Law students place high in mediation competition

The students – Christopher Larrobee ‘14, Alison Romanowski ‘14, Amanda Sullivan ‘14 and Jordan Zeranti  ‘14– took part in the American Bar Association’s Representation in Mediation Competition, held at Roger Williams Law School on March 1 and 2. These students made up the two winning teams from UB’s own Representation in Mediation Competition, held at the school in November.

Sponsored by the ABA’s Section of Dispute Resolution, the competition tests law students’ ability to use interest-based problem solving skills to engage the mediator and negotiate with the opposing party at the mediation table to reach a settlement. 

In the competition, the students worked in attorney-client teams to advocate for their clients’ interests. The team of Larrobee and Romanowski came in third – missing a first-place finish by just one scoring point – and the team of Sullivan and Zeranti placed fifth.

The issues at hand were complex and contentious. One was a landlord-tenant issue involving a restaurant that was renting space from a developer, but wasn’t paying its maintenance fees and wasn’t receiving itemized bills from the landlord. The other problem involved an employee of a nonprofit agency whose cut in pay may have been a matter of retaliation.

Competitors included two teams each from the law schools of Hofstra, Ohio State, Quinnipiac, Roger Williams, Western New England and SUNY Buffalo.

The teams were coached by mediation attorney Steven R. Sugarman ’85, who says the competition “provides students the opportunity to practice using a skill set that is extremely valuable when they become lawyers. As more and more cases go to mediation, they had better be prepared to not only litigate but to maximize their clients’ results at a mediation table. An experience like this really puts them in that chair. It’s very lifelike, and they take it very seriously. It’s a beautiful thing to see.”