IIT Chicago-Kent will compete in the National Baseball Arbitration Competition

IIT Chicago-Kent students Steve Bertholomey '15, Jaret Glazer '15 and Steve Gross '16 will compete in the seventh annual National Baseball Arbitration Competition January 22 to 24 in New Orleans.

The competition, sponsored by Tulane Law School's Sports Law Society, is a simulated salary arbitration competition modeled closely on the procedures used by Major League Baseball (MLB). The tournament's main purpose is to provide law students with the opportunity to sharpen their oral and written advocacy skills while allowing them to use those skills within the specialized context of MLB's salary arbitration proceedings. At the end of the competition, Tulane's Sports Law Society hosts a panel of experts discussing legal issues related to baseball.

IIT Chicago-Kent is one of 39 law school teams from the United States and Canada participating in this year's tournament, which will be judged by a wide range of MLB executives, attorneys, sports journalists and agents. Last year, IIT Chicago-Kent reached the tournament's "final four."

This year's competition comprises three hypothetical arbitration cases involving Chicago Cubs pitcher Jeff Samardzija, Kansas City Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer, and Oakland Athletics outfielder Josh Reddick.

Team member Steve Bertholomey is a second-year student who graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a degree in Spanish. Teammate Jaret Glazer, also a second-year student, earned degrees in history and political science with a minor in international studies from Indiana University. Teammate Steve Gross is a second-year student who graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in marketing management.

Founded in 1888, IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law is the law school of Illinois Institute of Technology, a private, Ph.D.-granting institution with programs in engineering, psychology, architecture, business, design and law.