Writing Competition 2009 Winners
1st place winner :
Gomez-Perez V. Potter - Yet Another Step Away From Textualist Interpretation Of Employment Discrimination Statutes.
Erica Hickey - Mercer University, Walter F. George School of Law
Erica Hickey is originally from Hyde Park, New York. She attended Binghamton University, State University of New York, where she graduated cum laude in 2007 with a double major in History and Philosophy, Politics and Law. In 2006, Erica studied abroad at the University of Nottingham in Nottingham, England and also spent a month backpacking across Western Europe. After her study abroad experience, Erica was one of seventy students across the U.S. nominated to become a student ambassador to the British Council USA. This position involved holding events on the Binghamton University campus that encouraged study abroad in the United Kingdom. She then moved to Macon, Georgia to attend law school at Mercer University as a Julius Gholson Scholar. In her 2L year, Erica was the Vice-Justice of the Fish Chapter of Phi Alpha Delta and organized and executed the First Annual Mercer's Got Talent Charity Benefit. She is currently a 3L and the Administrative Editor of the Mercer Law Review. Erica looks forward to graduating from law school in May 2010 and taking the Georgia Bar Exam in July. Erica plans on obtaining a position practicing labor and employment law in an Atlanta-based law firm. She is very grateful for this amazing honor.
2nd place winner :
Fundamental Freedoms or Fundamental Rights? How the European Court of Justice created a new "Fundamental Hierarchy" in its Viking and Laval decisions, and what they mean to the future of collective bargaining in the European Union.
Joseph Balestrino - Duquesne University, School of Law
Joseph Balestrino is a third year law student at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where he is an active member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Competition Team. Joseph’s interest in labor and employment law, specifically that of the European Union, can be traced to his participation in the 2002 Pennsylvania Governor’s School for International Studies. That interest led him to the University of Pittsburgh, where he focused his undergraduate studies on the politics of the European Union, eventually earning him certificates in Global, West European and European Union studies. During his junior year of college, Joseph continued to study the politics and laws of the European Union while studying abroad at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in Madrid, Spain. In addition to the certificates, Joseph earned degrees in Spanish and Political Science from Pitt, while graduating Summa Cum Laude. Upon graduating from law school, Joseph would like to practice labor and employment law, international law or immigration law.
Alvir Sadhwani - American University, Washington College of Law
Alvir Sadhwani graduated from U.C San Diego with degrees in International Studies Political Science and Law & Society. Subsequently, he served as an Indicorps fellow for a year where he was given the opportunity to live in a small village in India. During the year, he worked on a team which aimed to promote leadership and skills development for youth. In the summer after his 1st year of law school, Alvir worked with an NGO in Cameroon that provided legal representation to victims of child trafficking. Since this time he has developed a strong interest in labor law and international human rights. Alvir is in his final year at American University and is currently working to obtain a J.D. and a M.A. in International Affairs.