Montana Lawyer April/May 2024

National Native American Law Students Association Moot Court Competition

BY: LILLIAN ALVERNAZ The bench was hot! The all-Indige nous final judge panel at the National Native American Law Students Association (NNALSA) Moot Court were relentless in their questioning of the two last standing teams in the competition. The Tribal Law and Federal Indian Law students from across the country were ready and provided the back and forth with the judges that is readily present in our country’s appellate system. These students demonstrated that they are ready to pick up the baton and be the legal warriors that tribes, firms, and government need as they move into the future. Thanks to the UM law students’

2007 UM JD alumna) was a prelimi nary judge through the Sweet 16 round. She said she “was impressed by the law students’ expertise on the substan tive law as well as their oral argument presentation skills. It was fun to be able to learn more about the issues from the students and to hear some of the innova tive arguments they made in response to the complicated case. Most of all, I was delighted to meet so many future Native lawyers who will no doubt be passionate advocates for Tribes across the nation.” Kristina Lucero (Coast Salish, Tseycum 1st Nations, 2009 UM JD aluma), another preliminary judge, stated that “the energy moot court brought to the law school and campus

efforts to bid on hosting, planning, and organizing the national moot court, this was the first time that the NNALSA Moot Court had been hosted in Montana. The moot court problem, Dakota Farm Bureau v. Northern Tribe, was written by UM Professors Kekek Stark (Turtle Mountain Ojibwe) and Michelle Bryan. The 51 teams from 26 schools submitted briefs on the problem and engaged in oral arguments dur ing the two-day competition. The oral arguments were presented before judge panels consisting of nearly 80 volunteer attorneys, judges, and professors from Indian Country, well-versed in Federal Indian Law and Tribal Law cases. Erin Shanley (Cheyenne River Sioux,

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