When it comes to competitions among sports-minded law students, the Tulane International Baseball Arbitration Competition is widely renowned as the most famous. For the past 15 years, law students from across the country have participated in simulated salary arbitration competitions modeled closely on the procedures used in Major League Baseball. The competition’s main goal is to provide the participating law students with the opportunity to sharpen their oral and written advocacy skills within the specialized context of an MLB salary arbitration proceeding.
While competition is fierce with the many smart law students going head-to-head, one school has separated themselves from the pack in recent years. Fordham University School of Law’s team is in the midst of a semi-dynasty, winning three of the past four competitions, 2019, 2020, and – most recently – in 2022.
What’s fueled Fordham’s success, you might ask? Well, you’re in luck. Dan Lust and I had the privilege of speaking with two members of the Fordham team to learn how they’ve accomplished so much over the last several years. Here’s what Sydney Glazer (2L) and Tori Klevan (1L) had to say.
The most interesting thing about Fordham’s success at the Tulane International Baseball Arbitration Competition is that they go about it in a unique way compared to their competitors. Instead of having experienced 2L and 3L students participate in the competition, Fordham leans on their 1Ls. This is almost unheard of at other sports law societies noting that some schools flatly refuse to let 1Ls compete. Maybe they should reconsider their position in light of Fordham’s success.
At Fordham each fall, interested 1L students tryout for the competition team soon after arriving at their Manhattan, NY campus. From there, the selected individuals begin preparing for the competition, which takes place early in the spring semester. While many law schools have faculty advisors with experience in the sports law world, Fordham’s team is 100% student run. Therefore, the experienced 2L and 3L students serve as coaches to ensure that the competing 1Ls are set up for success come competition time. There are no faculty members involved in the competition process as it is entirely student run. Again, this is atypical of sports law societies – but hey, whatever works rights!
As the results show, Fordham’s process has netted amazing results as they are currently the gold standard when it comes to winning the most prestigious sports law competition going. It will be interesting to see if they can keep it up in the coming years with such a unique model. This is a truly unprecedented run.
“If a school wins three of the past four championships in any sport, they are considered a dynasty,” explains former Fordham Sports Law President Dan Lust. “That’s exactly what we have with Fordham and their incredible success at the Tulane Baseball competition. We are looking at the first-ever dynasty in the history of sports law competitions.”
In addition to the success of Fordham law in sports competitions, the law school itself is one of the best in the nation. Ranked in the top 40 among all law schools nationwide by US News & World Report, the Manhattan is a great place to land for any prospective law student with an interest in sports.
In addition to their competition team, the Fordham Sports Law Forum also puts on a Sports Law Symposium each spring, where big names in sports law come to speak along with a sports law blog. Students can get involved in three different areas: the competition team, the symposium team, and the blog team. All of these three segmented groups come together to form a great sports law experience for Fordham law students.
If you want to be a part of a highly successful sports law organization and win some of the biggest competitions in the country, Fordham law might be the best place for you. Located in the heart of Manhattan, the opportunities are endless in the sports law field. At Conduct Detrimental, we already knew that Fordham produces great sports lawyers because Dan Lust is a proud alum. But getting firsthand insight from Sydney and Tori shines an even brighter light on Fordham sports law.
