UH Manoa School of Law moot court team takes national title in Native American Law Moot Court Competition

The school's moot court teams in international law and client counseling also successfully competed at regional competitions across the country in February

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
Contact:
Cynthia Quinn, (808) 956-5516
Dale Lee, (808) 956-8636
William S. Richardson School of Law
Posted: Mar 2, 2007

HONOLULU — The William S. Richardson School of Law at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa proudly announces that its law student team of Scott Hovey, Jr. and Anosh Yaqoob earned top honors at the 2007 National Native American Law Student Association (NALSA) Moot Court Competition held in Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minn, in February. Hovey and Yaqoob, both second-year law students at Mānoa, brought home the 2007 National NALSA Moot Court National Championship as the Best Advocate. Yaqoob also earned second place for Best Oralist.

Hovey and Yaqoob beat out teams from UCLA, Columbia, Arizona, Arizona State, New Mexico and Harvard. A total of 51 teams competed, with 32 teams competing in six rounds of oral competition. The School of Law sent two teams to the competition, with the second student team of Greg Schlais and Moani Crowell making it all the way to the quarterfinals.

"We are very proud of our exceptional students and how they‘ve represented our law school and unique Native Hawaiian culture to the nation," said School of Law Dean Avi Soifer.

The National Native American Law Students Association was founded in 1970 to promote the study of Federal Indian Law, Tribal Law and traditional forms of governance, and to support Native Americans in law school.

In other competitions, a team consisting of School of Law students Taryn Meeks, Robin Scott, David Taga, David Hu and Joshua Walsh took second place for Best Memorials (legal briefs) in the Northwest Regional of the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition in Portland, Ore. The team competed against other top law schools in the country, including University of California, Berkeley, University of Denver, and the University of Minnesota. In addition to its team award, Walsh earned an individual award for Best Memorial. The Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition is a prestigious event held each year in Washington, DC, by the International Law Students Association and the American Society of International Law.

In addition, the law school‘s Client Counseling Team was first runner-up to host William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in the regional rounds of the American Bar Association Law Student Division‘s Client Counseling Competition. The team included third-year law students Shyla Cockett, Shayna Lum, Kristin Bryant and second-year law student Joshua Strickler. This competition simulates a law office consultation in which law students, acting as attorneys, are presented with a client matter. They conduct an interview with a person playing the role of the client and then explain how they would proceed further in the hypothetical situation.

For more information, visit: http://www.hawaii.edu/law