From FFOI Debra Berman:

As you begin to prepare for the spring semester, please consider incorporating our Inter-School Negotiation Practicum.

Over the last year, more than 1,000 students from 31 schools have participated and we are gearing up to do it again this spring.  Please note that this is not a “competition.”  Rather, it is an opportunity to engage students in experiential learning in a way that more closely aligns with current practice.  During the exercise, participants will negotiate the settlement of an actual court case with a student that they do not know over a one month period — without being judged.

If you choose to involve your class, all you need to do is provide your students with the registration link which will be available on our website in January.  We then pair the students up between schools, select the actual court case along with the relevant pleadings, draft confidential settlement memos, and provide a comprehensive post-negotiation questionnaire for students to complete.  Students will have the entire month of March to complete the negotiation on their own time and they must use email, phone, and video conferencing at least once.

Upon completion, I distribute the statistics based on the questionnaire results and professors debrief the exercise in their classes.

Click here for more information and to read comments from students that have previously participated.

Please let me know if you have any questions about the exercise. If you think you may be interested, let me know and I will notify you once registration opens in mid to late January.

Debra Berman
Assistant Professor of Clinical Studies
Director, Frank Evans Center for Conflict Resolution
South Texas College of Law Houston