Religious Freedom Tournament

Notre Dame Law School Moot Court

Seventh Annual Notre Dame National Appellate Advocacy Tournament for Religious Freedom

The Seventh Annual Religious Freedom Tournament will take place on October 28-30, 2022. Please check back in August 2023 for details about the Eighth Annual Religious Freedom Tournament!

Seventh Annual Religious Freedom Tournament

Competition Information

See 2022 the preliminary fact pattern here.

Read the Official 2022 Rules here.

Meet the judges of the 2022 semifinal and final rounds here!

The due date for the competitor’s briefs is TBD.

Registration Information

Registration for the 2023 RFT will open in the summer!

Contact Information

For further questions regarding the Notre Dame National Appellate Advocacy Tournament for Religious Freedom, please contact our Tournament Director, Leo O’Malley, at lomalley@nd.edu.

2022 Tournament Timeline

Aug. 26 – Registration Opens
Sep. 2 – Finalized Tournament Problem and Appellate Record will be released to registered competitors. Although Teams will argue both sides of the case during the Tournament, they will be assigned one side to brief
Oct. 14th – Registration Closes
Oct. 15th – Deadline to Submit Questions Concerning the Prompt
Oct. 18th – Briefs Due
Oct. 24th – Preliminary Round Schedule and Room Assignments Released
Oct. 27th – Teams arrive in South Bend, Check-in at Hotels
Oct. 28 8am ET – Tournament Welcome and Orientation
Oct. 30th – Tournament Concludes at 7pm ET

About the Religious Freedom Tournament

In 2016, Notre Dame Law School hosted the inaugural Notre Dame National Appellate Advocacy Tournament for Religious Freedom. It was established to bring together competitors, scholars, and practitioners to engage in legal dialogue on a religious freedom topic.

Every fall, teams from law schools across the country participate in the competition and address challenging questions involving the First Amendment as they argue before a mock Supreme Court of the United States. The Religious Freedom Tournament is entirely student-run by members of the Moot Court Board and is typically held at Notre Dame Law School in the McCartan Courtroom. Due to COVID-19 protocols, the Spring 2021 and Fall 2021 tournaments were held virtually via Zoom.

Past Tournaments

Fall 2021

Top Row (left to right): Kayla Schaded, Emily Lawrence, Zac Helms, and Madeline Lange
Bottom Row: Judge Kirsch, Judge Wardlaw, Judge Wilson

First Place: Emily Lawrence & Kayla Schaded, Texas Tech University School of Law

Second Place Team: Zac Helms & Madeleine Lange, University of Oklahoma College of Law

First Place Oralist: Nathan Moelker, Regent University Law School

Second Place Oralist: Diamond Royster, Regent University Law School

First Place Brief: Benjamin Levine & Esteban Valtierra, Chicago-Kent College of Law

Second Place Brief: Jessica James Curtis & Rebecca Braun Harrison, University of Oklahoma College of Law

Spring 2021

First Place: South Texas College of Law Houston

Second Place: Regent University School of Law

Third Place: Third Place Team: Florida International University College of Law

Best Oralist: Marcus Leonard, Florida International University College of Law

Second Place Oralist: Gina Qualter, Chicago-Kent College of Law

Third Place Oralist: Dana DiDomenico, Regent University School of Law

Best Brief: Florida International University College of Law

Second Place Brief: Regent University School of Law

Third Place Brief: South Texas College of Law Houston

2019

First Place: Aliyah Davis and Anthony Cruz, South Texas College of Law

Second Place: Mark Triola, Christophe Morschen, and Catrina Mairose, St. Thomas School of Law

Best Brief: St. Thomas School of Law

Second Best Brief: South Texas College of Law

Best Oralist: Rolando Reyna, Texas A&M University School of Law

Second Place Oralist: Aliyah Davis, South Texas College of Law

2018

First Place: Florida Coastal School of Law

Second Place: Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law at Barry University

Third Place: St. Thomas School of Law

Best Oralist: Flor Levia, Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law at Barry University

Second Place Oralist: Summer Robbins, Florida Coastal School of Law

Best Brief: Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law at Barry University

Second Place Brief: Jacob T. Martin, Amber Les, Talia Lux, and Beau Carter, Pepperdine University School of Law

2017

Liberty University School of Law Moot Court Team members Levi Mauldin and Tom Morris

First Place: Liberty University School of Law

Second Place: Michigan State University College of Law

Third Place: George Washington University Law School

Best Oralist: Liberty University School of Law

Second Place Oralist: Valparaiso University

Best Brief: Liberty University School of Law

Second Place Brief: Northwestern University

2016

Left to right: Matthew Ciulla, Tournament Director of the National Appellate Advocacy Tournament for Religious Freedom; Emilie Blake, third-year Texas Tech Law student; Jessica Morrison, third-year Texas Tech Law student; and Christina Dines, President of the Notre Dame Law School Moot Court Board.

First Place: Texas Tech University School of Law

Second Place: Stanford Law School

Third Place: Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law at Barry University

Best Oralist: Anna Caruso from BYU

Best Brief: Mariah Mauck and Sarah Scrivner, Texas Tech University School of Law