Ka Leo O Hawaii

Issue date: 2/20/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Blane Benevedes 2007 National Native American Law Students Association's Moot Court national champion Scott Hovey Jr. argues a position during a recent practice before William S. Richardson School of Law Dean Aviam Soifer and law professors Melody MacKenzie and Jill Ramsfield.

While it has been four years since a University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa athletic team has won a national championship, one academic unit hopes to defend its national title this week at the National Native American Law Students Association's Moot Court Competition at Arizona State University in Tempe, Ariz.

"During this week's competition, we hope to pass three preliminary rounds and make it into the elimination rounds, … demonstrate our oral advocacy skills, … and network with other students, professors and practitioners in the field of federal Indian law," said Derek Kauanoe, the UH Mānoa Native American Moot Court team captain.

The Moot Court team, a competitive outfit comprised of William S. Richardson School of Law students, has consistently found success at the national level. In 1997, just three years after the team was formed, former UH law student Mona Bernardino was crowned best oralist at the national championship in Wisconsin.

Since then, various reincarnations of the Native American Moot Court team have won top honors in five individual and team national competition categories and finished in the top three 10 other times.

During a Moot Court competition, two teams orally argue their positions on a certain issue by presenting information that supports their arguments from previously prepared case briefs - legal written statements that present a team's position on the issue at hand.

In the Native American category, law students cover previously disputed cases pertaining to tribal sovereignty, membership rights and land-use issues revolving around native communities.

This year's case is about a dispute between the Sandy Spring Indian Reservation of California and a member of the tribe who wishes to withdraw his membership so that he can extensively develop his non-tribal lands within the reservation.

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