compete in a quality tournament.
Suzanne Christensen (Director) has been the head coach of Integritas Mock Trial for the past seven years. Integritas teams have won a State Championship title for the past five years and Integritas has placed in the top ten at National High School Mock Trial Championship (9th, 7th, 9th).
Josh Christensen (Assistant Director) Josh competed in mock trial for seven years and was team captain leading his team in state and national competitions. He has a passion for trial advocacy that continues as he serves as a volunteer judge in his state, a junior high coach, and a key player in creating Online Mock Trial. Josh is a student at Brigham Young University.
Jared Johnson (Technology Director) Jared participated in high school mock trial and coached mock trial. He graduated from Brigham Young University in Political Science and taught Speech and Debate. Jared now works in technology in Utah.
Advisory Committee
Janet Phillips is the parent coach for Central Carolina Homeschoolers. She serves as a friend and mentor to the students and represents the parent interests for the team. Her family served as missionaries in Asia for ten years before returning to the United States where she enjoys life as a mother to six, photographer, graphic artist, and bibliophile. Janet has helped with researching the historical case names for OMT.
Past Advisory Committee Members
Justin Bernstein is a law professor and director of trial advocacy at UCLA School of Law. He is the former president of the American Mock Trial Association and the youngest member of its Coaches Hall of Fame. He has coached 11 schools to national or world championships.
Dallin Christensen (Student Advisor) Dallin is in his sixth year of mock trial. He helped create Online Mock Trial when he saw that his friends who were graduating wouldn't get to have their "final" trial. He serves as the Vice-President of Technology for the Layton City Youth Court and is a regular contributor on the KSL podcast "Through Their Eyes" and to the Standard-Examiner newspaper.
William Gates is an in-house lawyer in Phoenix, Arizona for PING Golf and an elected member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors. He participated in mock trial as a high school, college, and law student. He has coached at the high school and collegiate levels. He was a member of two state champion mock trial teams and the 1993 Intercollegiate Mock Trial National Champion Team. He has coached teams from three different high schools to a state championship in mock trial (in Iowa and Arizona) and coached the 1997 High School Mock Trial National Champion.
Justin Matarrese is the Executive Director of Empire Mock Trial ("Empire"), an education nonprofit that coordinates mock trial programs for high school students. A former "mocker" himself, Justin started Empire with his dad to provide a fun and challenging pre-season mock trial experience for students. Since its founding, Empire has impacted more than 6,000 students from 7 countries and 38 states, hosting programs in Atlanta, New York, San Francisco and Hong Kong. Justin is inspired by Suzanne and Josh's passion, ingenuity and work ethic, and is excited to offer any advice he can to assist this wonderful program.
Carey Shoufler is the Director of Law Related Education at the Idaho Law Foundation. She has been at the helm of Idaho’s Mock Trial Program for 15 years and led the group that organized the 2016 National Mock Trial Championship in Boise. She currently serves on the National Mock Trial Board of Directors.