Photo courtesy of MSU Law
By Chuck Carlson
MSU Law
Alexys Neal, ’24, and Nick Butkevich, ’24, competed for the Michigan State University College of Law in the second annual Gender and Sexuality Moot Court competition held at MSU in March.
Moot court is a time honored law school tradition in which fledgling lawyers analyze, argue and, perhaps most important, learn to understand complex legal issues that require pinpoint reasoning and viewing both sides of an argument.
In a modern spin on this tradition, Michigan State University College of Law is one of only two ABA-approved law schools in the United States that offers a moot court opportunity for students interested in learning more about Gender, Sexuality, and the Law. While the UCLA Williams Institute Moot Court program focuses on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity, the MSU Law Gender and Sexuality program casts a wider net focusing on complex issues of gender, sexuality, reproductive justice, bodily autonomy, and gender identity and expression.
The study of Gender, Sexuality, and the Law has long interested Professor Heather Johnson, who teaches an upper level course at MSU titled “Law and Gender” to expose students and help them gain experience in thinking through these critical issues. The class is required for those doing moot court competitions, but open to anyone interested in the subject matter.
That interest led Johnson and MSU Law Professor Nancy Costello to create a moot court team to compete in UCLA’s Williams Institute Moot Court Competition in 2010.
Then last year, with the support of Law College Dean Linda Greene, Johnson and Costello created another opportunity at MSU and the Gender and Sexuality Moot Competition was born.
Despite being held remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the inaugural effort was so successful, the second annual competition was held this past March, featuring 20 law schools from across the country.
Also held remotely, Johnson said the event again was a success.
“This is such a hot topic. I loved being able to help make this happen,” Johnson said.
“This year we had to contend with the fact that schools could also compete at the Williams Institute Competition in person. The Williams Institute competition took place a week before ours in sunny Los Angeles. We wanted to see if there was enough interest to hold the program again this year. It was pretty thrilling because even more teams registered to compete at MSU this year.”
The Second Annual Gender and Sexuality Moot Court Competition was held on March 18-19. Teams prepared a written brief, and each team participated in three preliminary rounds of arguments before the field was narrowed to the eight teams.
Moot Court March Madness then took over with a bracket pitting the highest seeded team against the lowest for a quarterfinal and semifinal round until two teams emerged for the final round on Sunday afternoon. The final round was broadcast as a webinar so anyone who wanted to watch could view it. MSU Law College alumni from around the country tuned in for the final argument with more than 65 registering to watch it.
There were 34 rounds of arguments in the two-day competition. Each round of arguments had three volunteer judges. Alumni, members of the State Bar and Bench served as the more than 75 volunteer judges. Overall, law students volunteered to bailiff and help manage the online rounds.
The event provided an opportunity to stay up to date with an area of law that some lawyers and judges do not frequently practice in. Student volunteers learned about the legal issues involving gender and sexuality, but also watched arguments and heard questions from judges to learn more about the process of moot court.
Many alumni who participated in the program as a student came back to judge the event or tune in for the final round.
“There was an alumni graduate watch party,” Johnson said with a laugh. “It was a great opportunity to see and engage with everyone who had competed in the last 12 years.”
The event impressed Sarah Harmon, the coach of Gonzaga University law school team that won the overall competition.
"All of our students have expressed to me how impactful and rewarding this competition has been to each of them,” she said. “For our team that won, both students have shared with me that this competition was the most rewarding experience they have had in law school.”
For MSU, the student competitors were Nick Butkevich, ‘24, and Alexys Neal, ‘24. The student leadership team members for the competition were Skylar Steel, ‘23, Taylor Mills, ‘23, and Joshua Cambri, ‘24.
For Butkevich, a native of Westland, who was part of the team that earned second place in the competition for the best brief, this was an opportunity he long sought.
“I originally thought I’d be a molecular scientist,” he said, noting he earned his undergraduate degree from Eastern Michigan University majoring in molecular biology with minors in criminology and chemistry. “And I was a research assistant for two years then I realized research life was a little too mundane for me. It was the same experiment every single day.”
He knew it was time for a change and he found it at the Michigan State College of Law.
“I was a bailiff during last year’s competition, and I was able to watch others argue the issue I feel passionate about,” he said. “There aren’t very many moot courts that focus on gender and sexuality. This was a competition that was sort of unique. You can’t find it very easily.”
MSU students Juliet Watson and Katie Kennedy took part in the Williams Institute Gender and Sexuality Moot Court in Los Angeles the week before the MSU competition.
The questions each school had to address and argue were:
Whether the District Court judge was required to recuse himself due to perceived bias after the Plaintiff filed a motion for recusal based on the judge’s religious affiliations and financial ties?
Whether a religiously affiliated, not-for-profit healthcare system can evade compliance with a neutral and generally applicable public accommodation law and deny an individual a medical procedure based on its religious affiliation?
“I really loved the competition,” Butkevich said. “It was stressful and the side I was assigned to (representing the religious hospital) was not the one I agreed with.”
But he also admitted it was the kind of look-at-all-sides training he will need when he becomes a civil rights attorney, the direction he’s leaning toward now.
“It was an amazing opportunity,” he said.
Kennedy agreed that it was a vital and important experience.
“We learned a lot,” she said. “We got to be in the presence of some pretty important people who have paved the way for the issues of sexual orientation and gender identity law.”
In the Williams competition, students wrote and prepared oral arguments on parental rights and sexual orientation change efforts (conversion therapy). Kennedy noted that it was an opportunity to take her law education in a new direction.
“This was an experience I wasn’t going to get anywhere else,” she said.
And the fact that the arguments focused on important issues that are current and evolving on a daily basis made it even more educational.
“It’s an area of law students don’t really get to experience or learn about,” she said. “There are a lot of schools that don’t even offer gender and sexuality courses.”
Johnson and those who wish to compete said plans are already under way to host the third annual event next year.
Kennedy is eyeing a spot on the student leadership team to work with Professor Johnson to develop the problem for next year’s competition. While Butkevich is hopeful that he will compete again next year.
“It’s a unique opportunity,” he said.
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