On November 4th and 5th, Villanova Law hosted a first-ever baseball arbitration negotiation competition. The weekend was exhilarating, and teams from schools as close as neighboring Temple University and as far as Charleston South Carolina came ready to advocate for their respective MLB teams and players.
Two weeks before the competition, the sixteen teams were each presented with a fact pattern concerning MLB Players facing potential arbitration hearings with their respective teams. Student teams were asked to assume the role of lawyers representing either the player or their team.
An MLB player who has three or more, but less than six, years of Major League service becomes eligible for salary arbitration if he does not already have a contract for the following season. Teams can avoid going to an arbitration hearing by either agreeing to a one-year settlement contract or to a long-term extension. The MLB collective bargaining agreement has many other unique rules, including the lack of a salary cap for teams, that students were required to navigate as they advocated for their client as part of this competition.
These negotiations were judged by lawyers currently working in the industry from organizations like the MLB Players Association, Milwaukee Brewers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Octagon and AmLaw 100 law firms. Victor Ficarra (LAW ’24), an executive board member for Temple Law’s Sports & Entertainment Law Society, set up two teams to represent Temple at this year’s inaugural competition.
Day One of the competition featured three rounds of negotiations for each of the Temple teams. Teams were awarded up to 35 points based on their advocacy for their client and the deal they agreed on. Out of the sixteen teams and nine participating law schools, Temple was the only school to have two teams advance to the second day of the competition.
Temple’s team of Sam Finkel (LAW ’23), Victor Ficarra, and Briana Quinn (LAW ‘25), had the second highest point total from Day 1. While they lost in Day 2’s knockout round, Temple’s team of Max Dehon (LAW ‘23), Jack Burke (LAW ‘23), and John Kuhlmeier (LAW ‘25) emerged victorious in all of Day Two’s knockout rounds to win the entire competition. In the finals, Max Dehon and Jack Burke fiercely negotiated on behalf of the New York Mets to earn an extremely team-friendly deal allowing them to retain Pete Alonso through and beyond his arbitration eligible years.
For all of the Temple Law competitors, this was their first time in a Sports Law Negotiation Competition. Several team members participated in Temple’s Integrated Trial Advocacy and Transactional Programs, and their experience showed at the negotiation tables. A few students even commented that their experience in the competition reminded them of their time in Temple Law’s Integrated Transactional Skills (ITS) course during their 1L year. In the end, it was a great weekend to be a Temple Owl, and our teams look forward to competing at other schools in the future including at two competitions hosted by Tulane University during the Spring semester.
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The Villanova Baseball Filing Day Competition is a simulated exercise intended to mimic negotiations between MLB Players Association (MLBPA) player agents and MLB club executives before the salary arbitration Exchange Date between the MLB Labor Relations Department and the MLBPA as governed by Major League Baseball’s Basic Agreement. Participants will be able to build oral advocacy and negotiation skills while handling baseball statistics and player valuation information to come to a resolution with opposing counsel. Winners will be selected by judges from the baseball industry including player agents, team officials, and attorneys working in the space.