From left: ADRIAN BATTISTON, Co-Chair, Hockey Arbitration Competition of Canada, ANTON THUN, Co-Managing Director, MFIVE Sports Management, ALLAIN ROY, President and CEO, CMG Sports, CLIFFORD HART, Partner, Miller Thomson LLP, DAVID GOLDSTEIN, Associate, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP, G. JOSEPH FALCONERI, Partner, Falconeri Munro Tucci LLP, CHRIS TRAVASCIO, Co-Chair, Hockey Arbitration Competition of Canada
By David Goldstein, Associate at Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP / Sports Law Lecturer, U of T Faculty of Law
Law students across the country are taught (among other things) to think creatively, research thoroughly, communicate clearly, and advocate passionately. As a practising lawyer and law school lecturer, it was a pleasure to watch all of those skills in action at the 2nd Annual Hockey Arbitration Competition of Canada, Oct. 18-19, organized by Chris Travascio and Adrian Battiston on behalf of the University of Toronto Sports and Entertainment Law Society.
The competition is the first of its kind in Canada, and is run exclusively by law students. The event is already a huge success and incredibly popular, having doubled in size to 32 teams in just its second year. The competition involves a series of mock National Hockey League salary arbitration hearings, the rules and procedures for which follow the league’s Collective Bargaining Agreement. The event culminates with a final round judged by three industry professionals with expertise in the area.
“The Hockey Arbitration Competition of Canada brings together students from all across the country, allowing competitors to network, not only with each other, but with legal professionals in a field that many dream of working in but very few have an opportunity to break into,” says co-chair Chris Travascio.
Law students at other Canadian law schools are now holding preliminary contests locally, in order to select only the finest teams from their schools to send to Toronto.
Pat Ganley and Ed Snetsinger of the University of Windsor were crowned this year’s champions, emerging victorious over Adam Theofanidis and Justin D’Aloiso of Osgoode Hall at York University in an extremely hard fought final. The competition is concluded with a speakers’ panel discussing various legal issues in the world of professional hockey. This year’s panelists were Clifford Hart, partner at Miller Thomson LLP; Allain Roy, president and CEO of CMG Sports; Anton Thun, co-managing director of MFIVE Sports Management; and Joe Falconeri, partner at Falconeri Munro Tucci LLP and chair of the advisory panel to Play It CoolTM.
This unique event gives aspiring lawyers the opportunity to hone and improve various important and translatable skills, while educating them in a specific and nuanced area of the law.
Says co-chair Adrian Battiston: “What speaks the loudest about the success of the Hockey Arbitration Competition of Canada is the overwhelming praise we continue to receive from participants, a handful of individuals emphasizing to us that this has been — by far — one of the most valuable experience of their law school careers to date.”
