11TH ILS INTRA COLLEGE ‘THE NEGOTIATION CHALLENGE’, 2022

ILS LAW COLLEGE, PUNE

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RULES AND FORMAT

FACT PATTERN
What materials are included in the fact pattern?
Each team will receive:
1. A common set of facts known by all competitors;
2. Certain confidential information known only to the competitors representing each
side will be given out only 35 minutes prior to the commencement of the preliminary
rounds, 40 minutes prior to the commencement of the semi-final round and 45
minutes prior to the final rounds. Judges will have access to all materials provided to
competitors.

FORMAT
What is the general format of the competition?
1. The competition will consist of one preliminary round, one semi-final round and a final
round. The preliminary rounds (Friday, 23rd September 2022, morning session) will
have a total of 48 teams, split into 8 conference rooms with 3 rounds in each
conference room. The preliminary rounds will be conducted in the morning session.
2. Based on the judges scoring in the preliminary rounds, the top team from each
conference room will advance to the semi-final round. The Semi-final round (Friday,
23rd September 2022, afternoon session) will have a total of 8 teams divided into 2
conference rooms, with 2 rounds in each conference room.
3. Top 2 teams from each conference room will advance to the final round. The Final
round will take place on Saturday, 24th September, 2022 in the afternoon session
and will have a total of 4 teams in a single conference room, divided into two rounds.
There will be two separate negotiations held in the format of two-party negotiation. The
top scoring team, amongst the four teams of the conference room, will be declared
winner of The Negotiation Challenge, 2022.
 4. Teams will receive information as to which party/client they will represent only 35
minutes before the preliminary rounds and 40 minutes before the semi-final round i.e.,
when they receive the confidential information for the party/client that they will be
representing. The confidential information will be shared in a sealed envelope at the
venue. After receiving the confidential information the participants will be
accommodated in the same classroom to discuss their strategy based on the
confidential information. This is to ensure that the confidential information is not
leaked to other participants.
5. Teams in the final round will receive information as to which party/client they will
represent one day before i.e., once the results from the semi-final rounds are
announced. The confidential information for the final round will be shared 45 minutes
before the round.
6. Each team will participate in a 40 minutes negotiation session for the preliminary round,
50 minutes session for the semi-final round and 60 minutes for the final round. The
negotiation session will be followed by a 10-minute self-analysis/debriefing period of
5 minutes per team in the presence of the judges.

ELIGIBILITY
1. All students from the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th year of BA LLB and 2nd and 3rd year of
LLB are eligible to participate.
2. Please note that ONLY 6 teams from 2nd BA.LLB (“2nd BA LLB team”) and
ONLY 6 teams from 2nd LLB (“2nd LLB team”) i.e. only 6 teams will be accepted
from both the batches respectively. Rest 36 slots will be open for the remaining
batches i.e. 3rd, 4th and 5th year of BA LLB and 3rd year of LLB, on ‘first-come-
first-served’ basis.
3. Please note that both participants will have to be in their 2nd year of BA LLB to qualify
as a 2nd BA LLB team.
4. Similarly, both participants will have to be in their 2nd year of LLB to qualify as a 2nd
LLB team.
5. Cross batch teams are allowed. Please note that if the team consists of one student of
either 3rd, 4th or 5th BA.LLB and one student of 2nd BA.LLB, the team will NOT be
considered as a 2nd BA LLB team. Similarly, if the team consists of one student from
3rd LLB and one student from 2nd LLB, it will NOT qualify for a slot reserved for 2nd
LLB. Both participants must be from the same batch to be considered for the
reserved slot.
.
REGISTRATION FORMS
1. The Registration Form for the competition will open on 10th September 2022 at 5 pm
and close at 7 pm.
2. The registration will be on a ‘first-come-first-served’ basis. (Subject to the
conditions mentioned under the 'Eligibility' heading) Ensure to fill and upload the
form with correct information.
3. The information required in the forms is as follows (may not appear in the same order)
• Names of the participant (STRICTLY AS PER THE ILS ID CARD)
• Class, Roll No. and Division
• Email ID - official mail id of the college
• Contact No. (Preferably WhatsApp number.)
4. Multiple entries are allowed. The latest entry before the closing time will be considered
as the final entry.
 5. The Organising Committee will verify the names of the participants filled in the form
with the name on the previous year ID card.
6. If there is any discrepancy in the details provided by the participants in the form and
the details on the college ID, the team stands to be disqualified.
7. It is mandatory for the participants to fill the email id and contact number of both the
participants. If the contact number or mail id is found to be the same for both
participants, the team shall be disqualified.
8. The link for the registration form is given below:
https://forms.gle/rARQWjyng4JKHPp99

POST REGISTRATION AND DRAWING OF LOTS

How will party sides and confidential information be allotted?
1. After the registrations, the names of all the participants from 48 selected pairs will be
announced on the same day.
2. Thereafter, all the 48 teams will be alloted with a Team Code in the form of double
alphabetical code. Eg- AB. The team codes are provided to maintain secrecy.
3. To maintain the dignity and to uphold the spirit of the competition, the participants
should not disclose their team codes to anyone before the culmination of competition
on 24th September 2022. Anyone found in violation of this rule will be reprimanded as
will be decided by the faculty coordinator.
4. The participants are to prepare the negotiating strategy along with the strategy paper
for both sides.
5. One day prior to the competition, i.e on 22nd September 2022, the parties will be
informed about the rounds that they will be negotiating in. They will informed via
emails which shall also contain the reporting time for the parties.
6. For the purpose of allotting sides and confidential information to the teams, the
Organising Committee will be present in one of the classrooms in the college premises.
The same will be notified soon.
7. The participants of each round will report to the designated classroom 40 mins before
the start of their rounds. As per point 4 of the above mentioned “FORMAT”, the team
code of the sides negotiating with each other will be called out. One participant from
each party shall approach the OC member who shall be holding an envelope containing
the Confidential Information of both the parties in one hand each. With mutual
understanding among the participants of opposite parties, one of them shall choose one
of the envelopes, while the other party shall get the remaining one. The parties will get
to know about their sides once they open the envelope.

