Negotiation
Overview
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In the past decade, there has been a significant shift in the manner in which disputes are resolved. Traditionally, litigation has been the most popular method to resolve a dispute. However, litigation has become increasingly complex and expensive, and some parties want to avoid the stressful and intimidating adversarial nature of the civil court process. As a result, Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms such as negotiation, mediation & conciliation, have provided disputing parties a much less adversarial, and cheaper forum to resolve matters outside court.
Negotiation, in particular, has been the most popular ADR mechanism. Negotiation expertise is therefore seen as an important skill in the legal profession. However negotiations are not only used as a way to resolve disputes. Instead, negotiations occur everywhere in the commercial context, especially when negotiating terms of a contract. The basic skills of negotiation are therefore useful for commercial and legal practice.
This competition allows students to put their negotiation skills used against parents and teachers, into a much more formal environment! Two opposing teams of two students are required to participate in negotiations centred on a legal problem. The problems could include various scenarios such as negotiating a damages settlement for health problems caused by toxic waste from a nearby factory (like in ‘Erin Brockovich’), or negotiating for a train driver’s seat to have a cup-holder or armrest (like in the recent Metro trains and train drivers’ union negotiation).
Special thanks to Allens Arthur Robinson for their sponsorship, and for providing judges throughout this competition.
KEY DATES:
Negotiation Demonstration: Wed 24th March at 1PM. Room TBA
Applications CLOSE: Friday 2nd April at 5PM.
Practice Rounds: Mon 12th April - Thurs 15th April
Competition Commences (Round 1): Mon 19th April
Please note that the competition runs during Mon-Thurs evenings.
Applications are completed online. Applications close on Friday 2nd April at 5PM. Please click here for the application.
If you have any questions, please feel to contact your Negotiation Competition Officers, Ben Wong & Nudge Perera on lss-negotiation@unimelb.edu.au
Negotiation Rules
Team Composition
· Each team must consist of two members.
· The nominated members of the team shall remain the same for the duration of the whole competition.
· Teams must have registered by the registration date as set by the Competitions Directors and Co-ordinators.
Important Times
· Release of Questions: Briefs will be distributed by email approximately 24 hours prior to the commencement of the negotiation. Please allow for some time differences.
Dress Code
All competitors are required to attend the negotiation in appropriate business attire.
Scoring
The scoring will be in line with the ALSA guidelines. The scoresheet is available below.
Procedures of Negotiations
· The brief received by the Competitors will contain a given set of common facts, which set out the background of the scenario.
· In addition, each team will also be given confidential information, known only to their side.
· Both teams will then compete in a 30 minute negotiation session the following day. During this time, they will discuss the various issues and attempt to come to an agreement that best meets their client’s instructions outlined in the confidential information.
· Following the 30 minute negotiation, each team is given 5 minutes in which they evaluate their performance according to two questions:
1. ‘In reflecting on the entire negotiation, if you were to be faced with a similar situation tomorrow, what would you do the same and what would you do differently?’
2. ‘How well did your strategy work in relation to the outcome?’
· This gives competitors an opportunity to explain their tactics to the judge as well as gain invaluable feedback.
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