Firm News
Fillmore Riley proudly sponsors the 2020 virtual Robson Hall Negotiation Competition
Overview
Fillmore Riley LLP is proud to sponsor the Robson Hall Negotiation Competition for the eleventh consecutive year.
The Fifteenth Annual Robson Hall Negotiation Competition, to be held on the evening of October 29, 2020, gives third-year students who were the best performers in the Legal Negotiation course the opportunity to compete for the honour of representing Robson Hall in the Canadian National Negotiation Competition. It also gives first-year law students the opportunity to volunteer in the running of the tournament.
This year, a number of innovations were introduced in order to adapt to the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. For the first time ever, the competition will take place using videoconferencing software, rather than occurring in person.
In teams of two, students representing one party to a fictitious dispute or potential deal will meet with the team representing the other side, with each team possessing confidential information about the background and their clients' settlement preferences. This year the law students will attempt to negotiate the creation of a fictitious partnership between two lawyers. All of this takes place while the teams are under the ever-watchful eyes of the Fillmore Riley judges, who are scoring each team’s negotiation skills.
“Robson Hall is very grateful to Fillmore Riley for the time and money it is again investing in this annual tradition,” said Dr. Bruce Curran, the professor at University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law, who will oversee the competition. “This competition is the ideal method to select our best negotiators to go on to represent Robson Hall at the Canadian National Negotiation Competition, which will also be online this year. But more importantly, the skills that are developed in this competition are critically important to a successful legal career, where lawyers are expected to negotiate favourable settlements and deals for their clients.”
Fillmore Riley’s lawyers have volunteered their time as judges for the competition from its inception. Fillmore Riley’s Delaney Vun, Iain McDonald, Annika Friesen, Ari Hanson, Kate Hart, Brynne Thordarson, Keith Senden, Jessica Isaak, Alex Favreau, Ranish Raveendrabose, Donald Baker, and Kelsey Yakimoski will act as the judges this year.
“Learning how to negotiate is one of the most critical skills law students will learn in law school,” said Delaney Vun, a partner of Fillmore Riley and the chair of the Professional Recruitment Committee. “COVID-19 has necessitated that we move the competition online, but we are proud to continue the longstanding tradition of sponsoring the competition that gives students the opportunity to hone a skill they need to succeed as a lawyer.”