September 8, 2017: Harvard Law Student Wins $10,000 National Championship Writing Competition

September 8, 2017: Harvard Law Student Wins $10,000 National Championship Writing Competition

9.8.2017

By Communications Department

The Dispute Resolution Section of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) and the American College of Civil Trial Mediators (ACCTM) have announced the winners of the first NYSBA/ACCTM National Championship Alternative Dispute Resolution Law Student Writing Competition.

The winner of the $10,000 national competition is Sarah Benzidi, an LL.M student from Harvard Law School. Her article is titled: “How to Mitigate the Risk of Setting Aside or Refusal of Recognition and Enforcement of a Med-Arb Award.”

The winner of the $1,000 New York competition was Carl Mudd of Brooklyn Law School. His article is titled: “The Past, Present and Future of the Doctrine of ‘Manifest Disregard.’”

“The interest and excitement which this competition generated in law students, faculty and the entire dispute resolution community was just wonderful to see,” said John Wilkinson of New York City (Fulton Vittoria), who led the Dispute Resolution Section’s participation in the competition. “I was particularly taken by the quality of the papers entered, which was simply off the charts.”

“Sixteen judges reviewed 55 entries from law schools all over the US and Canada to determine the final winner,” said Lawrence Watson of Maitland, Florida (Upchurch Watson White & Max), who led ACCTM’s participation. “It was an enormous amount of work and a very difficult choice to make.”

The entries were judged by members of the NYSBA Dispute Resolution Section, the Editorial Board of the ACCTM and its American Journal of Mediation. The winning entries will be published in either or both of the State Bar’s New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer and the ACCTM Journal.

The winners of the competition will be presented with their check and trophy at the Dispute Resolution Section’s Fall Meeting on Oct. 26 at New York Law School.

The 72,000-member New York State Bar Association is the largest voluntary state bar association in the nation.  It was founded in 1876.

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Contact: Christian Nolan
Senior Writer
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518-487-5536