News Release

Southwestern's BLSA Negotiation Team of Joanna Allen and Brent Tilley defeated more than 20 teams from law schools across the country to win the 2009 Dr. Ralph Johnson Bunche International Negotiation Competition, which was held during the 41st Annual National Black Law Students Association Convention in Irvine.

Professor Nyree Gray said that although she helped the students prepare for the competition, they were on their own and accomplished this most impressive feat in a very challenging setting. Competitors were only given a general fact pattern for each of the international issues, which ran the gamut from piracy to gun control to extreme poverty and world hunger. They did not know which part of the four-party negotiation they would represent for each issue until they arrived at the competition. Winning this kind of competition requires a show of extreme diplomacy and strategy, Professor Gray explained. "Judges commented that the winners were professional and assertive without being aggressive," Professor Gray said. "Ms. Allen and Mr. Tilley are very talented students and very skilled negotiators. They are to be commended for their success."