Employment and Labor Law Concentration

The Chase Employment and Labor Law Concentration Program, directed by Professors Richard A. Bales and Lawrence Rosenthal, provides Chase students the opportunity to focus their legal studies in a particular area of the law, and a way to signal this interest to prospective employers, while simultaneously permitting students to enroll in a well-rounded curriculum. Most students can complete a Concentration as part of their J.D. without adding to the minimum credits required for graduation.

Wagner Moot Court Competition

Over the past three years, Chase College of Law has been extremely successful at the Robert F. Wagner Labor & Employment Law Moot Court Competition, which is held each year in New York City. Approximately forty teams from across the country compete in this competition, which is the largest, single-site, student-run competition in the country.

Chase students Benjamin Lewis, Marci Palmieri, and Scott Van Nice, won the Robert F. Wagner Labor & Employment Law Moot Court Competition, which was held in New York City (March 7-9th, 2008). The competition includes teams from 45 law schools from throughout the United States. The team, who was coached by Prof. Lawrence Rosenthal, went 7-0 beating teams from DePaul, Charleston School of Law, John Marshall (Chicago), University of Memphis, University of Tennessee, Southwestern, and Michigan State. The team went on to sweep every major category in the competition winning: Best Preliminary Round Team; Best Respondent Brief; Best Final Round Oral Advocate (Scott Van Nice), and National Champions!

In 2007, the team of Tim Davis, Marci Palmieri, and Tiffany Yahr advanced to the final round, where they were narrowly defeated by Michigan State University. In addition to winning the award for being the National Finalist, the team also won the Best Brief award. This brief also finished in second place in the Scribes Best of the Best Competition, in which the best briefs from the national moot court competitions from that year compete against one another. In a field of forty-eight briefs, Chase's brief first advanced to the round of sixteen, and it then defeated fifteen of the remaining sixteen briefs and was named as the National Runner-up. In 2006, the team of Jennifer Cloyd, Tim Davis, and Mandy Riffe went undefeated throughout the tournament (advancing to the quarter-final round) and received the awards for the Best Preliminary Round Team and for the Best Brief. in 2005, the team of Jennifer Cloyd, Carrie Fischesser, and Dori Thompson advanced to the final round of the competition, where they were narrowly defeated by the University of California - Hastings College of Law. As a result of finishing in second place, the team won the award for the National Finalist. Finally,

Student Publications

Students in the Chase Employment & Labor Law Concentration don't just study the law—they make unique contributions to existing legal literature. Many students who have written papers in Concentration classes have published those papers as scholarly articles. Recent articles include:

  • Sue Irion, The [Un]Constitutionality of the NLRA’s Religious Accommodation Provision, 44:2 Gonzaga L. Rev. ___ (forthcoming 2009), http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=1112302.
  • Jamie L. Ireland, Federal Question Jurisdiction and the Federal Arbitration Act, offer pending from Colorado L. Rev. (forthcoming 2008) (co-authored with Rick Bales), http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=1112304.
  • Candace Budy, Naming a Defendant in an ERISA Action, __ Transactions: Tennessee J. Bus. L. ___ (forthcoming 2008) (co-authored with Rick Bales), http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=1109059.
  • Katie Koch, Transgender Employment Discrimination, 17 UCLA Women’s L.J. ___ (forthcoming 2008) (co-authored with Rick Bales), http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=1015548.
  • Dustin Riddle, Disability Claims for Alcohol-Related Misconduct, 82 St. John’s L. Rev. 699 (2008) (co-authored with Rick Bales), http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=1011162.
  • Jamie L. Ireland, Title II of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 and Its Prohibition of Employment Discrimination, 28 N. Ill. U. L. Rev. ___ (forthcoming 2008) (co-authored with Rick Bales), http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=1014092.
  • Tim Davis, Beyond the “Cat’s Paw”: An Argument for Adopting a “Substantially Influences” Standard for Antidiscrimination Liability, 6 Pierce L. Rev. 247 (2007), http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=1020675.
  • Christopher J. Kippley, Extending OWBPA Notice and Consent Protections to Arbitration Agreements Involving Employees and Consumers, 8 Nev. L.J. 10 (2007) (co-authored with Rick Bales), http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=956118.
  • Heather E. DePremio, The War Within the War: Notice Issues for Veteran Reemployment, 53 Naval L. Rev. 31 (2006), http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=899298.
  • Carrie Fischesser, Employer Vicarious Liability for Voluntary Relationships Between Supervisors and Employees, 29 Seattle U. L. Rev. 637 (2006).
  • Michael L. DeMichele, Unilateral-Modification Provisions in Employment Arbitration Agreements, 24 Hofstra Lab. & Employ. L. J. 63 (2006) (co-authored with Rick Bales), http://papers.ssrn.com/abstract_id=948715.

Transcript and Certificate

Students successfully completing the Employment and Labor Law Concentration will receive a notation to that effect on their transcript and a certificate of completion at graduation.