King Hall Students Claim International Negotiations Competition Title for U.S.
Representing the United States against top law students from around the world, the UC Davis School of Law negotiations team of Sarah McBride '09 and Jeffrey Osofsky '09 took first place in the International Negotiations Competition held from June 30 to July 3 at John Marshall Law School and Jenner & Block LLP in Chicago, IL.
McBride and Osofsky were chosen to represent the U.S. following their success in regional and national qualifier competitions sponsored by the American Bar Association earlier this year, where the UC Davis team was undefeated.
A total of 16 teams from around the globe competed in this year's international competition, representing the best and brightest law student negotiators in the world. Over the course of the three days, McBride and Osofsky negotiated a complicated Art Law problem in four-party and two-party formats with teams from various countries including Singapore, Denmark, Ireland, India, and South Korea. This was the first time in the 14-year history of the International Negotiations Competition that the winning team hailed from the host country.
"This has been a tremendous learning opportunity," Osofsky said of the competition. "Sarah and I extend our gratitude to our terrific coaches and supportive classmates who helped train and prepare us for this event -- and the local, regional, and national qualifiers leading up to it."
Because of their success, McBride, Osofsky, and their coaches, Professors Donna Shestowsky and Dylan Malagrino, will have the opportunity to serve as judges for next year's competition.
"This is a tremendous accomplishment for Sarah, Jeff, and UC Davis School of Law," said Professor Malagrino. "I am proud to call them international champions."
"Sarah and Jeff are fantastic negotiators who are great at employing research-tested methods in negotiations," said Professor Shestowsky, noting that their championship performance was especially remarkable given that UC Davis only began competing in the negotiations competitions four years ago. "They also have a real knack for being flexible with new information, which so typically comes up during the course of negotiations. They will be excellent practicing lawyers."
Jeffrey Osofsky will be joining the Employment Litigation Department of Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker in Los Angeles.
Sarah McBride will be joining the National Labor Relations Board as a field attorney in San Francisco.