Advocacy Competitions in Dispute Resolution
The Frank Evans Center, in conjunction with the Advocacy Program, manages and administers a number of regional, national, and international law student competitions with the concentration and focus on representing clients in a variety of dispute resolution methods. Under the supervision and coaching of faculty and alumni, students have competed in numerous competitions, both at home and abroad. Our teams have brought home twenty-three wins in recent years and an unprecedented number of appearances as finalists. The law school placed 4th in the nation on the American Bar Association’s (ABA) 2021-22 Competition Champions list. Due to their rigorous practice schedules, students receive academic credit for participation on traveling teams. To be eligible to compete, students must try out at the ADR Intramural Tournament held annually in September.
Currently, South Texas College of Law Houston teams participate in the following ADR competitions:
ABA Client Counseling Competition: This ABA-sponsored competition involves a law office consultation with a potential client. The law students, acting as attorneys, are presented with a client matter and conduct an interview with the potential client. After gathering information, they counsel the client on how they would proceed further in the hypothetical case. This competition is hosted regionally in February each year.
ABA Negotiation Competition: Also part of the ABA Law Student Division, in this competition, students practice legal negotiation in a variety of legal matters. The competition features two teams of co-counsel who negotiate a settlement of a legal matter on behalf of their respective clients. This competition is hosted regionally in November each year.
ABA Representation in Mediation Competition: This ABA-sponsored competition involves the negotiation of a dispute in mediation. Students switch between the role of lawyer and client. This competition is hosted regionally in March each year.
Sports Law Negotiation Competition: The annual National Sports Law Negotiation Competition is hosted and organized by the Center for Sports Law & Policy at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego, California, every October. The fact patterns for the Competition are modeled toward current issues in the sports industry. Teams of student competitors negotiate fact patterns focus on issues such as contract negotiations, trading of players, salary demands, endorsement contracts, intellectual property, and more.
The Transatlantic Negotiation Competition: This competition is sponsored by Syracuse Law School and Queen’s University in Belfast, Ireland. The competition provides law students an opportunity to hone their negotiation and communication skills in a transnational setting, with particular emphasis on the importance of cross-cultural negotiation and communication. In each round of the competition, one team from the United States and one from Europe will face each other to negotiate. The winner and second place team will receive a cash prize.
Recent ADR Competition Team Successes
1st Place: ABA Client Counseling Competition, Feb. 2023 (Margaret Matheny & Colleen Mayer)
1st Place: ABA Negotiation Competition, Nov, 2022 (Adam Campbell and Monique Sapp)
1st Place: ABA Negotiation Competition, Nov, 2021 (Vikesh Patel and McKensie Wren)
Advocate’s Choice Award: St. John’s Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon, Oct. 2021 (Dillon Breazeale, Govindi Munasinghe, and Lexus Srilamsingha)
1st Place: Sports Law Negotiation Competition, Oct. 2020 (Elizabeth Nevle and Nicholas O’Campo)
1st Place Overall Team: St. John’s Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon, Oct. 2019 (Ivy Cuellar, Assumpta Iheaso, Haniyah Naeem)
1st Place: ABA Representation in Mediation Competition, March 2019 (Emily Nasir and Casidy Newcomer)
1st Place Advocate/Client Team: International Law School Mediation Tournament, March 8, 2018 (Jayelle Lazoya, Ashley Thomas, and Ceci Ubani)
1st Place: Transactional LawMeet, Feb. 23, 2018 (Jessica Rodriguez, Mildred Scott, and Carlo Varela)
1st Place: ABA Negotiation Competition, Nov. 11, 2017 (John Garza and Ashley Thomas)
1st Place: Abrams National Mediator Competition, October 20, 2017 (Mildred Scott)
1st Place Overall Team: St. John’s Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon, October 2016 (Urvashi Morolia, Chris Piper, and Lionel Sims)
1st Place: Abrams National Mediator Competition, October 8, 2016 (Amanda Nohr Gordon)
1st Place: Abrams National Mediator Competition, October 25, 2014 (Seun Adeyemi)
1st Place Advocate/Client Pair: International Law School Mediation Tournament, March 8, 2014 (Andy Krone and Nickie Tran)
1st Place Team: Regional ABA Representation in Mediation Competition, March 1, 2014 (Adam Aldrete and Brittany Mitchell)
1st Place Team: Transactional LawMeet, February 2014 (Dorian Hicks, Andrew Ketner, Reese O’Connor)
1st Place Overall Team: St. John’s Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon, October 2013 (Martin Law, Mical Whiteman, Justin Works)
