A team of two University of Wisconsin Law School students took first place honors on November 2, 2008, at the American Bar Association (ABA) Regional Law School Negotiations competition in St. Louis.

Sam Wayne and John Cornelius, both third-year students, competed against 20 teams from other law schools. By winning Region 5, Cornelius and Wayne will advance to the national competition in Boston in February 2009.

The students’ coach, UW Law School Adjunct Professor S. Richard Heymann, commented, "The problem, created by the ABA, was legally and factually complex. The Wisconsin team showed great initiative, great pluck, and more than a little skill."

The competition focused on Elder Law, and consisted of three rounds of negotiation between the attorneys for an elderly woman suffering from dementia and the attorneys representing one of her daughters.

Wayne comments, "The competition took place at Washington University in St. Louis. It was great to go down there and compete against such intelligent and well-prepared law students. We were happy with our performance in the first two rounds, but were by no means certain we would be one of the four teams chosen to advance to the final round. We were very confident with our performance in the final round, but to hear "The University of Wisconsin" declared the winning team was such an incredible affirmation."

Submitted by on November 4, 2008

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