RGU students win Scottish place in International Negotiating Competition

Robert Gordon University students Dylan Middleton and Zhaira Kausar have won the right to represent Scotland at the International Negotiation Competition after winning the Scottish Universities Negotiation Competition, hosted by their own university.

The pair, both studying for their Diploma in Professional Legal Practice at RGU's Law School, beat stiff competition from four other universities and will now head to Oslo in late June to compete against national winners from around the world.

The negotiations involve the teams taking on fictional challenges to resolve disputes, which could be over the terms of a commercial lease, an argument between members of a committee or a dispute between neighbours.

In the limited time available, the teams must assimilate the information and deduce what is important to their "client". They must then work to achieve what is most important, and give ground on other matters until acceptable agreement is reached.

Margaret Downie, senior lecturer and director of resources at the RGU Law School, commented: "Negotiation is a key legal skill. It is very important in today's global market that lawyers have the knowhow and skillset to negotiate effectively across contexts, cultures and national boundaries.

"The Negotiation Competition is an excellent forum for profiling this skill and we are delighted that we will be going forward to the finals in Norway. This result showcases the high standard of skills that students acquire on our courses."

“Our congratulations go out to both Zhaira and Dylan for all their hard work and great effort in the competition. Both students prepared diligently and negotiated skilfully. We wish them all the best for the next round of the competition."