Williston Negotiation Competition
Encyclopedia
The Williston Negotiation Competition is an annual negotiation
and contract drafting
competition at Harvard Law School
.
Students work in paired teams of two, with each team representing a side in a complex business deal. At the end of the competition, each pair of teams submits a single contract, and each side submits a private memo to its client explaining why the client should accept the agreement.
The competition is judged by experienced negotiators from the Harvard Program on Negotiation. Teams are evaluated on three basic factors: value creation, value claiming, and contract drafting. First place is awarded to the pair of teams that produces the best overall agreement. Of the remaining teams, second place awards go to the two teams that best represent the interests of their respective sides in the negotiation.
Now in its 58th year, the competition honors Samuel Williston
, professor at Harvard Law School from 1895 to 1938 and author of a classic treatise
on contracts.
Negotiation
Negotiation is a dialogue between two or more people or parties, intended to reach an understanding, resolve point of difference, or gain advantage in outcome of dialogue, to produce an agreement upon courses of action, to bargain for individual or collective advantage, to craft outcomes to satisfy...
and contract drafting
Contract
A contract is an agreement entered into by two parties or more with the intention of creating a legal obligation, which may have elements in writing. Contracts can be made orally. The remedy for breach of contract can be "damages" or compensation of money. In equity, the remedy can be specific...
competition at Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
.
Students work in paired teams of two, with each team representing a side in a complex business deal. At the end of the competition, each pair of teams submits a single contract, and each side submits a private memo to its client explaining why the client should accept the agreement.
The competition is judged by experienced negotiators from the Harvard Program on Negotiation. Teams are evaluated on three basic factors: value creation, value claiming, and contract drafting. First place is awarded to the pair of teams that produces the best overall agreement. Of the remaining teams, second place awards go to the two teams that best represent the interests of their respective sides in the negotiation.
Now in its 58th year, the competition honors Samuel Williston
Samuel Williston
Samuel Williston was an American lawyer and law professor.Early in Williston's career, from 1888 to 1889 he worked as the private secretary to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Horace Gray. In the summer of 1889, he helped to collate laws from various U.S...
, professor at Harvard Law School from 1895 to 1938 and author of a classic treatise
Legal treatise
A legal treatise is a scholarly legal publication containing all the law relating to a particular area, such as criminal law or trusts and estates...
on contracts.
Winners
- 2011
- First place - Best overall contract, representing Boston: Graham Phillips and Lisa Ma
- First place - Best overall contract, representing Fresh Air: Ruchi Desai and Megan Riley
- Second place - Best representation of Boston: Andrew Cath Rubenstein and Doug Smith
- Second place - Best representation of Fresh Air: Matthew Aldana and Benjamin Freeman
- 2010
- First place - Best overall contract, representing Save Our Square: Kristi Jobson and Aaron Dalnoot
- First place - Best overall contract, representing McMillin’s: Russell Herman and David Roth
- Second place - Best representation of Save Our Square: Fentress Jamal Fulton and Betny Anne Townsend
- Second place - Best representation of McMillin’s: Adam David Lander and Matthew Nicholas Walsh
- 2009
- First place - Best overall contract, representing River Red: Neil Chatani and Brian Kozlowski
- First place - Best overall contract, representing Mountain Blue: Jay Schweikert and David Carpman
- Second place - Best representation of River Red: Amir Ali and Taylor Ashley
- Second place - Best representation of Mountain Blue: Sarah Jelsema, Danielle Mirabal and Ian Brooks
- 2008
- 2007
- First place - Best overall contract: Mary-Hunter Morris and Sean McDonnell; and Evan Simpson and Harry Drozdowski
- Second place - Best negotiators: David Kessler and Trevor Cox; and Avery Day and G. J. Ligelis
- 2004
- First place - Best overall contract, representing Boston: Karl Chang and Mitchell Webber
- First place - Best overall contract, representing Fresh Air Airlines: Erin Abrams and Alex Grinberg
- Second place - Best representation of Boston: Stephanie Coon and Heather Ford
- Second place - Best representation of Fresh Air Airlines: William Fay and Erik Zwicker