Arbitration Advocacy Competition

Cornell Law School students copped first place in five categories of the first annual Student Competition in Arbitration Advocacy sponsored by the Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution.

This fall's competition was preceded by two weeks of training on advocacy and application principles such as case analysis, opening, witness testimony, exhibit introduction and closing.

Categories and winners of this year's contest were:

Best Opening Statements: Daniel Horowitz Law '14 and Michael Yangming Xiao Law '13

Best Cross-Examination: Puja Virendra Parikh Law '14

Best Overall Advocacy: Drew Levine Law '13

Best Closing Arguments: Charlotte Davis Law '13 and Zachary Zuniga Law '13

Best Case Analysis: Sonia Sujanani Law '14 and Serena Hsieh Law '14.

Many workplace disputes are settled through arbitration, so advocacy in arbitration has become an essential skill for labor and management advocates, human resource managers and lawyers, said Rocco Scanza, institute executive director.

Scanza and Richard Fincher, an institute visiting fellow, coached student teams during the arbitration competition.