Religious Freedom Tournament

Ninth Annual Notre Dame National Appellate Advocacy Tournament for Religious Freedom

The Ninth Annual Religious Freedom Tournament will take place in the fall of 2024.

Ninth Annual Religious Freedom Tournament

Competition Information

The Official 2024 Rules and Prompt will be announced later in the year.

The due date for the competitor’s briefs will be announced later in the year.

Registration Information

Registration information for the 2024 RFT will be announced later this year

Contact Information

For further questions regarding the Notre Dame National Appellate Advocacy Tournament for Religious Freedom, please view our Contact Us page.


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 2023

Read more about the 2023 RFT here!

First Place: Corey Stewart, Courtney Baer Green & Stephen Vukovits, University of Chicago
Second Place:  Andrew Lake, Dylan Thomas, Josh Buckner & Tanya Lockett, Brigham Young University
Best Preliminary Oralist: Joseph Partain, University of Chicago
Second Place Preliminary Oralist: Courtney Baer Green, University of Chicago
Best Brief: Corey Stewart, Courtney Baer Green & Stephen Vukovits, University of Chicago
Second Place Brief: Rebekah Leavitt, River Tanner & Jacob Hansen, Brigham Young University

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:  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
Best 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

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