New York Law School’s Dispute Resolution Team (DRT) is a student-led organization that represents NYLS in competitions based on alternative dispute resolution methods and lawyering skills. Competitors gain experience in client interviewing, client counseling, negotiating, mediating, and arbitrating in a variety of practice areas.
Students may gain membership to the team by successfully competing in one of two annual competitions: the Intramural Negotiation Competition in the spring semester, or the Summer Write-On Competition held before the fall semester commences. DRT Executive Board and its Faculty Advisors, oversee the team’s activities and contribute to the team’s growing success by strategizing and mooting for competitions. Students may earn academic credit through membership, which requires active involvement in competitions, trainings, and mooting of fellow teammates.
2018–19 Executive Board
James McGowan, President
Dana Mallon, Vice President
Courtney Deblois, Competition Chair
Corinne Chen, Senior Editor
Kayla Canasi, Training Chair
Victoria Walker, Secretary
Gina Pittore, Intellectual Property Competition Chair
William Pekarsky, Intramural Negotiation Competition Chair
2018–19 Members
Kevin Badkhshan
Jhoanna Batista
Ryan Callinan
Andrea Castano
Carissa Caukin
Alice Charkhchyan
Alexa Cintron
Katryna Cordova
Melanie Daly
Monika Dziewa
Brian Grinberg
Myra Guevarra
Tiffany Kong
Jennifer Kuhn
Shervica Lewis
Allan-didier Louis
Kelsey Miller
Dhiren Patel
Brooke Pearlman
Faculty Advisors
Kris L. Franklin
Professor of Law
Director, Academic Initiatives
Co-Director, Initiative for Excellence in Law Teaching
Co-Advisor, Dispute Resolution Team
F. Peter Phillips
Professor of Law
Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law
Director, Alternative Dispute Resolution Skills Program
Co-Advisor, Dispute Resolution Team
Annual Summer Write-On Competition 2018
DRT invites eligible students interested in applying for membership to participate in the annual summer Write-On Competition. All submissions must be sent to DRT@nyls.edu by 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, July, 2018. Download eligibility and instructions.
News
April 2018
9th Annual Intramural Competition
New York Law School | New York, NY
April 14, 2018
Finalists: Alice Charkhchyan and Monika Dziewa (winners) v. Tiffany Kong and Kelsey Miller
March 2018
25th Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot
University of Vienna | Vienna, Austria
March 22–29, 2018
Competitors: Ryan Callinan, James McGowan, Qualia Hendrickson, and Tiffany Schneider
Coaches: Tarrian Ellis and Professor F. Peter Phillips
6th Annual National Basketball Negotiation Competition
Fordham University School of Law | New York, NY
March 2–3, 2018
First Place: Team A
Best Advocate Award: Tarrian Ellis
Competitors Team A: Tarrian Ellis and Stephanie Torres
Competitors Team B: Courtney Deblois and Dana Mallon
Coaches Team A: Kayla Fonesca and Evan Rosenberg
Coaches Team B: Sophie Heinlein and Danielle Mabe
February 2018
ABA Law Student Division Mediation Competition | NYLS Hosted
New York Law School | New York, NY
February 23–24, 2018
Coordinator: Sabrina Ball
13th ICC International Commercial Mediation Competition
ICC Headquarters | Paris, France
February 2–7, 2018
Competitors: Sabrina Ball, Kayla Canasi, Courtney Cremeans, and Gina Pittore
Coach: Professor F. Peter Phillips
November 2017
ABA Law Student Division Negotiation Competition
St. John’s University School of Law | New York, NY
November 18–19, 2017
4th Place: Team A
Competitors Team A: Dana Mallon and William Pekarsky
Competitors Team B: Carissa Caukin and Melanie Daly
Coaches Team A: Anthony Desiderio, Kayla Fonseca, and Stephanie Torres
Coaches Team B: Sophie Heinlein, Danielle Mabe, and Frank Moceri
ABA Law Student Division Arbitration Competition
Duquesne University School of Law | Pittsburgh, PA
November 17–18, 2017
Competitors: Corinne Chen, Courtney Deblois, James McGowan, and Gina Pittore
Coaches: Sean Doddy and Tarrian Ellis
3rd Annual Judith S. Kaye Arbitration Competition
American Arbitration Association | New York, NY
November 10–11, 2017
First Place
Competitors: Kayla Canasi, Sean Doddy, and Victoria Walker
Coaches: Ryan Callinan, Amber Dailey, and Evan Rosenberg
October 2017
2017 UMass Lowell Invitational Mediation Tournament
University of Massachusetts | Lowell, MA
October 12–14, 2017
Sixth Place for Best Mediator: Sabrina Ball 3L
Competitors: Sabrina Ball, Brian Grinberg and Edward Theurkauf
Coaches: Brenda Alejo and Courtney Cremeans
March 2017
On March 24 and 25, two teams competed in the Fordham Basketball Competition. The two teams consisted of Stephanie Torres 2L and Tarrian Ellis 2L, coached by Seth Russell 3L, and Danielle Mabe 2L and Sophie Heinlein 2L, coached by Patrick Crisp 2L. Stephanie and Tarrian advanced to the semi-finals, finishing in the top four.

From left to right: Seth Russell 3L (coach), Stephanie Torres 2L, Tarrian Ellis 2L. Advanced to the semi-finals

From left to right: Sophie Heinlein 2L, Patrick Crisp 2L (coach), Danielle Mabe 2L.
February 2017

From left to right: Patrick Crisp, Courtney Cremeans, Sabrina Ball, Alexandra Rockoff
On February 25, two teams competed in the ABA Dispute Resolution Section Mediation Competition in Camden, New Jersey. Neither team advanced, but both performed incredibly well. The teams consisted of Courtney Cremeans and Sabrina Ball, coached by Ronald Cosme. The other team was Patrick Crisp and Alexandra Rockoff, coached by Nicole Juliano and Laura Rion.

From left to right: Brenda Alejo, Laura Rion, Paul Faglione, and Evan Rosenberg
In early Febraury, NYLS competed in the ICC Mediation Competition in Paris, France for the third year. The team consisted of Brenda Alejo, Paul Faglione, Laura Rion, and Evan Rosenberg. Coaches for this team were Professor Peter Phillips, Nicole Juliano, and Alexandra Rockoff. The team advanced to the quarter-finals finishing in the Top 8 out of 66 total schools.
On February 4th, one team competed in the ABA Client Counseling Competition. This team consisted of Christina Malamut and Kayla Fonesco, coached by Jessica Bibby and Gabriella Ali-Marino. Christina and Kayla advanced to the semi-finals, finishing in the top 4.
October 2016
New York Law School’s Dispute Resolution Team held their first annual IP Negotiation Competition on Saturday October 15. This competition was a huge success and eight teams from New York City law schools participated in the inaugural competition. DRT hopes to see this competition continue to grow and flourish in the future! Below see the winners from this years competition.

From left to right: Danielle Mabe, Patrick Crisp (coach), and Sophie Heinlein
Over-All Competition Placements:
New York Law School: 1st Place
Competitors: Sophie Heinlein and Danielle Mabe
Brooklyn Law School: 2nd Place
Competitor: Francesca Chou
Final Round Placements:
Brooklyn Law School: 1st Place
Competitor: Francesca Chou
New York Law School: 2nd Place
Competitors: Sophie Heinlein and Danielle Mabe
Specialty Recognition Awards:
New York Law School
Competitors: Kayla Fonseca and Shamila Ahmed
Hofstra Law School
Competitors: Victoria Han and Jessie Farrell