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A team of students from the Elisabeth Haub School of Law won first place in the arbitration round at the 13th annual Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon, held virtually on October 15 and 16, hosted by the Hugh L. Carey Center for Dispute Resolution at St. John’s School of Law and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). The team of three students included 3L Mary Neil, 3L Roberto III Quiroga, and 3L Aric-James Prazeres, who all represent the Law School’s Fairbridge Investor Rights Clinic as current or former interns.

Fairbridge Investor Rights Clinic alum Britny Auletti ’17, Associate Attorney at Eversheds Sutherland, served as the main coach for the team, with coaching support provided by Haub Law Professor Elissa Germaine, Executive Director of John Jay Legal Services and Director of the clinic.

“I am proud of the hard work and collaborative team effort of our students, which resulted in an amazing outcome,” said Professor Germaine. “The students’ experience in the clinic helped them prepare for and succeed in the Triathlon, and their participation in the Triathlon will help them in representing our clinic clients – novice investors of modest means like the client in the competition problem – and in their work after graduation.”

The Securities Dispute Resolution Triathlon is a two-day competition that tests law student ability in each of the three main ADR processes—negotiation, mediation, and arbitration. Students compete as advocates, settlement counsel, and clients in a securities dispute. At the outset they attempt to negotiate a resolution, then they represent their clients in mediation, and finally they proceed to arbitration before a three-person panel.

Members of FINRA’s roster of experienced neutrals serve as mediators, arbitrators, and judges, critiquing the student teams and offering the students an invaluable real-life experience. In addition to honing the students’ advocacy and ADR skills, participation in the competition fosters connections with alumni, law students from other schools, and FINRA neutrals and staff.

An impressive 14 teams from law schools around the country participated in this year’s Triathlon, tackling a timely and challenging competition problem concerning the supervisory obligations of a FINRA member firm and broker-dealer with respect to self-directed trading by a novice investor using an online platform.