April 7, 2008

From left: Bradley Hoffman and Adam Rightmer

The students, Bradley Hoffman and Adam Rightmer, earned a spot in the national competition after winning the Northeast regional competition held March 1-2 at Roger Williams University School of Law in Bristol, R.I. They defeated teams from nine other law schools to secure the national championship in Seattle.

Following two preliminary rounds, Hoffman and Rightmer were seeded second going into the semifinal round. The Quinnipiac team improved to a no. 1 ranking after the semifinals and defeated a team from Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law in the final round.

The Quinnipiac team was presented with a plaque at the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution's annual meeting, which was held in conjunction with the competition.

In a mediation competition, two pairs of students from opposing schools prepare for a mediation session, with one student serving as the client and the other acting as the lawyer. Each pair receives fact patterns with general and confidential information and must work together with the opposing side to try to reach a mutually beneficial result.

The Quinnipiac team had to prepare for, and negotiate in, four separate case problems, for a total of eight case negotiations. All teams had to learn a new fact pattern in each round of the competition.

The competition emphasizes a collaborative approach to negotiation. Teams are assessed primarily on their techniques and strategies, not the actual outcome of the mediation. Each pair is evaluated by a panel of attorneys who act as judges for the competition.

The Quinnipiac students belong to the Dispute Resolution Competition Team, which was created by the Society for Dispute Resolution student organization. The group was recently voted the student organization of the year by the Student Bar Association.