Two teams will represent IIT Chicago-Kent in the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law's regional competition

IIT Chicago-Kent will send two teams to compete in the ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law's Law Student Trial Advocacy regional competition November 17 and 18 in Chicago.

The competition is designed to introduce law students to the challenges and rewards of employment and labor litigation. IIT Chicago-Kent won this tournament's regional championship in 2009 and 2010. Winning teams from eight regions will go on to compete for the national title January 26–27, 2013, in Dallas.

In this year's competition, students will argue Charlie Vale v. Capitol City Aquarium, a federal age discrimination case.

Fariz Burhanuddin '14, John DiFrancesco '14, Patrick Ferrell '13 and Rachel Oliver '13 will compete on one IIT Chicago-Kent team. The other team will comprise Dan Bower '14, Kelly Coyle '13, Roxana Crasovan '13 and Alex Reich '13.

Team member Fariz Burhanuddin earned his undergraduate degree in political science and international business from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Teammate John DiFrancesco graduated cum laude from Emmanuel College with a double major in political science and history. Teammate Patrick Ferrell is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Teammate Rachel Oliver completed her undergraduate education at Shaw University with a major in international relations. (Oliver was on the IIT Chicago-Kent team that advanced to the national finals of the 2012 Thurgood Marshall Mock Trial competition.) The team is coached by Nicholas Economakos '12, Marcell Taylor '12 and Erik Wilson '12.

Team member Dan Bower graduated cum laude from Ohio University with a double major in finance and business economics and a minor in political science. Teammate Kelly Coyle earned her undergraduate degree in history and political science with high honor from DePaul University. Teammate Roxana Crasovan completed her undergraduate education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a double major in psychology and Spanish. Teammate Alex Reich graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in psychology. The team is coached by Erica Suskind '12 and Aimee Sabolyk '11.

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. IIT Chicago-Kent's trial advocacy teams have won numerous individual student honors and regional and national competitions, including the 1988, 2007 and 2008 National Trial Competition championships. In 2008, IIT Chicago-Kent became the first law school to win both the National Trial Competition and the National Moot Court Competition in the same year. U.S. News & World Report this year ranked IIT Chicago-Kent's trial advocacy program third in the country.