Mock Jurors are used in legal education and legal research to create a trial-like setting for learning which does not involve the actual legal system. The trial may have varying degrees of realism, ranging from being held in a courtroom with a real judge to being conducted informally in a classroom with a student acting as the judge.
In legal research, the purpose of a mock jury is to create a focus group which lawyers can use to explore the dynamics of juries, and to see the way in which juries will respond to their case. Cases can be argued in a number of ways, and sometimes it helps to test out arguments and approaches with a jury, to see how ordinary people might respond to the case. In this case, the mock jury would usually hear an abbreviated version of a trial, which may consist only of primary arguments, with no presentation of evidence, and then the jury deliberates and returns a verdict.