KU Law wins back-to-back national transactional law competitions

LAWRENCE –  In March, two University of Kansas Law students traveled to Southfield, Michigan, to compete in the Wayne State Taft Transactional Law Competition. Jackie Jeschke and Alli Baden, third-year law students, went head-to-head against 21 other law school teams from around the country and came away victorious, bringing home both of the competition’s top prizes – best negotiation and best draft.

In preparation, Jeschke and Baden spent months drafting and revising an agreement and then competed in two live negotiations. They were coached by Anna Kimbrell, 2014 graduate, a partner at Husch Blackwell and leader of the firm’s national energy and natural resources practice.

“The opportunity to participate in a transactional law competition was a goal of mine since beginning law school,” Jeschke said. “The real-life experience of gathering deal information, drafting an agreement and negotiating with the other side further solidified that being a deal lawyer is the right career path for me.”

“We were honored and excited to win both Best Drafting Counsel and Best Negotiation Counsel for the buyer’s side,” Baden said. “Credit for our success goes to our coach, Anna Kimbrell, who provided us with valuable advice on how to approach drafting and how to effectively convey our deal points during the negotiations.”

This is the second consecutive national transactional competition victory for KU Law. In February, KU Law students traveled to California for the UCLA Transactional Law Competition, where they took home the competition’s top award, best overall for the second year in a row. KU Law was also well represented at Baylor University’s “The Closer” Transactional Law Competition in January by Abbey Brower, third-year student, who won three out of four negotiation matchups.

Student participation in these competitions is supported by the Polsinelli Transactional Law Center, a partnership between KU Law and Polsinelli, which also offers transactional law courses, symposia and other programming to arm students with the practical skills necessary for successful careers in transactional law.

“Polsinelli’s support in creating the Polsinelli Transactional Law Center enables students who are interested in transactional law an opportunity to travel to these competitions without worrying about travel expenses,” Jeschke said. “Instead, we can focus our attention on learning practical skills that will make us better attorneys.”

Learn more about the transactional law programs at KU Law.