Firm News
Fillmore Riley proudly sponsors the 2021 virtual Robson Hall Negotiation Competition
Overview
Fillmore Riley LLP is proud to sponsor the Robson Hall Negotiation Competition for the twelfth consecutive year.
The Sixteenth Annual Robson Hall Negotiation Competition, to be held on the evening of October 19, 2021, gives third-year students who were the best performers in the Legal Negotiation course the opportunity to compete for the prestigious 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.
In 2020, a number of innovations were introduced to adapt to the conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic. The implementation of technological solutions was so successful that the 2021 competition will follow the same format.
In teams of two, students representing one party to a 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 a cosmetic company and an organic food vendor with the goal of creating a line of organic cosmetics. 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.
“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,” said Dr. Bruce Curran, the professor at University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Law who will oversee the competition. “But more importantly, the skills that are developed in this competition are critically important to a successful legal career, as lawyers spend a substantial portion of their time negotiating favourable settlements and deals for their clients. Fillmore Riley has recognized the importance of developing these skills in budding lawyers through its long-standing generous support of this competition, both financially and, more importantly, by its lawyers giving up valuable time to mentor our law students.”
Fillmore Riley’s lawyers have volunteered their time as judges for the competition from its inception. Fillmore Riley’s Iain McDonald, Ari Hanson, Sarah Thurmeier, Brynne Thordarson, Keith Senden, Alex Favreau, Ranish Raveendrabose, Donald Baker, Kelsey Yakimoski, David Thiessen, Alexa Smith and Emily Rempel will act as the judges this year.
“Possessing strong negotiation skills is a key attribute of being a good lawyer,” said Iain McDonald, a partner of Fillmore Riley and the acting chair of the Professional Recruitment Committee. “We’re proud to sponsor a competition that gives students an opportunity to hone the skills they will need to thrive as practising lawyers.”