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Each Spring, the New York Law School Moot Court Association administers the Robert F. Wagner National Labor and Employment Law Moot Court Competition in honor of the late United States Senator and distinguished alumnus. The competition is the nation’s largest student-run moot court competition and the premier national competition dedicated exclusively to labor and employment law. For over thirty years, schools from across the country have competed in this prestigious event.

The 37th Annual Robert F. Wagner Labor and Employment Law Competition was held from March 21st through March 24th, 2013. This year, forty-six teams competed. We held the Wagner Reception on Saturday, March 23, 2013. It was be a semi-formal event with hors d'oeuvre stations and an awards ceremony. Photos are available on the link on the right side of this page.

Congratulations to the winners of the 37th Annual Robert F. Wagner National Labor & Employment Law Moot Court Competition!

Best Oralist: Kathryn Fraser - Team # 29 University of San Franscisco

Best Team: Team #29 University of San Francisco - Kathryn Fraser, Alyssa Bussey and Zachary Webster

Second Place Team: Team # 15 South Texas College of Law - David Polsinelli and Grace Popham

Best Preliminary Oralist: Nidhi Srivastava - Team # 33 University Chicago School of Law

Best Preliminary Team: Team # 15 South Texas College of Law - David Polsinelli and Grace Popham

Best Petitioner Brief: Team # 15 South Texas College of Law - David Polsinelli and Grace Popham

Second Best Petitioner Brief: Team # 29 University of San Francisco - Kathryn Fraser, Alyssa Bussey and Zachary Webster

Third Best Petitioner Brief: Team # 31 Wayne State University Law School - Stephanie Eisenberg, Kevin McQuillan and Lauren Saad

Best Respondent Brief: Team # 32 NKU Chase College of Law - Nathan Lennon and Ashley Brucato

Second Best Respondent Brief: Team # 18 Emory University School of Law - Amelia Grubbs and Gabriel Gladstone

Third Best Respondent Brief: Team # 20 Michigan State University College of Law - Anthony Chester, Eric Pender and Cleveland Simmons

Click Here for the Stream of the Final Round

The Final Round Judges included:

The Honorable Anthony W. Crowell
Anthony W. Crowell became the Dean and President of New York Law School in May 2012. He first joined New York Law School in 2003 as a member of the adjunct faculty and continues to teach the New York City Law Seminar and Workshop. He also currently serves as Chair for the Board of Trustees of the Brooklyn Public Library, the nation’s fifth largest library system. Prior to his appointment, Dean Crowell worked for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg—first as Special Counsel, then as Counselor. In 2001, he also directed the City’s World Trade Center Death Certificate Program and was counsel at the City’s Family Assistance Center, which aided the families of 9/11 victims. From 1997 to 2002, he served as Assistant Corporation Counsel in the New York City Law Department’s Tax & Condemnation and Legal Counsel Divisions. From 1992 to 1997, Dean Crowell managed the International City/County Management Association’s government affairs and policy committee in Washington, D.C. He received his B.A., magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania, and his J.D., cum laude, from American University. Dean Crowell also received the New York City Bar Association’s Outstanding Municipal Attorney Award.

The Honorable Anne P. Stevason
Anne P. Stevason was appointed Chairperson of the New York State Industrial Board of Appeals by Governor Eliot Spitzer in 2007 with the confirmation of the New York State Senate. Prior to her appointment, Ms. Stevason was employed by the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, where she served as Chief Counsel to the State Labor Commissioner for approximately four years. In her role as counsel for the Division, Ms. Stevason litigated hundreds of unpaid wage cases, argued numerous appeals, and submitted amicus curiae briefs to the California Supreme Court. She received her undergraduate degree from the State University at Albany and her J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley (Boalt Hall), where she was the Managing Editor of the Industrial Relations Law Journal. She is a member of both the California and New York bars.

The Honorable Joseph E. Irenas
The Honorable Judge Joseph E. Irenas was appointed by former President George H.W. Bush as a federal judge for the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey on November 14, 1991 and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 8, 1992. Judge Irenas assumed senior status on July 1, 2002. Prior to serving as a federal judge, Judge Irenas began his legal career in private practice, worked at McCarter & English in Newark from 1966 to 1992, and achieved the status of partner. He has also served as an adjunct professor at Rutgers University since 1985. A native of Newark, NJ, Judge Irenas holds a B.A. from Princeton University and a J.D., cum laude, from Harvard Law School. He currently resides in New Jersey.

The Honorable Jacqueline A. Berrien
Jacqueline A. Berrien was appointed Chair of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) by President Barrack Obama on March 27, 2010. Ms. Berrien began her legal career in 1986 as a law clerk to the Honorable U.W. Clemon in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Alabama. She then served as an attorney for the Voting Rights Project of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, and for the National Legal Department and Women’s Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union in New York; she served as Assistant Council with the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF), and as Program Officer in the Governance and Civil Society Unit of the Ford Foundation’s Peace and Social Justice Program. For more than five years prior to her appointment, Ms. Berrian served as LDF’s Associate Director-Counsel, where she coordinated its national legal advocacy and scholarship programs. She also served as an adjunct professor at New York Law School and taught trial advocacy at Fordham and Harvard Law Schools. A native of Washington, D.C., Ms. Berrien earned her B.A. from Oberlin College, and her J.D. from Harvard Law School, where she served as a General Editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. She currently resides in Brooklyn, NY.

The Honorable Ronald Meisburg
A native of Bowling Green, Kentucky, Ronald Meisburg is currently a Partner in the Labor & Employment Law Department and co-head of the Labor-Management Relations Practice Group for the firm Proskauer Rose, whom US Legal 500 called “perhaps the most outstanding labor law firm in the country.” Mr. Meisburg earned his B.A. from Carson-Newman College in 1969 and his J.D. from the University of Louisville Louis D. Brandeis School of Law in 1974. Mr. Meisburg spent his first six years after graduating from law school as a litigator with the Office of the Solicitor, U.S. Department of Labor, in Washington, D.C., in the Division of Employee Benefits and the Division of Mine Safety and Health, earning numerous Departmental honors, including the Secretary of Labor’s Distinguished Achievement Award in 1978. After his time at the Office of the Solicitor, Mr. Meisburg worked in private practice as a management labor lawyer from 1980 through 2003, when he joined the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). He served as one of five Board Members for one year and as General Counsel for four and a half years. He is one of only four people to have served in both positions, and the only individual to receive a Presidential nomination to both offices.

We encourage and invite all attorneys to judge as many rounds as they would like. It is not necessary for you to have specialized knowledge pertaining to these issues to be a judge in this competition. Thank you for your cooperation and valuable contribution.

Wagner Competition Co-Chairs
Geoffrey Bleau
Vanessa Craveiro

Wagner Competition Co-Authors
Kaitlyn Tooker
Will Kleindienst

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ROBERT F. WAGNER COMPETITION
March 20th - 24th, 2013
T: (212) 431-2175
F: (212) 966-1558
E: Wagnermoot@nyls.edu

2013 COMPETITION

2013 Schedule

2013 Competitor Schedule

2013 Final Round Photos