1st Place Mediation Team: St. John’s Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon, October 2013 (Martin Law, Mical Whiteman, Justin Works)
1st Place Mediator (out of 108): International Law School Mediation Tournament, March 2013 (Sherin Daniel)
1st Place Arbitration Team: St. John’s Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon, October 2012 (Jessica Bandlow, Lynn Nguyen, Justin Works)
1st Place Team: Regional ABA Representation in Mediation Competition, March 2012 (Trail Potter and Dave Wu)
1st Place Team: ICC Mediation Competition, February 2012 (Sherin Daniel and Lucy Regalado)
1st Place Advocacy Team: International Law School Mediation Tournament, March 2011 (Amrita Boghani, Xochytl Greer, Marium Siddiqui)
Nationals Qualifier: ABA Negotiation Competition, Nov. 2018 (Kimberly Fojtek and Ashley Olivas)
Best Draft: IP Transactional LawMeet, October 23, 2015 (Adela Pena, Ian Holcomb, Tyler Robertson)
Best Draft: Transactional LawMeet, February 28, 2014 (Dorian Hicks, Andrew Ketner, Reese O’Connor)
Best Draft: IP Transactional LawMeet, October 17, 2014 (Ryan O’Connor, Dorian Hicks, Jorge Lozano)
Best Brief for Claimant & Respondent: Warsaw International Arbitration Moot, November 2012
Two Best Speaker Awards (35 awarded out of 1,300) – Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, April 2012 (Erin Kee and Nicole Janecka)
Advocate’s Choice Team: St. John’s Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon, October 2018 (Lana McCarty, Kayla Strouse, Jaime Wallace)
2nd Place Team: ABA Client Counseling Competition, February 2020 (Allison Batarse and Jennifer Peltier)
2nd Place: National ABA Representation in Mediation Competition, April 2019 (Emily Nasir and Casidy Newcomer)
2nd Place: Abrams National Mediator Competition, October 20, 2017 (Ashley Thomas)
2nd Place Team: Transactional Negotiation LawMeet, 2017 (Jackson Gayle, Jennifer Pammit, and Lionel Sims)
2nd Place: Baylor’s Closer National Transactional Negotiation Competition, 2017 (Jackson Gayle)
2nd Place Team: ABA Client Counseling Competition, February 2014 (Chad Bernaeyge and Rachel Davis)
2nd Place Team: Transactional IP LawMeet, February 2014 (Phillip Black, John Davis, Richard David Murphy)
2nd Place Advocacy Team: International Law School Mediation Tournament, March 2013 (Sherin Daniel, Courtney Moser, Asha Mungara)
2nd Place Team: ABA Client Counseling Competition, February 2013 (Robert Jewett and Ramanda Turner)
2nd Place Team: ABA Arbitration Competition, November 2012 (Jon Davis, Saira Siddiqui, Albert Singer, Placido Solis)
2nd Place Team: National ABA Representation in Mediation Competition, April 2012 (Trail Potter and Dave Wu)
2nd Place Team: ABA Client Counseling Competition, February 2012 (Kathleen Flavin and Eliana Maruri)
Semi-Finalist: ABA Client Counseling Competition, Feb. 2021 (Colin Davis & Alexis Summers)
Semi-Finalist: ABA Client Counseling Competition, Feb. 2021 (Vikesh Patel & Margaret Odunze)
Semi-Finalist: National Mediation Competition, Oct. 2018 (Heather Penning)
Semi-Finalist: National Mediator Competition, Oct. 2019 (Mary Andrate)
Quarter-Finalist: ICC Mediation Competition, Feb. 2019 (Betsy Briscoe & Jacquelyn Toman)
3rd Place Team: ABA Representation in Mediation Competition, March 2021 (Margaret Odunze and Gabriella Sanchez)
3rd Place Team: ABA Client Counseling Competition, Feb. 2020 (Elizabeth Nevle & Ashley Reily)
3rd Place Individual Advocate/Client Pair: International Law School Mediation Tournament, Feb. 2019 (Grant Breiner and John Garza)
3rd Place Team: ABA Representation in Mediation Competition, Feb. 2018 (Jayelle Lazoya and Sam Marsh)
3rd Place Advocate/Client Pair: International Law School Mediation Tournament, February 2015 (Karen Andreas and Lauren Scroggs)
4th Place Advocate/Client Overall Team:International Law School Mediation Tournament, Feb. 2019 (Grant Beiner, John Garza, Rachael Thomson)
4th Place Team: ABA Representation in Mediation Competition, Feb., 2018 (John Garza and Ashley Thomas)
4th Place Team: ABA Regional Negotiation Competition, November 2011 (Letty Aguilar and Amir Befroui)
4th Place Advocacy Team: International Law School Mediation Tournament, April 207 (Nathalie Kalombo, Chris Piper, and Taylor Pounds)
The last several years have been fantastic for the ADR competition teams! Thank you to all who have helped our teams have successful years.
STCL students, Mildred Scott (right) and Ashley Thomas (left) win first and second place at the Abrams National Mediator Competition on October 21, 2017.
Students Chris Piper (far left), Urvashi Morolia (second from left), and Lionel Sims (far right) celebrate their 2016 national championship at the St. John’s Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon in New York City with their head coach, STCL Houston alumna Lynn Nguyen (’13).
Winning students Sherin Daniel and Lucia Regalado with coach Debra Berman, Director of the Frank Evans Center for Conflict Resolution
Xochytl Greer, Amrita Boghani and Marium Siddiqui at International Law School Mediation Tournament in London, England