National NALSA Moot Court Competition
Columbia’s teams consist of pairs of first year students and are coached by former participants. Each team submits an appellate brief and competes in the national oral advocacy competition. Columbia’s NALSA chapter works in conjunction with the Moot Court team to sponsor Native Law events throughout the year. Applications for the team are released in the early fall.
National NALSA Teams Past & Present
Congratulations to the 2019-2020 NALSA Moot Court Team!
Columbia Law School’s Native American Law Students Association (NALSA) Moot Court team performed exceptionally well at the National NALSA Moot Court Competition at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law.
This year's team consisted of sixteen outstanding national competitors: Iqra Asghar ‘22, Bianca Chavez ‘22, Arabella Colombier ‘22, Emily Dennan ‘22, Thomas Hart ‘22, Colin Henderson ‘22, Aaron Jacobs ‘22, Joohwan Kim ‘22, Avesh Krishna ‘22, Krista Landis ‘22, Emily McEvoy ‘22, Victoria Queneau ‘22, Brian Reiser ‘22, Leslie Ridings ‘22, Abby Shamray ‘22, and Caleb Smith ‘22.
Brian Reiser ‘22 and Caleb Smith ‘22 won first place in the entire competition, also taking home third best overall oral advocates. Emily Dennan ‘22 and Emily McEvoy ‘22 won first place as a team for best brief. Joohwan Kim '22 and Brian Reiser '22 won third and second best oral advocate.
Congratulations to Emily Dennan '22, Emily McEvoy '22, Krista Landis ‘22, and Colin Henderson ’22 for advancing to the quarterfinals. Also, congratulations to Aaron Jacobs '22 and Thomas Hart '22 for advancing to the top sixteen!
The team was led by editors Sam Truesdell '21 and Chelsea Minuche '21, and coaches Jack Furness '21, John Clayton '21, Claire Postman '21, and Nicole Molee '21.
The team is grateful to 2L and 3L NALSA alumni for taking the time to guest judge, to Lecturer-in-Law Steven McSloy for providing guidance on Federal Indian Law, and to Lecturer-in-Law JoAnn Kintz for preparing the team during LPW. Finally, the team appreciates the support of Ilene Strauss, Grace Assaye, and Sarah Shin!
The first weekend of March 2019, the Native American Law Students Association Moot Court team at Columbia Law School dominated the National Native American Law Students Association Moot Court Competition at the University of Arizona College of Law.
This year's team consisted of the following sixteen outstanding national competitors: Anita Yandle '21, Bastian Shah '21, Ben Feiner '21, Beth Orem '21, Chelsea Minuche '21, Claire Postman '21, Eitan Arom '21, Harlea Perdue '21, Jack Furness '21, Jessie Grace Sennett '21, John Clayton '21, Julia Rigal '21, Nicole Molee '21, Riley Collins '21, Sam Truesdell '21, and Suz Kroeber '21. Our team was led by Miranda Rehaut '20, Christine Qin '20, and James Shepherd '20.
Four of the eight teams in the quarterfinals were from CLS, as were two of the four teams in the semifinals. In addition, our very own Claire Postman '21 and Chelsea Minuche '21 won 2nd place in the entire competition! They also won 1st place for best brief, and Claire also won 3rd place for best oral advocate.
Congratulations also to Jack Furness '21 and John Clayton '21 for advancing to the semifinals and also to Ben Feiner '21, Nicole Molee '21, Anita Yandle '21, and Eitan Arom '21 for advancing to the quarterfinals!
Columbia had a fantastic showing at the 2017 National Native American Law Student Association Moot Court Competition!
Columbia sent six teams to the competition and all six demonstrated phenomenal oral advocacy skill and a mastery of the complicated issues involved in this year’s problem. James Butler & Kamilah Moore, Helin Azizoglu & Victoria Xie, and Edward Smith & Hilary Rosenthal all gave truly excellent performances in the two opening rounds of the competition.
Particular congratulations go to the three teams that advanced past the first two rounds of competition. Clara Kent & Heidi Guzman advanced to the round of 16, Agatha Erickson & Ty Carleton advanced to the round of 8, and Lydia Cash & Juliana Bennington advanced to the round of four coming in third place overall! Lydia Cash also received the G. William Rice Best Oral Advocate award for receiving the highest scores from judges in the entire competition!
