Students Place in Arbitration, Moot Court Contests

Fordham University School of Law’s Brendan Moore Trial Advocacy team placed second in the American Bar Association’s Arbitration Competition, held Jan. 25-26 at the ABA’s Chicago headquarters. The team—comprised of Ben Bergin, Chris Liang, Lauren Melkus, and Kaitlin Wood—competed against 68 teams from across the country, alternating each round between roles as lawyers and witnesses for the plaintiff or the defendant in a medical malpractice case. The contest is one of four national competitions sponsored by the student division of the ABA.

Meanwhile, student teams from the University at Buffalo Law School and Columbia Law placed in the northeast regional round of the national Frederick Douglass Moot Court Competition, held Jan. 23-27 during the Northeast Black Law Student Association in Cambridge, Mass. A Columbia Law team of Whitney Hayes and John Goodwin won first place, with another Columbia Law team of Jocelyn Greer and Garrett Schuman taking first-runner up. A Buffalo Law team of Adam Faeth and Franz Wright was second-runner up. Buffalo Law students Sarah Tanbakuchi and Shayna Eichen won best petitioner brief, while Columbia law students Taylor Hartstein and Madiba Dennie won best respondent brief. Kate Ferguson, also from Columbia Law, won best oral advocate. First and second-place teams will advance to the national competition, to be held in Atlanta on March 6-10.