South Texas College of Law Houston students Elizabeth Nevle and Nicholas Ocampo recently won first place at the National Sports Law Negotiation Competition hosted by Thomas Jefferson Law School’s Center for Sports Law & Policy in San Diego.
This victory is the law school’s 20th national or international alternative dispute resolution (ADR) championship win in nine years — and its first entirely virtual title.
Despite a modified training schedule and tournament format due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the students bested 35 other teams from 21 law schools across the country. Nevle and Ocampo went head-to-head with students from Berkeley Law and the University of Texas School of Law in the preliminary rounds, and then outscored Berkeley Law, Texas Tech University School of Law, and Southwestern Law School in the final round.
During the competition, students advocated on behalf of clients during two preliminary negotiation rounds. Throughout the two-day event, law students competed as advocates in sports law-related issues. This year, students disputed timely competition problems including a renegotiation of the current NBA regular season and playoff structure, and a negotiation centered around allowing NCAA athletes to earn money from their own names and likenesses.
“It was such an awesome experience working with Elizabeth and Johnathan,” said Ocampo. “Arguing about sports is something I do daily with my friends, so it was pretty satisfying to win an award for it while representing South Texas College of Law Houston on this team.”
The STCL Houston team was coached by alumnus Johnathan Trimble ’17, program coordinator in STCL Houston’s Frank Evans Center for Conflict Resolution — the focal point for ADR at Houston’s oldest law school.
“Elizabeth and Nicholas did an excellent job in their preparation for this competition,” said Trimble. “It was the program’s first-ever attempt at a virtual competition, so we were all learning how to navigate in that space together. Their effort and prep has given us a repeatable blueprint moving forward.”
STCL Houston’s ADR teams regularly compete in up to nine events each year — more than any other law school in Texas. The law school’s rigorous selection process, dedicated alumni coaches, and the leadership of Debra Berman — director of the Frank Evans Center for Conflict Resolution — led preLaw Magazine, a National Jurist publication, to rank STCL Houston a “Top Law School for ADR” in 2019.
“It is such an honor to have won this national championship for the school,” said Nevle. “This win was a team effort, and it would not have been possible without our teammates, Johnathan Trimble and Professor Berman.”
The primary mission of STCL Houston’s Frank Evans Center for Conflict Resolution is to train law students in both the theoretical foundations and practical applications of dispute resolution policies and procedures. Currently, STCL Houston offers eight ADR-related courses, including a Mediation Clinic and a 40-hour basic mediation training, open to both students and professionals. Approximately 100 students obtain the law school’s 40-hour mediation certificate each year.
