It’s not every day a commercial litigator has an opportunity to represent an Olympic athlete. When the American College of Trial Lawyers, the premier professional trial organization in the country, called Holland & Hart partner Jane Michaels to represent snowboarder and Olympic Team Member Tyler Jewell, it was an offer she couldn’t refuse.
Just a week before Ms. Michaels received the call, the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (“USSA”) had selected Mr. Jewell to represent the United States in the Parallel Giant Slalom event at the Torino Winter Olympics. Within days of that announcement, United States Snowboarding teammate Chris Klug challenged Mr. Jewell’s selection and scheduled an emergency arbitration in advance of the Torino Winter Games.
Mr. Klug filed his complaint with the United States Olympic Committee on January 23, 2006. The USOC, in turn, referred the matter to the American Arbitration Association, which scheduled the arbitration for January 26, 2006. That left the Holland & Hart team only three days to master the facts and legal issues involved in the case. Ms. Michaels enlisted the help of associates Jonathan Bender and Ryan Bergsieker, as well as legal assistant Jill Nickerson, to prepare a defense for Mr. Jewell, whose Olympic hopes hinged on the outcome of the arbitration.
Mr. Klug objected to the manner in which the USSA interpreted and applied the objective selection criteria to determine which athlete would represent the United States in the Parallel Giant Slalom event. The selection criteria provided that an athlete would be chosen using an average of the top two qualifying race “results.” The USSA selected Mr. Jewell for the Olympic Team by averaging the World Cup points he had earned for his top two races. Mr. Klug, however, argued that “results” in the objective criteria meant that the USSA should have averaged the top two place finishes for each athlete.
Mr. Jewell finished 9th and 24th in his top two qualifying races for an average of 180 points. His average was indisputably 25 points higher than that of Mr. Klug, who finished 15th and 16th in his top two qualifying races, with an average of 155 points. Mr. Klug argued that the USSA should have averaged the place finishes rather than the points earned for each athlete’s top two races. Mr. Klug’s place finish average was 15.5, as compared to Mr. Jewell’s place finish average of 16.5.
Ms. Michaels, Mr. Bender, and Mr. Bergsieker worked long hours interviewing witnesses and researching the meaning of the words “World Cup results,” as used in the selection criteria, within the context of international snowboarding events. During that intensive preparation process, the Holland & Hart team interviewed multiple athletes, coaches, and USSA Board members involved in the drafting of the selection criteria. In the course of that investigation, it became clear to the Holland & Hart team that the term “World Cup results” means points, not place finishes, in the snowboarding world. By way of analogy, the term “half-pipe” means something entirely different to a plumber than it does to a snowboarder. Jane Michaels and her team argued that the words in the selection criteria must be interpreted in accordance with their meaning within the snowboarding community.
The arbitration, which took place in the mock trial room in Holland & Hart’s Denver office, lasted nine hours. Within 24 hours after the arbitration concluded, the arbitrator issued a written order affirming Mr. Jewell’s selection to the Olympic Team. Mr. Jewell will be competing in his first Olympic Games, and his event, the Parallel Giant Slalom race, is scheduled on February 22, 2006.