SELF-ANALYSIS (DEBRIEF)
What is the process for the self-analysis/debrief?
As mentioned above, each team will have 5 minutes to analyse the team's performance
in the negotiation before the judges. The opposing team will wait outside the conference
room during the debrief session of a particular team.

What is the content of the self-analysis?

Students may begin this 5-minute period by answering, in the presence of the judges,
the following questions:
1. "In reflecting on the entire negotiation, if you faced a similar situation tomorrow,
what would you do the same and what would you do differently?"
 2. "How well did your strategy work in relation to the outcome?"
3. “If given a second chance what would you have done differently?”
4. “Did you face any ethical issues when negotiating?” etc.

The team should also be prepared to respond to questions from the judges concerning
the team's performance. In addition, the team might use this as an opportunity to explain
why they chose a particular approach or even a specific tactic. The judges may consider
for scoring purposes anything said during this session.

Word to the wise: Negotiation competitions are often won/lost in the self-analysis period, so
do take it seriously. This is a chance for you to explain your strategy going in, talk up the things
you did well, but also to acknowledge what you would have done differently. While you don't
want to disparage yourself, being candid about your mistakes will usually earn the respect of
your judges. Finally, make sure to focus on the "package" you walked away with at the end of
the negotiation - if it's written on a whiteboard somewhere in the room, walk the judges through
each element of the deal and explain how it satisfies your client's interest.

CONFIDENTIALITY
Who can I discuss the fact pattern with?
You may ONLY discuss your preparation plans with your partner. No one else may be
consulted. We expect that all teams will be prepared to negotiate using their own
original strategies and preparation material.
IMPORTANT: Competitors CANNOT share confidential information with any other
team in the negotiation competition. Sharing information degrades the level of
competition and will cause any teams offending this rule to be disqualified.

JUDGES
Who are the judges, and what is their role?
Each round will be observed and evaluated by a panel of judges consisting of attorneys,
professors and/or professionals. These judges will evaluate the competitors’
performance according to the standards and criteria provided.

SCORING
What is the general process for scoring and advancing to the next round?
Each panel of judges will score the teams according to the Evaluation Criteria Form.
After the round, the Organisers will add all the judges’ scores for each team
corresponding to each of the evaluation criteria, and then they will calculate a total.

What are the judging standards?

• The judging standards are based on the premise that there is no one "correct" approach
to effective negotiation in all circumstances. Instead, the judges will score you on the
strategies and techniques you used based on the nature of the problem, the specific mix
of personalities involved, and other circumstances.
• Whatever approach is used, however, negotiation effectiveness can be judged at least
in part by the outcome of the session, regardless of whether agreement was reached. A
good negotiation outcome is one that:
1. Satisfies the interests of
• The client – very well
• The other side – acceptably (enough for them to agree and follow through)
• Third parties – tolerably (so they won't disrupt the agreement)
 2. Adopts a solution that is the best of all available options
3. Is legitimate – no one feels "taken"
4. Involves commitments that are clear, realistic, and operational
5. Involves communication that is efficient and well understood, and
6. Results in an enhanced working relationship, so the parties and/or their lawyer can
deal with future differences more easily.

Word to the wise: You are not permitted to make up facts of your own in these rounds, that
serve your interest alone but otherwise, creativity is always a good idea! This stems from the
notion of "expanding the pie" (creating a larger pool of benefits to distribute between the
parties) before parsing out who gets what in the later phases of negotiation.

STRATEGY PAPERS
• Each team will be required to submit a strategy paper for the preliminary round
problem.
• The submissions shall be done on 19th September 2022 from 1.30 pm to 2pm.
• The physical copies of strategy paper shall be submitted in Auditorium (Hall 5)
• Any strategy paper submitted to the Organising Committee member or the faculty-in-
charge or any other person associated with the competition shall not be accepted.
• It is strictly required that the participants mention their team code on the top right-
hand corner of their strategy papers and are instructed not to mention their roll
numbers, name and year of study in the strategy paper. These papers would be provided
to the judges at the time of negotiations rounds, and may be used by them to aid in their
marking or for questioning the teams during self-analysis.
• The strategy paper cannot exceed 1 page (2 sides) for each party. If the paper exceeds
1 page, the same shall be rejected.

Note: Competitors are required to submit strategy papers on behalf of both the sides for the
preliminary round only. The qualifying teams may note that it is not mandatory to submit
strategy papers for the semi-final or final rounds. However, they may submit if they want to.

DRESS CODE
Participants are expected to be in formals.

QUERIES
For any questions/clarifications regarding the competition, feel free to reach the Organizers on
the following numbers:-

Anoushka Gahilot: 9373205338 Tejas Bhonge:7507728444

Shantanu Sohoni: 9869664983
Gautam Garg: 7741923439
Sanaya Khadiwala: 8149022707
Tejita Wadode: 9511699600
Khushi Patel: 8830229550
Hitanshu Patil: 7507572375
Krishna Purwar: 9096699602
Yogesh Mourya: 8819978908
Savani Budhkar: 7796483964
Shakshi Swarnkar: 9051119247

The official email ID of the competition is “negotiationchallenge@ilslaw.in”.