The Charleston School of Law Center for Business and Transactional Law and the University of South Carolina Joseph F. Rice School of Law held the second annual Transactional Law Derby in Charleston on Saturday.
The winners of the Negotiation competition were Frank Mancino and Rachel Synder-Mounts and the winners of the Draft competition were USC Law students Cameron Argoe and Abby Cundiff.
“The Derby is a perfect opportunity to expose students to how transactional law doctrine manifests itself in practical life, in law,” said Jean Steadman, Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Business and Transactional Law. “The Derby also gave students the opportunity make the connect doctrinal principles. Anytime we can take a first-year student and give them practical experience it helps the lightbulb come on more quickly.”
The student-led competition was made up of Charleston Law and University of South Carolina Law School students who are members of their respective Business Law Societies. One dozen teams — mostly first-year law students — negotiated twice throughout the day.
“I told them that the hardest part was already behind them. All the research and preparation leading up to the Derby was complete, and now it was just a matter of entering into the negotiation with confidence in their work and trust in themselves. After the nerves settled, it was incredible to see their instincts take over and to witness them step up and show real skill at the negotiation table.” — Quin Foster, President of the Business Law Society at Charleston Law and team mentor
“It was cool to see the students first negotiation versus the second,” said Virginia Carroll, President of the Business Law Association at USC Law School and judge of the competition. “They’re so different. For a lot of 1Ls, this is their very first competition. So, the first round they get their nerves out and get feedback. Then you watch them make adjustments come back for the second round with a little more confidence.”
“The competition is extremely beneficial, especially for first-year law students, who don’t necessarily know what transactional law looks like or what a negotiation might look like, but it’s a fantastic way to learn and get experience in transactional law,” added Madison Nicole Whiting, a USC Law student.
“This competition gives students who want to practice Business Law, more practical experience that they’re not necessarily going to get from classes,” said Carroll.
“That’s exactly right,” added Steadman. “What we’re creating are more transactional law opportunities for students through internal competitions, external competitions, elective classes, and boot camps, which solidify doctrine and experience, all of these create a holistic approach to learning the law.”
The event brought together a large contingency of legal professionals and alumni to serve as judges including:
The South Carolina law students were sponsored by the University of South Carolina Family and Small Business Program.
The competitor’s mentors consisted of upper-level students from both law schools who were given the opportunity to mentor and teaching drafting and negotiation skills.
“There are too few opportunities for law students to engage in mock transactional negotiations. I believe that the students participating gained an appreciation for the advocacy and negotiating skills necessary to effectively represent a client’s interests in a transactional setting.” — Benjamin Means, Professor of Law and Chair of John T. Campbell in Business and Professional Ethics at the Joseph F. Rice School of Law at the University of South Carolina.
Participating students also had the opportunity to build community. “They’re meeting 3Ls, they’re meeting professors they’ve never met, they’re meeting practicing attorneys in the field, they’re meeting students and faculty from another law school,” noted Steadman.
Representatives of both South Carolina law schools agreed that shared experiential learning opportunities provided students with excellent practical skills training focusing on written drafting skills and oral negotiation skills.
Foster said, “I hope the key lesson students took away from the Derby is the value of stepping outside their comfort zones whenever possible. A common sentiment among them was how nervous they felt going into the competition, unsure of what to expect. However, at the close of the competition, they all expressed a deep sense of accomplishment and self-fulfillment. We hope this competition serves as a steppingstone for more collaborations between the two law schools in South Carolina and that the Derby will continue to grow for years to come.”
“This was a hugely successful event,” said Steadman. “Students and faculty from both law schools have a desire to continue to work collaboratively to provide transactional law opportunities.”
Charleston School of Law will host its Winter Commencement ceremony on Saturday, December 14 at 5:00 p.m. at the Charleston Museum Auditorium.
In observance of the Christmas and New Year holidays, Charleston School of Law School offices will be closed from Saturday, December 14 through Friday, January 3, 2025.
