Third-year evening students Joblin Younger and Tom Boland will now head to New York City for the ABA National Mediation Championship in April.

“This win is great for the two students, as well as for the Suffolk Law community as a whole,” said Professor Gabriel Teninbaum, the team’s faculty advisor. “Winning this competition demonstrates just one way Suffolk Law students transfer classroom lessons into practical skills that can be used to benefit real clients.”

The event featured two-person teams trying to negotiate a resolution to a hypothetical dispute. A neutral mediator and three judges observe and rate the teams based on criteria provided by the ABA. “The most important criterion is for teams to find creative resolutions that satisfy their client’s interests, while not unduly harming the other side’s interests,” said Teninbaum.

Younger and Boland entered the elimination round as the top seed. After beating Quinnipiac, the defending national champions, they went on to defeat Pace University in the finals to capture first place.