Improving Negotiation Standards for Law Students

For over ten years, CEDR has been sponsoring and organising the annual National Student Negotiation Competition, in collaboration with the University of Law.

The competition pits pairs of law students from across universities in England, Scotland and Wales against each other to negotiate a series of challenging fictional scenarios.

There are initial regional finals of the competition and then those winners progress to the national finals. The winning team travels to an international championship. CEDR offer the winners of the regional finals a one-day negotiation skills training course, giving them even more tools to use as they compete in the final.

The National Student Negotiation Competition was a fantastic opportunity to develop my negotiation skills, working with not only some of the best student negotiators but also judges from across industries, with valuable experience to pass on. I cannot recommend the competition enough to anybody who wants to test their skills in practice. Charlie Brook , Royal Holloway University of London

The 2020 National Student Negotiation Competition

CEDR will again be sponsoring and organising the National Negotiation Competition in England & Wales and Scotland in 2020. 

The competition will be open for entries in November 2019.  Please also check back here for further information on entry dates and confirmed venue times.

The deadline for entries will be in January 2020.

The National Competition will consist of regional heats in Bristol, Chester, Leeds and London, as well as a National Final and Finals dinner in Manchester.

Timetable for the English and Welsh competition

November 2019

Entries open for 2020 Competition

Mid-January 2020

Deadline for entries

Saturday 22nd February 2020     

London regional heat, International Dispute Resolution Centre, 70 Fleet Street, London

Saturday 29th February 2020

Bristol regional heat, The University of Law, Bristol

 

Chester regional heat, The University of Law, Chester

 

Leeds regional heat, The University of Law, Leeds

Saturday 14th March 2020

Training Day for Finalists, 70 Fleet Street, London

Saturday 28th March 2020

National Final and Dinner, The University of Law, Manchester

Monday 6th -10 July 2020

International Negotiation Competition Finals, The University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA

The regional heats will take place in February and March 2020. Teams will each take part in two negotiation scenarios. 12 teams will progress to the National Final, where teams will participate in three new scenarios (including a three-way negotiation). The winners will earn the right to compete in the International Competition, which is taking place in Missoula, Montana, USA at The University of Montana in 2020.

The Scottish Competition operates as a single-event competition in March/April 2020. The competition uses similar scoring criteria to the English & Welsh competition.

2019 Negotiation Competition

The 2019 National Negotiation Competition for England and Wales results were:

Winners: University of Law, Manchester, represented by Heather McGuirk and Sam Mitchell.
Second Place: Royal Holloway, University of London, represented by Charlie Brook and Oliver Snelgrove.
Third Place: University of Law, Leeds, represented by Matthew Stewart and Gabrielle Wilks.

The winners of the 2019 National Negotiation Competition for Scotland was the University of Edinburgh, represented by Kay Cuthbertson and Lucy McCracken.

Scoring Categories

During the heats, teams will be ranked on their performance by professional lawyers, businesspeople and academics, as well as being scored in eight categories.

These categories are:

  • Negotiating Planning
  • Teamwork
  • Relationship Between the Negotiating Teams
  • Information Gathering
  • Bargaining
  • Outcome
  • Negotiation Ethics
  • Self-Analysis

CEDR will again be providing all entered students with access to webinars in the skills of negotiation. These are designed to give all students, whatever their level of experience, the opportunity to hone their skills in advance of the competition.

CEDR will also be offering a free day’s training session in negotiation for the competition finalists  to allow them to develop advanced skills. We will also offer further support to the winning team to prepare them for the International Competition.

  • The competition is open to all students currently studying for an undergraduate, postgraduate or professional qualification in law or an aligned area at an institution in England, Scotland or Wales. Students studying in Northern Ireland are not eligible, as separate competitions are run in those countries.
  • Teams must be entered on behalf of their institution, and must be endorsed accordingly.
  • Students who have previously reached the National Final may not re-enter the competition.
  • Students may also not enter the competition on more than two occasions (regardless of outcome).
  • Each institution may enter up to two teams for the competition, with each team consisting of two members.

  • Entry for the 2020 Competition will launch in November 2019.
  • Each team entry must be accompanied by an entry fee of £90 (£75 + VAT) per team.
  • Entries do not need to be made with the names of the team members to apply but we will require the names of individual team members by the start of February 2020.
  • Please note that the Faculty Representative will be the individual who receives all communications from CEDR.