In January, Jake Caruso ’25, Haley Lukas ’25, Meghan McAlary ’25, and Jordan Zaia ’25 placed second in the 16th Annual Tulane International Baseball Arbitration Competition, defeating nearly 40 other teams from law schools around the country.
Jordan Zaia ’25 arguing in the final round of competition.
Hosted by the Tulane Sports Law Society at Tulane Law School in New Orleans, the competition is a simulated salary arbitration competition modeled closely on the procedures used by Major League Baseball. The competition, which was in person for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, featured simulations based on the real salary arbitration cases of ballplayers Dylan Cease of the Chicago White Sox, Sean Murphy of the Atlanta Braves, and Kyle Tucker of the Houston Astros. Judges included executives and in-house counsel for MLB teams as well as MLB player agents.
“Our 1L competitors this year were rockstars. By the poise and confidence they brought to each round of the competition, you would think they were seasoned oralists,” said Tori Klevan ’24, board member of the Fordham Sports Law Forum and one of the coaches for Fordham Law’s Tulane International Baseball Arbitration team this year. Klevan was also part of the team that clinched the top spot last year.
This year’s top placement builds upon several recent successes at the competition. In 2022, Fordham Law won the overall competition along with the Written Advocacy and Oral Advocacy awards. In 2021, Fordham Law made it to the semifinals after placing first two consecutive years (2019 and 2020).
Jake Caruso ’25 arguing in the final round of competition.
