Boston University School of Law is National Champion of American Bar Association Law Student Division Negotiation Competition

The American Bar Association Law Student Division recognized the winning teams from its annual Negotiation Competition at a special reception on Saturday, Feb. 6 during the ABA Midyear Meeting in Orlando, Fla. This year’s national champions are Dustin Guzior and Ariel Soiffer from Boston University School of Law.

In second place is the team of Michael S. Martinez and Allyson Bazan from Texas Tech University School of Law. Third place went to Fordham University School of Law represented by Patrick Jacobs and Matthew Bress. The team of Bryan Jones and Marielys Llerena from Florida International University College of Law came in fourth place.

A tradition since 1985, the negotiation competition is one of four sponsored by the ABA Law Student Division.  It promotes greater interest among law students in legal negotiation and provides a means for them to hone their negotiating skills.

This year 215 teams from 112 law schools from the United States and Canada participated in 10 regional competitions held in November. The top 24 teams then qualified to participate in the national finals held in Orlando. This year’s topic was labor and employment law. The championship round took place on Feb. 6. At that time, the final four teams met to determine the national champion.

The competition consists of each team of two squaring off to negotiate terms of a deal based on a scenario outlined in the competition problem. Teams had access to general information about the situation and also to their client’s confidential file.  As the competition progresses, each round poses new situations for the students to negotiate.

The winning teams received monetary awards as well as books and materials provided by substantive entities of the ABA. The winning team also received trophies and plaques, with certificates of recognition presented to the second, third and fourth place teams.

To learn more about the competition visit the Law Student Division Negotiation Competition Web site.

With more than 43,000 members, the ABA Law Student Division is the largest professional student organization in the United States. The division provides law students with opportunities for legal education, professional skills development and career counsel. Each year the division sponsors four competitions: the Arbitration Competition, the Client Counseling Competition, the National Appellate Advocacy Competition and the Negotiation Competition.