NALSA could not be prouder of the members of this year’s team. This weekend’s competition marks the end of months of practices the competitors (all of whom are 1Ls) undertook in addition to their studies. Please join NALSA editors Komal Patel and Hannah Lutz, and coaches, Max Schechter, Maia Hutt, and Rebecca Nocharli in congratulating this year’s competitors.
The NALSA team would like to thank the many past NALSA participants who volunteered to judge and assist the team this year as well as faculty member Christine Swanick for her dedication to NALSA through LPW and for traveling to California to watch the team compete and faculty member Steven McSloy for taking the time to guest judge practices and offer his insight into the world of Federal Indian Law.
Once again, congratulations to the 2017 NALSA Moot Court Team.
Congratulations to all of the competitors at the 2016 National NALSA Moot Court Competition hosted by the Michigan State University College of Law!
This past weekend Columbia’s NALSA sent nine teams to the competition:
- Thomas Enering ’18 & Ray Martin ’18
- Rebecca Nocharli ’18 & Komal Patel ’18
- Dale Williams ’18 & Laura Pond ’18
- Hannah Lutz ’18 & John Christian ’18
- Maia Hutt ’18 & Grant Johnson ’18
- Samuel Nadler ’18 & Alena Perszyk ’18
- Max Schechter ’18 & Theodore Witt ’18
- Jacob Grubman ’16 & Nelson Hua ’16
- Cady Nicol ’16 & Simon Wechsler ’16
The team was incredibly successful this year. Rebecca Nocharli ’18 & Komal Patel ’18, Jacob Grumman ’16 & Nelson Hua ’16, Cady Nicol ’16 & Simon Wechsler ’16, and Samuel Nadler ’18 & Alena Perszyk ’18 all advanced to the elimination round of sixteen.
Rebecca Nocharli ’18 & Komal Patel ’18 advanced further into the top eight at the competition.
Cady Nicol ’16 took home one of the competitions top prizes as best spoken advocate beating out 103 other competitors.
The team was coached by Rori Collins ’17, Dhrumit Joshi ’17, Morgan Saunders ’17, Todd Densen ’17, and Saagar Kaul ’17. The team would also like to give a special thanks to their faculty advisor Christine Swanick, Professor Steven McSloy, Professor Shawn Watts, and all of the guest judges who helped make this possible.
Please join us in offering our congratulations to the NALSA Moot Court Team!
This past weekend, Columbia Law School participated, along with 53 other teams from 24 schools, in the National Native American Law Students Association Moot Court competition hosted by Lewis & Clark Law School in Portland, Oregon.
Natasha Bronn ’13 and Jenny Patten ’13 won Second Place overall in the competition. In addition, Andrew Sangster ’15 and Jacob Wolf ’15 advanced to the round of 16 and won Second Place for Best Brief. William Monks’15 and Shannon Cleary ‘15 also advanced to the round of 16.
Also competing on Columbia’s team were Sourabh Mishra, Ryan Gander, Jacob Sklar, Olena Savytska, Kevin Casey, Hubert Ahn, Shreya Fadia, and Daniel Sockwell (all ’15). The team was coached by Allison Neswood ’13, Meagan Burrows ’14, JoAnn Kintz ’14, Ian MacDougall ’14 and Caroline Stover ’14.
The teams wish to give a special thanks to Professor Carla Fredericks, Professor Philip Genty, Professor Steve McSloy, Professor Trevor Morrison, and Judge Debra Livingston as well as all the other professors and school administrators who helped make this achievement possible.
Please join us in offering our congratulations to the NALSA Moot Court Team!
At the end of February, Columbia Law School participated, along with 56 teams from 26 schools, in the National Native American Law Students Association Moot Court competition hosted by the William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawai’i at Manoa.
Shefali Singh and Caroline Stover ’14 won Third Place overall in the competition. In addition, JoAnn Kintz ’14 and Ian MacDougall ’14 advanced to the round of 8, and Kathryn Benedict ’14 and Michelle Luo ’14 advanced to the round of 16.
Also competing on Columbia’s team were Meagan Burrows, Benjamin Gossels, Carly Hudson, Bill Nahill, Arlene Ortiz-Leytte and Natasha Reyes (all ’14). The team was coached by Frank Holleman ’12, Amy Conners ’13, Jason Hipp ’13, Allison Neswood ’13 and Jenny Patten ’13.
