Williston Negotiation Competition


The Williston Negotiation Competition is an annual negotiation and contract drafting competition at Harvard Law School for the 1L class.
Students work in paired teams of two, with each team representing a side in a complex business deal. At the end of the competition, each pair of teams submits a single contract, and each side submits a private memo to its client explaining why the client should accept the agreement.
The competition is judged by experienced negotiators from private practice and the Harvard Program on Negotiation. Teams are evaluated on three basic factors: value creation, value claiming, and contract drafting. Prizes are awarded to the team pairing that produces the best overall agreement as well as the two teams that best represent the interests of their respective sides in the negotiation.
Now in its 61st year, the competition honors Samuel Williston, professor at Harvard Law School from 1895 to 1938 and author of a classic treatise on contracts.

Winners