ADR Teams Emerge Victorious at Sports Negotiation Competition

After a long hiatus, in-person moot competitions have returned, and Brooklyn Law School’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Honor Society has already logged a victory in its first live event. The team of Ellen Y. Piazza ’23 and Anthony DiMauro ’23, coached by ADR Honor Society Vice President Yaroslav Radtsevich ’22 and Evan J. Tancil ’22, was the first-place winner of the 2021 National Sports Law Negotiation Competition, held at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego. A second team of Stephanie G. Merkrebs ’23 and Ashley Y. Shin ’23, coached by Michael Meyers ’22 and Subha T. Tasnim ’22, finished in the top 10.

The three-day competition welcomed 36 teams representing 18 schools.

“It was particularly gratifying to be up against so many intelligent and well-prepared teams,” said DiMauro. “And the ability to be in person, where you can view the body language of the person across the table, lends itself to a more substantive experience.”

DiMauro, who plans to be a transactional lawyer, joined the ADR Honor Society to get experience in negotiating. “Law school tends to be oriented toward litigation, so it’s been great to get some experience in this area,” he said.

A graduate of New York University where he studied philosophy, DiMauro is also on the editorial board of the Brooklyn Law Review and a member of the Moot Court Appellate Division.

Piazza said her interest in this area of law was ignited in Professor Jodi Balsam’s sports law class. “She makes things so easily digestible,” she said.

In addition to the ADR Honor Society, Piazza is also social media coordinator for the Brooklyn Entertainment and Sports Law Society and secretary of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association.

After studying music at the University of Texas, she chose to attend law school with the goal of representing artists as an entertainment attorney. “I love negotiating,” said Piazza. “I found my passion for negotiating through ADR.”