The teams wish to give a special thanks to Professor Carla Fredericks, Professor Philip Genty, Professor Steve McSloy and Professor J. Kehaulani Kauanui as well as all the other professors and school administrators who helped make this achievement possible.
Congratulations to the Columbia 2010-2011 NALSA Moot Court team for their success this past weekend at the National Moot Court Competition!
Out of 66 teams, two Columbia teams advanced to the Top 16 elimination rounds – Caitlin Giaimo & Andrea McChristian, and Jenny Patten & Jason Hipp. Overall, Jenny Patten & Jason Hipp were Third Place overall, making it to the semifinals. Libby Moulton & Inbar Gal received the Third Place Best Brief award. Amy Conners received the Best Oralist award.
This year’s team consisted of Jenny Patten & Jason Hipp, Libby Moulton & Inbar Gal, Joshua Lewey & Alexandra Blaszczuk, Andrea McChristian & Caitlin Giaimo, Sean Berens & Rachel Tishler, Jennifer Guadette & Amy Conners, Allison Neswood & Jenny Zhang, Precious Benally & Leon Kenworthy, and Kyla Jackson & Chris Street. This year’s coaches were Frank Holleman, Alex Hogan, Kyle Kolb, Caitlin Smith, and Courtney Smith.
The Columbia NALSA Moot Court teams were great in South Dakota this February!
First, we’d like to thank Lonnie Wright and the members of the University of South Dakota NALSA chapter for running an incredibly smooth and professional event. Congratulations Lonnie!
Second, we’d like to thank Professor Doug Endreson for all of his help in preparing for competition.
Finally, congratulations to the team on a job well done! All the participants were well prepared and represented Columbia NALSA with pride. Great job everyone!
Competitors Novika Ishar and Alexander Hogan placed in the top sixteen teams.
Competitors Jenna Krueger and Frank Holleman placed in the top eight teams.
Competitors Caitlin Smith and Courtney Smith won 2nd Best Brief.
Competitors Novika Ishar and Alexander Hogan won 1st Best Brief.
New York, March 2, 2009 — Columbia Law School won the National Native American Law Students Association (NNALSA) Moot Court Competition, held this past weekend in Boulder, Colorado. This victory adds to a growing list of moot court triumphs students have landed this season.
Bringing home the gold were David Saunders ’09 and Kerry Carroll ’11, who placed first in the overall competition. Ted Alexander ’11 and Matthew Birkhold ’11 took third place overall and Farhang Heydari ’11 and Scott Thurman ’11 won third best brief.
This year’s problem addressed a challenge to a public university policy granting tuition waivers to certain American Indian students, on the grounds that the policy violates a state ban on racial preferences in state-funded programs. The challenge also argues that the policy violates the Equal Protection Clause by excluding federally recognized tribal members from its benefits.
Several other teams of Columbians advanced beyond the elimination rounds: Tanvir Vahora ’11 and Kyle Kolb ’11 made the final eight, and Lauren Gallo ’11 and Jacqueline Palma ’11 made the final 16. Approximately 40 teams total entered the competition.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON (February 11, 2006) — Columbia Law School is pleased to announce that Mainon Schwartz ’08 has won the “Best Individual Oralist” award at the 14th annual National Native American Moot Court Competition. The award was presented at a February 11th banquet following this year’s moot court competition at the University of Washington, Seattle.
This year’s teams from Columbia were: April Day ’07 and Raven Sealy ’08, Michael Kerman ’08 and Mainon Schwartz ’08, Gabriel Martinez ’08 and Nicole Willis ’08
Chrissie DeMaso ’07 and Adrian Barnes ’07 served as coaches.
Ms. Schwartz was presented with a trophy and a copy of a newly-published environmental Indian law casebook in recognition of her achievement.
Columbia students distinguished themselves at the National Native American Law Students Association held at the UCLA School of Law. Chrisse DeMasso ’07 finished in first place and Devin Slack ’07 finished in third place in the Best Individual Oralist competition. The team, made up of all members of the Class of 2007, consisted of: April Day, Anton Jongoneel, Wade Gungoll, Daron Carreiro, Chrissie DeMaso , Thomasina Hare, Adrian Barnes, Naureen Shah, Devin Slack, and Melissa Tiarks. Denten Robinson ’05 and Katie Morgan ’05 coordinated the NALSA Moot Court program at Columbia with the aid of Adjunct Professor Doug Endreson.