Labor and employment law moot court team makes impressive showing at national competition

2018 Labor and Employment Law Moot Court team and coaches
From left: Ben Basil, Carolyn Purcell, Erin Shaughnessy, Marianna Michael, Bryan Mercke

The Brandeis School of Law's labor and employment moot court team made it to the Elite Eight in a national moot court competition held March 9-11, 2018.

The Brandeis team came in sixth place going in to the Elite Eight of the 42nd Annual Robert F. Wagner National Labor and Employment Law Moot Court Competition hosted by New York Law School.

 The competition brought together 37 teams from across the country. Brandeis' team consisted of students Mariana Michael, Bryan Mercke and Erin Shaunessy. It was coached by Brandeis Law alumni Ben Basil and Carolyn Purcell.

The team members "are all excellent students and advocates. Each of them was praised for their poise under pressure, vast knowledge of the law and facts, and well-reasoned arguments," says Purcell. "In particular, Bryan had the difficult task of arguing both the employee’s and employer’s side (depending on what round we were in) of the Title VII issue in the competition, and he handled it deftly and received high praise for both of his arguments. Marianna and Erin both had to delve into admiralty law for this competition, and they crammed centuries of precedent and knowledge into their arguments. Each of them were praised for their in-depth knowledge of a very obscure area of the law."