Haub Law students finish big in Transatlantic Negotiation Competition
Haub Law students Meredith Celi and Ryan Contaldi placed second overall in the Transatlantic Negotiation Competition, and first of the United States participants. Meredith and Ryan also won an individual team award for “Best Teamwork.” The team was coached by Natalie A. Pagano, Esq., Director of Student and Campus Affairs and Adjunct Professor at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University and Gillian More, Advocate-in-Residence at Haub Law.
The Transatlantic Negotiation Competition “gives law students on both sides of the Atlantic an opportunity to hone their negotiation and communication skills in a transnational setting, with particular emphasis on the importance of cross-cultural negotiation and communication in resolving disputes and facilitating client agreements.” This year’s Competition was held virtually on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, April 1-3, 2022. In each round of the competition, one team from the United States and one international team faced each other to resolve a series of problems presented in a particular factual scenario. This year, the extremely complex set of facts that each team had to prepare for included, potential internecine war between two countries where a laser nonproliferation treaty was sought, dealing with a world famous national flag carrier airline’s survival, the absorption of a private feminist militia into a national army, arranging the world cup soccer premier international sporting event, a modern piracy task force on the high seas, and more.
The Haub Law team started strong right away and on the first day of the Competition, they placed second of all United States teams in two preliminary rounds. After the completion of the two preliminary rounds, the four top U.S. teams and the four top non-U.S. teams advanced to the quarter final round of the competition. Meredith and Ryan placed first in the quarterfinal of the U.S. teams, allowing them to then move on to the semi-final round. From there, they placed first in the semi-final round (placing them first of all U.S. teams) and moved on to the final round to compete against University of Auckland - Auckland, New Zealand, where they came in second place for the overall competition.
“Meredith and Ryan really showed their skills throughout this entire Competition. What makes this so special is not only the talented competition that they were up against, but the fact that this is no “typical” competition,” said Coach Natalie Pagano. “Between participants and judges, this competition took place over 15 different time zones, 16 different countries, and had 24 total schools – United States based and international – competing. Meredith and Ryan, along with all of the competitors, should be very proud of the work they put into this Competition.”
Coach Gillian More noted, “Unlike a trial case, which has known and established facts, negotiation involves at least half of the facts being obscured and undetected. The amount of original and anticipatory work that was involved was extremely demanding. This Competition in particular has a most unusual intellectually elastic approach to its case studies and our students, Meredith and Ryan, really rose to the challenge.”
“The outpouring of support from the Haub Law community has been incredible. Going into the competition, we wanted to work hard and do our best, and we accomplished that,” said Competitor Ryan Contaldi. “So much of the credit for the result goes to our coaches, Natalie Pagano and Gillian More. They are both incredible educators and women and should be recognized as such. Additionally, Professor Fasulo urged us to take on this challenge, he believed in us and it was his direction and support that gave us the push we needed to compete.”
Both Meredith and Ryan are students in Haub Law’s Flex JD part-time program, with heavy professional workloads and personal obligations as parents on top of their law school coursework. Despite this, they both found time in their busy schedules to meet 2-3 times per week with their coaches to master their negotiation skills and the various fact patterns. Coach Pagano noted, “Their ability to multi-task, yet master what they put their energy into, is truly unbelievable. I am proud to know them and they will undoubtedly continue to make Pace proud post-law school.”
"I am exceptionally grateful to have benefited from the great pairing of all of the members of this team,” commented Competitor Meredith Celi. “For Ryan and I, this has been the culmination of nearly a year of working together and months of tireless efforts by our exceptional coaches, Gillian and Natalie. We are so proud of this outcome and overwhelmed by the support we have received."
Director of Advocacy Programs at Haub Law, Professor Louis V. Fasulo stated, “I am proud of our team and their dedicated coaches in achieving a great finish. The experience of competing and winning against both national and international powerhouse programs is very impressive. Ryan and Meredith exhibit the best in our students.”
The Elisabeth Haub School of Law’s impressive trial advocacy program once again ranked in the top 15% of law schools, coming in at number 26 this year. Over the last few years, Haub Law has had 28+ Mock Trial and Moot Court Teams, with an average of over 124 student participants on these teams as a whole. The Law School’s Mock Trial and Moot Court teams regularly place at or near the top in competitions. In the fall of 2021, Haub Law hosted its first Advocate in Residence, Gillian More, a lifelong prosecutor with a worldwide reputation in advocacy. Haub Law’s trial advocacy program is led by Lou Fasulo, Director of Advocacy, Moot Court and Client Counseling programs.
About Elisabeth Haub School of Law
Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University offers JD and Masters of Law (LLM) degrees in both Environmental and International Law, as well as a Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) in Environmental Law. The School, housed on the University’s campus in White Plains, NY, opened its doors in 1976 and has more than 9,000 alumni around the world. The School maintains a unique philosophy and approach to legal education that strikes an important balance between practice and theory. Haub Law launched its Environmental Law Program in 1978, and it has long been ranked among the world’s leading university programs, with a current #1 ranking by U.S. News & World Report. For more information about Haub Law, visit https://law.pace.edu
