University of Manitoba Faculty of Law students competed in the twenty-first annual Robson Hall Negotiation Competition on the evening of October 14th, 2026. These upper-year students were selected for having excelled in the Legal Negotiation course they took in their second year of law school.
The skill set required of lawyers is evolving, and the ability to creatively and expeditiously resolve client concerns through effective negotiation is increasingly important. The negotiation competition is designed to teach the knowledge, skills, attitudes, judgment, and values that are vital to law students’ success in legal practice. Such competencies include knowing key negotiation concepts; managing information and process; communicating and relationship-building; advocating for client interests in a problem-solving environment; internalizing ethical decision-making in negotiation; and engaging in reflective practice. The competition gives law students the opportunity to engage in negotiations like those that lawyers experience in practice and to receive feedback from expert negotiators.
In teams of two, the students met with another team representing the other side, each team possessing confidential details about their client’s circumstances and settlement preferences. All this took place under the close scrutiny of the judges, who scored each team’s negotiation skills. At the end of each session, the judges provided detailed feedback to each team about what they did well, and potential areas for improvement.
Alumni giving back
The event was generously sponsored by Fillmore Riley, which has a very long history of supporting the competition. In addition to covering all competition costs and supplying cash prizes, lawyers from the firm volunteered to judge the students. These lawyers have extensive knowledge about and experience in negotiations. They were: Avril Brown [JD/24], Ari Hanson [JD/12], Annika Friesen [JD/12], Chris Klassen [JD/20], Josh Lieberman [JD/20], Peter Lowen [JD/12], Nick Noonan [JD/21], Dan Patriarca [JD/21], Tamara Reimer [JD/16], Julia Ryckman [JD/16], Norman Yusim [LLB/80] and Michael Zacharias [JD/18].
These judges were tremendously impressed with the caliber of the students’ negotiations, and were faced with the unenviable task of selecting a winner. Due to their stellar performance, the negotiating team of Emily Kalo and Rachael Buchwald were awarded first place. The runners up, who also did a tremendous job, were Brett Williams and Alexandra Peters. Both teams will now represent UM Law and compete in the Canadian National Negotiation Competition, which will be in Toronto at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, Toronto Metropolitan University, on February 26 and 27, 2027.
Success in competition
UM Law students have a long history of success in inter-school negotiation competitions: The winner of the 2014 Robson Hall competition went on to win the 2015 International Negotiation Competition in Dublin, Ireland. For the past four years, Manitoba has fielded teams in both French and English language streams at the Canadian National Negotiation Competition, with Manitoba’s students placing strongly in both. In 2023, the English language team placed third, and the French language team placed second. In 2024 and 2026, Manitoba’s French team brought home the French Spirit of Negotiation Award (le prix d’excellence dans l’esprit de la négociation pour la section française). In 2025, Manitoba’s English team won the award for “Best Process Management” for best demonstrating skills in time management, preparation, adaptability and self-reflection.
