(From Left to Right): Mr. Ven Johnson, Honorable Jacqueline Schwartz, Ms. Valerie Jackson, Ms. Aliette Carolan, Finalist Tania Linares, Finalist Marc Kunen, Winner Maria Morales, Winner PJ Kubicz, Professor Richard Williamson and Director Jennifer Nechvatal.
The Charles C. Papy, Jr. Moot Court Board Negotiation Competition was held September 24th through October 2nd. This intra-school competition, modeled after the ABA Negotiation Competition, is held annually. This year forty 2L and 3L students, organized into teams of two, competed.
The Negotiation Competition’s structure sets it apart from most traditional Moot Court competitions. In a given round of the Competition, both teams’ members act as attorneys to parties involved in a dispute. Both teams in a round have access to a set of shared, general facts. Each team in a round also has access to its own set of secret facts specific to its position. These secret facts can be designed to give each team a unique bargaining position, express their client’s goals and/or place restrictions on a teams’ strategy. The goal for each team is to use both sets of facts to come to the most favorable agreement for their client.
After the negotiation has finished, each team speaks to the judges privately in the “Self Analysis” stage of the competition. This portion of the round is also scored. Each team will discuss their strengths and weaknesses, their strategy, techniques that may have improved the outcome for their client, etc. Additionally, the Self Analysis stage can be a useful time to discuss why an agreement could not be reached if no agreement was reached in the round.
Each team was required to participate in two preliminary rounds on Saturday, September 24th. Based preliminary round scores, the top eight teams advanced to the quarter-final round held on Wednesday, September 30th. Each of the eight teams competed head-to-head to determine which teams would advance to the semi final round on Thursday, October 1st, and ultimately to the Final Round.
This year the final round took place on Friday, October 2nd and paired 3L Tania Linares and 2L Marc Kunen against 3L Maria Morales and 3L P.J. Kubicz. Nearly 100 students attended the final round to observe the competitors in a live negotiation. Five accomplished individuals graciously volunteered their time to serve as judges for the 2009 Final Round. The judging panel was comprised of the Honorable Jacqueline Schwartz, attorney Valerie Jackson, attorney Aliette Carolan, attorney Ven Johnson, and UM Professor Richard Williamson. The combination of the established judging panel and the highly skilled competitors made for an exciting final round. After fifty minutes of negotiation, Maria Morales and P.J. Kubicz received the top score.
The Moot Court Board would like to congratulate the finalists and winners of the 2009 Negotiation Competition!
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