Three Fordham Law students took first place overall last month in one of the most realistic arbitration competitions in the country and the first of its kind in the State of New York.
Alessandra Rose Johnson ’17, Alexandra Thomas ’17, and Kaitlyn Zacharias ’17 of the Dispute Resolution Society won the First Annual New York State Arbitration Competition, a new domestic arbitration competition started this year by the NYSBA Dispute Resolution Section. For the competition, contestants received a fact pattern based on a commercial dispute for which they drafted a pre-hearing memorandum, prepared witnesses, and conducted an arbitration hearing under the AAA rules, including opening and closing statements as well as direct and cross examinations.
On the weekend of November 13 and 14, Johnson, Thomas, and Zacharias arbitrated before practicing arbitrators, including in the final round Judge E. Leo Milonas, former Associate Justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York, First Department; John Feerick ’61, former president of the AAA and former Dean of Fordham Law School; and Claire Gutekunst, President-Elect of the NYSBA. As winners, they received a cash prize and gained feedback from leading practitioners in the field. The team was coached by Stefanie Arroyo ’17.
