A three-person team from Fordham Law’s Dispute Resolution Society won Best Advocate-Client Team at the 14th Annual International Law School Mediation Tournament in London on February 21. Fordham’s team was composed of Kat Hannah ’16, Brett Jackson ’16, and Natalie Turchi ’16 and was coached by Sydney Fetten ’15.
The competition was sponsored by International Academy of Dispute Resolution and hosted by BPP University and University College London. Competitors included law schools from countries around the world, including the U.K., Ireland, Bosnia, Jordan, Ukraine, Italy, India, Singapore, and Greece.
Fordham Law advanced through the competition’s three preliminary rounds, during which the students rotated between the roles of attorney, client, and mediator. The team then advanced past the semifinals to compete in the final round against Chapman University, Loyola University Chicago, and Queen’s University Belfast. The team worked with a different case in each round, the final case being one that concerned workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender, and age.
Fetten said the competition gave Fordham Law’s team an opportunity to challenge themselves by adapting their dispute resolution strategies to fit the different mediation norms used by lawyers abroad.
“International competitions are inherently difficult in that there are significant cultural differences in both mediation and advocacy styles between the U.S. and other countries,” she said.
Fetten said the team’s quick thinking and its ability to pick up the new legal concepts they learned in the training portion of the competition contributed to their win.
“I am lucky to have had the opportunity to work with such talented and dedicated students who put in a tremendous amount of work in preparing for the competition,” she said.
Turchi found that the competition preparation helped her find new strengths and hone skills that complemented those of her teammates.
“The coaching helped us pinpoint how to control our approach and temper some of our personal idiosyncrasies to work closer in tandem and develop our skills so that we had a uniform and structured strategy in client, attorney, and mediator positions,” she said.
A combination of the students’ own work and their impressive support system led to Fordham Law’s ultimate success. Professor Jacqueline Nolan-Haley, Faculty Advisor of the DRS, attributed the team’s victory to the “extraordinary dedication and skill of the team’s coach, Sydney Fetten, and the outstanding and generous assistance offered by members of the DRS in helping the team to prepare for the competition.”