The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law will host the 2015 National Native American Law Students Association (NALSA) moot court competition, to be held March 6-7, in Tucson, Arizona. The annual event features law students representing 70 law schools from across the country. More than 120 lawyers and academic experts in American Indian Law, along with sitting judges from tribal, state, and federal courts throughout the Southwest, have volunteered to judge the two-day competition. The event is being organized by the College of Law’s NALSA chapter students and The University of Arizona Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy (IPLP) Program.

Every year, NALSA chapters from law schools around the country submit bidding packages, with the chapter receiving the most NALSA member votes winning the opportunity to host the annual event. Students in Arizona’s NALSA chapter produced their own YouTube video that helped secure their successful bid to host this year’s competition. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd-LO1E0838)

“We are excited to not only participate but also have the opportunity to host this year’s event,” said Chase Velasquez, a member of the White Mountain Apache Tribe and NALSA’s President this year at the College of Law. “With a record number of teams attending from law schools across the nation, we hope to make this the best competition yet.”

Moot court competitions are an important part of the law school educational experience, providing students with the opportunity to prepare legal briefs and engage in appellate advocacy in simulated oral arguments in front of a panel of judges. This year’s National NALSA moot court competition will focus on an issue that has received extensive press coverage in the international art world—control and provenance of American Indian sacred ceremonial objects. Students will be arguing over the right of an American Indian tribe to exercise jurisdiction over non-Indians trafficking in ceremonial artwork regarded as being among the most sacred pieces of cultural property belonging to the tribe.

The competition is open to the public. For more information about the moot court event or topic visit, http://www.law.arizona.edu/iplp/moot_court/.