The Native American Law Students Association (NALSA) at The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law is hosting the 2015 National NALSA Moot Court Competition. The competition will be held in Tucson, Arizona on March 6-7, 2015. We are expecting over 70 teams from law schools across the United States to take part in this year’s competition. We need your help to make this the best competition ever.

This year’s moot court problem contains two issues. The first explores tribal adjudicatory jurisdiction over a civil case in which a non-Indian sues a non-member Indian (the widow and mother of tribal members) for the return of a deposit after a business transaction falls through. The second issue explores a tribe’s ability to charge the same non-member Indian with a civil infraction. The full moot court problem is available from the competition website at http://www.law.arizona.edu/iplp/moot_court/.

With the expected number of competitors, we need approximately 57 judges for the briefs and 126 oral argument judges. We are seeking volunteers willing to help fill these crucial spots. We have outlined below the responsibilities of judges. If you are willing to volunteer, please complete the attached form and email to: nnalsamootcourt@gmail.com. Please feel free to pass this request along to others who might be interested.

Brief Judges:
The moot court rules require that briefs be scored anonymously by a panel of three judges. We are trying to get enough volunteers so that each panel will need to judge only four briefs (each of the three judges on a panel will receive and score the same four briefs). Briefs from the student competitors are due on January 12, 2015, and we plan to have the briefs in the hands of the judges a week later. We will send each judge a copy of the briefs, a score sheet, and a copy of the bench brief, which contains a guide to the issue and arguments. Judges agree to return the completed score sheets by March 1.

Team coaches are ineligible to judge the briefs, and brief judges may not judge any team’s practice rounds or otherwise discuss the problem with participants, team faculty advisors, coaches, or other persons directly associated with preparing teams for competition.

Oral Argument Judges:
We will have four sets of preliminary rounds on Friday, March 6—two in the morning and two in the afternoon. We will also have several elimination rounds on Saturday. We will hold an orientation session on Friday morning, Friday afternoon, and Saturday morning, and will also provide score sheets and a guide to the issues and arguments (bench brief).

The competition rules require that judges must fit one of the following categories: (1) passed a federal, state, and/or tribal bar exam, and is a current member of a bar in good standing; (2) currently a sitting judge or served as a judge for at least 2 of the previous 5 years; (3) law school graduate currently clerking for a tribal, state, or federal judge; or (4) full-time law professor. Team faculty advisors, coaches, or other persons directly associated with preparing the teams are ineligible to be competition judges.

If you are interested in judging, please complete the 2015 Judges’ Information Sheet and return it to me at nnalsamootcourt@gmail.com. If you have any questions, you can reach me at the same email address or at (520) 907-8682. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide.

Sincerely,

Chase Velasquez

President, UA NALSA
Vice President, National NALSA

Native American Law Students Association (NALSA)
Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Program
The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law
Tel: (520) 626-6497 Fax: (520) 626-1819
http://www.law.arizona.edu/iplp