In response to a nation-wide concern for a growing attitude of disrespect among the nation's youth for the law and its role in society, various programs around the United States were initiated in the 1970's to involve young people in law-focused education. One such program was a mock trial conducted in the classroom. In Dallas, the activity was so successful that in 1979, a city-wide mock trial competition was initiated by the Dallas Bar Association's Law in a Changing Society Committee (now called the Mock Trial Committee), the Dallas Bar Foundation, and the Dallas Independent School District. The positive response of students and educators to the mock trial experience prompted the Dallas Bar Association to organize a competition on the state level. Invitations were extended to bar associations and school districts around the state. In June, 1980, four teams came to Dallas for the initial statewide competition. Scholarship awards presented to the winning teams of both the local and state competitions were provided by various local foundations. An expanded plan for the statewide program was adopted.

           The offices for a statewide mock trial competition were opened at the Dallas Legal Education Center (the Belo Mansion), and in May of 1981 the second statewide competition was held. Seventeen school districts attended the event. This was more than double the original number set as a goal for participation. Eight-one students were directly involved in the State Finals; however, thousands of others were affected by this learning experience by way of local competition and preparation of the case as a classroom activity. The 1981 Competition was recognized by the State Bar of Texas as one of the two most outstanding law-related projects in the State of Texas, resulting in the Dallas Bar Association receiving an Award of Merit from the State Bar of Texas.

           Because of the growth in interest and participation that the competition experienced in 1981, it was necessary to establish a regional level of the competition prior to the 1982 State Finals tournament. Plans for regional competitions were finalized, using the twenty Texas Regional Education Service Centers as the network for the local trials. In 1982, over one hundred school districts participated. Fifteen teams emerged from the regional competitions to compete at the State Finals. More the 4,500 high school students were affected in a positive way by the educational experience offered by participating in the mock trial activity.

           In its fourth year (1983), the project continued its geometric pattern of growth. Over 130 school districts indicated an intent to participate. Seventeen regional winners participated in the State Finals. For the first time, all twenty educational regions hosted a regional level of the competition.

           In 1984, Oklahoma and Texas conducted a bi-state competition. Several other states held a similar competition later in the same year, and in May of 1985, the two events combined to form the first "All-States High School Mock Trial Tournament" (now known as the "National High School Mock Trial Championship"). Texas sent its state championship team, from Corpus Christi's Richard King High School, to compete in this first national championship tournament held in Lincoln, Nebraska. Texas won the national title and was recognized for this achievement at the state House of Representatives in Austin. With generous grants provided by the Texas Bar Foundation and the Dallas Bar Foundation, the Dallas Bar Association hosted the National Championship Tournament in May of 1988. Texas has participated each year since and in 1988, 1991 and 1992, Texas won second place in the national tournament. In 1999 the Texas team, Kerrville's Tivy High School was undefeated in the tournament; however due to a tie-breaker rule, Texas was ranked 3rd in the nation.

           In 1988 organizational changes restructured the regional level of competition in several ways: (1) the number of teams advancing to the State Finals was increased to at least 24 teams and not more than 32; (2) the number of teams advancing from regionals would be apportioned each year according to the actual number of participating schools, (3) regional competitions had the option of not requiring a district competition prior to regionals; and (4) because the program in Dallas involved as many as eighteen teams, the Dallas Independent School District would qualify as a region of its own and would be subject to the same organizational requirements.

           In 1989 the State Coordinator was elected to the Board of Directors of the national program and became an officer of the first Executive Committee, which was established to incorporate the national competition and to refine the rules and procedures of the competition. Stephen H. Miller, who has served as a team attorney-advisor and is a long-time member of the Mock Trial Committee, was elected as an officer of the national board in 1997.

            In 1996, the Dallas Bar Association Mock Trial Committee instituted several program changes: (1) the team size was increased to the three attorney-three witness format used by the National tournament; (2) team size increased to 6-10 members; and (3) a copyright statement was attached to each competition packet. In 2004, the Texas State Chapmionship team, St. Thomas' Episcopal School in Houston, received the first-ever Most Professional Team Award at the National Championship Tournament.

            In its 27 year history the Texas High School Mock Trial Competition has had more than (107,500) participants and has awarded more than ($294,00) in scholarships at the local, regional, and state levels. The Texas Education Agency recognizes this program as an approved academic competition.