Student Negotiations Competition Recap

The Environmental Law Section held its annual Student Negotiations Competition on March 6, with the University of San Francisco team of Alexandria Moorehead and Morgan Vonder Harr winning. The event was held at UC Law San Francisco and featured 12 teams from 8 California law schools.

“The Student Negotiations Competition was fun, challenging, and genuinely surprising,” Moorehead said. “Beyond sharpening my negotiation skills, it opened doors to relationships with practitioners and peers I wouldn’t have met otherwise.”

The teams negotiated resolution to issues arising out of fictional fact patterns written by Tracy Winsor, a professor and co-director of the California Environmental Law and Policy Center at the UC Davis, and Shasta Fields, an associate at Shute, Mihaly & Weinberger. The fact patterns drew inspiration from real-world environmental matters and centered around the site of a gold mine.

In addition to University of San Francisco, California Western, Loyola, Southwestern, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA, University of San Diego, and University of San Francisco fielded teams. The UCLA team of Ian Bertrando and Hayden Fuchino finished second.

The competition consisted of three rounds. In the first two rounds, the teams’ performances were scored by experienced environmental lawyers, including Winsor, Samir Abdelnour, Karen Donovan, Mindy Jian, Jamie Jefferson, Justin Zucker, Sean Herman, Heather Dadashi, Paul Hagen, Jonathan Weiner, Ellen Peter, Kim Bick, and Jeannie Lee.

“The ELS Negotiation Competition is one of those rare programs that allows law students – whether they want to pursue a career in litigation, regulatory/compliance, or transactional work – to develop and apply practical skills to solve problems collaboratively and creatively, through a broader advocacy lens than simply who won or lost a particular dispute,” said Abdelnour, a Bay Area environmental lawyer and advisor to the Environmental Law Section’s Executive Committee. “It was one of the most memorable experiences I had in law school, and I love being a judge now to see how the next generation of students tackles these issues.”

The four highest-scoring teams advanced to a final round assessed by Fields, Alameda County Superior Court Judge Kevin Wong, former San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Vedica Puri, and former Contra Costa Superior Court Judge Linda Lye. These judges provided feedback on the teams’ performances and selected the overall winners. The first-place University of San Francisco team received a $1,000 prize, and the second-place UCLA team received a $500 prize.

ADR Services, Pillsbury Winthrop, Hinson Gravelle & Adair, Shute Mihaly, Allen Matkins, Saul Ewing, and Letitia Moore (in her personal capacity) sponsored the event.

The 2027 competition is scheduled for March 26 at UCLA. Environmental Law Section members interested in supporting or participating in the competition should contact environmental@calawyers.org.