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The winners of last week's DMH Stallard negotiation competition with judges Faye Didcote and Neil Farrow.

Last week Sussex Law students Yordanos Feseha and Ian Dick won the DMH Stallard negotiation competition. As well as a cash prize, the students also won a week’s placement with the law firm.

It was a closely contested final and both negotiating teams performed exceptionally well. Judges Faye Didcote and Neil Farrow from DMH Stallard commented that "the standard was very high".

Finalists Beatrice Webster and Caitrin Kearney conducted consistently excellent negotiations throughout the competition.

During the workshops and the competition this year convenors Dr John Jupp and Dr Lara Walker were impressed with the levels of preparation and the professional manner in which all of the students who took part conducted themselves engaging with their peers.

Ian Dick, this year’s winner, said:

“Yordanos and I really developed our skills set. Firstly, we learned the importance of good time management during the preparation stages; how to work as a team and divide the work load; good communication skills; and the professional legal etiquette required to practise as a solicitor.

"We particularly liked the variety of scenarios provided for the purposes of the negotiation. One week we would be looking for solutions surrounding trespass and defamation issues, and the next week we would be negotiating investment funds.

"This provided a great opportunity to develop skills across a wide ambit of practical issues and solutions.”

Good negotiation skills are essential for lawyers to enable them to serve the best interests of their clients and the negotiation competition represents an excellent means for Law students at Sussex to test and develop their skills.