A student team from The University of Tulsa College of Law won second place at the American Bar Association Law Student Division 2008 Negotiation Competition.

Third-year law students Gil Pilkington and Michon Hughes competed against the top 24 negotiation teams in the country, including top-20 law schools such as Northwestern University School of Law and Boston University School of Law. The competition was held on Feb. 8 and 9, in Los Angeles.

"This team's victory provides much deserved national recognition for TU and our law students," said Janet Levit, interim dean of the law school. "We are proud that our students can stand shoulder to shoulder with the nation’s best law students."

Pilkington and Hughes, who are both from Tulsa, emerged from the semifinal round as their pool's top team. This earned them a spot in the final four facing a team from the country's eighth ranked law school, the University of California at Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law.

The Tulsa team won their head-to-head match up with Berkeley in the four-team final round and was ranked second overall by judges.

"We were ecstatic when we found out we made the final four and we felt we had achieved something pretty special," Pilkington said.  "When they announced we won runner-up, it was amazing. I have been to a lot of competitions but I’ve never seen the level of competition so consistently high."

Levit pointed out that in addition to the runner-up finish, another team of TU students participated in the event. They were third-year students Corey Rogers of Georgetown, Texas and Linda Hem of Dallas. Both teams were coached by Kent Francy and Stephanie Milburn.

"While we are all thrilled for the success of Gil and Michon, it shouldn’t be forgotten that TU joined the Liberty University School of Law (Lynchburg, Va.) as the only two schools that qualified two teams for the national championships," Levit said.

Both teams qualified for the national competition by placing in the top three of a regional contest in November. In all, 109 law schools sent 220 total teams to regional competitions.

More information on this competition can be found at: http://www.abanet.org/lsd/competitions/negotiation/.

ABOUT THE TU COLLEGE OF LAW

The TU College of Law provides an academically rigorous, yet congenial atmosphere with opportunities for scholarship, leadership and faculty mentoring. Students develop practical skills through participation with student-driven legal journals, award-winning moot court teams, two on-campus clinics and a new pro bono program. Joint interdisciplinary degrees include a JD/MBA and JD/MTAX and unique specialties include energy and environmental law and Native American law. The Mabee Legal Information Center is recognized as one of the nation's top university law libraries. The TU College of Law is one of the four colleges of The University of Tulsa, which is ranked among U.S. News and World Report’s Top 100 Universities. To find out more visit: www.law.utulsa.edu.