Our Story
Empire Mock Trial is an education nonprofit that started as a father-son project in 2007. Six years before our founding, Justin Matarrese saw a flyer at his New York City public high school, Tottenville High School, calling for students interested in “debate, acting or the law to attend a mock trial team meeting!” Intrigued, he stopped by room C313 to find out more.
The rest is history.
With the help of his father, Gregory Matarrese, Justin started the “THS Mock Trial Association” to fundraise for Tottenville and to organize a new mock trial competition. Naming it the “Empire City Invitational,” he hoped to give students from his alma mater and across the United States, the opportunity to participate in a challenging extra curricular program, while experiencing one of the world’s most vibrant cities: the Big Apple.
The competition was modeled after a college mock trial invitational, offering students the benefits and fun of a mock trial, without the pressure of competition. Every team would participate in four mock trials without the possibility of being eliminated. What’s more, this program would actively encourage students to interact and to treat one another with respect inside and outside of the courtroom.
The inaugural event was a success. It brought together 11 high schools from 6 states, and crowned a New Mexico public school as its first champion. The following year, it expanded in size and reach, welcoming international schools for the first time. This led us to rebrand, in year three, as the Empire Mock Trial Association, Inc., a name we hold to this day.
As our Leadership Team has matured in age, so has Empire Mock Trial’s mission. An organization that once told students “your legal education starts here” shifted to one that “educates, connects and empowers young people to be compassionate and capable citizens.” Introduced in 2014, our new mission charted the path for all programmatic changes that followed. New competitions were created to increase opportunity; financial aid was offered to increase access; cases highlighting social inequalities were drafted to increase empathy and widen perspective; service projects were introduced to instill an appreciation for public service; and new activities were developed (e.g. Guest Witness and Pre-Trial) to improve critical thinking and foster collaboration among students.
How We Got Here
The Empire story has been made possible because of the kindness, dedication, patience, and grace of an incredible group of people, who have been by our side during this amazing journey.
The nonprofit sector brings with it unique challenges; resources can be hard to come by and social capital is limited. The individuals we honor below have made countless contributions to Empire, often prioritizing Empire’s needs over their own. They’ve sacrificed time, money, sleep, hobbies and professional endeavors to support our young people.
They are not just part of our story; they are our story. We cannot thank them enough.
Our Founding Era (2007 - 2011)
David John Hommel
Reed Horanburg
Cindy Jordano
Michael Griffin
Gregory P. Matarrese
Danielle Waugh
Paul Astuto
Anne Bookin
Dan Bookin
Sarah Bookin
Co’Relous Bryant
Angelo Cuozzo
Growth & Modern Era (2012 - present)
Daniel Matarrese
Mitch Piper
Kate Riekstina
Tiye Rosier
Amber Rumancik
Oscar Samios
Abel Thomas
Harry Tilis
Bill Visone
Viran Weerasekera
Johnathan Woodward
Toby Benjamin
Michelle Cuozzo
Stephanie Fast
Sydney Franklin
Megan Hahn
Jeanine Halva-Neubauer
Glen Halva-Neubauer
David Johnson
Sue Johnson
Frankford Johnson
Paul LaFata
Brian Leahy
Check out the timeline below to follow our path over the past 13 years.
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May 8, 2007
THS Mock Trial Association, Inc. is founded.
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June 15-17, 2007
First Empire City Invitational is hosted at U.S. District Court for Eastern District of New York.
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October 10-12, 2008
Empire City Invitational is hosted in the fall / autumn season for the first time; The organization welcomes schools from Australia, Ireland and Korea, our first ever international participants.
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October 29, 2009
Organization is renamed Empire Mock Trial Association, Inc.
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October 15, 2010
First Opening Ceremony ever hosted in the Grand Ballroom of the New York Marriott at the Brooklyn Bridge.
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October 24-27, 2014
Seventh annual New York program is hosted; the Empire City Invitational becomes Empire New York: The World Championship to provide brand alignment with our San Francisco competition.
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November 21-24, 2014
Empire hosts inaugural Empire San Francisco: New Beginning competition at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of San Francisco.
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July 6, 2015
Empire announces that, moving forward, competitions will feature cases that are topical and socially relevant, shedding light on issues of inequality whenever possible; organization releases Jefferies v. Polk County Police Department (licensed from the American Mock Trial Association).
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September 10-14, 2015
Empire hosts inaugural Empire Atlanta: The Southern Showdown competition at the Fulton County Superior Court.
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June 1, 2016
Empire introduces financial aid program. Offers need-based scholarships for qualifying high schools that cover a school’s full registration package, which includes meals and t-shirts, among other competition perks.
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July 1, 2016
Empire produces its first ever original case, U.S. v. Canjoe, a federal terrorism prosecution taking place in our three host cities: Atlanta, New York and San Francisco.
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September 10-12, 2016
Empire introduces the Pre-Trial Evidentiary Argument (since renamed the Pre-Trial Oral Argument) at Empire San Francisco, which still remains a staple of Empire to this day.
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November 11-14, 2016
Empire celebrates its ten-year anniversary by moving Empire New York from Brooklyn to Manhattan; students stay at a hotel in Times Square and compete in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Empire debuts a beta version of the Guest Witness program: each team conducts a direct examination of one student that is not a part of their mock trial team, and whom they’ve met 15 minutes before the start of the trial. Program is rolled out across all competitions the following year. -
April 29-30, 2017
Empire partners with ARCH Community Outreach to host a local competition for students at Hong Kong University in Hong Kong.
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June 1, 2017
Empire introduces local scholarships designed to benefit the cities and states in which our competitions are based. Qualifying schools receive free registration to an Empire competition if they are within driving distance of said competition (i.e. 4 hours.)
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September 24, 2017
Empire debuts a beta version of PROcess, a revolutionary digital tabulation software, to tabulate the results of its competition.
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October 6, 2017
Empire introduces a public service project in Empire San Francisco. Students volunteer at Glide Memorial, preparing and serving lunch.
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June 1, 2018
Empire introduces a robust need-based scholarship package, offering three scholarships to qualifying schools that covers their hotel accommodations (up to 12 room nights) and registration fee.
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November 18, 2019
Empire announces the opening of Empire Chicago: The Windy City Challenge, which will take Empire San Francisco’s place in the competition season for 2020.
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June 15, 2020
Empire launches Empire Online: two virtual mock trial competition formats allowing students to compete safely during the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic.
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October 30-November 2, 2020
Empire scheduled to host its inaugural Empire Chicago competition.