Two student teams from UNLV's William S. Boyd School of Law placed in the top 10 of the finals of the American Bar Association's National Negotiations Competition, held Feb. 5-11 in Seattle.

Law students Tabitha Fiddyment and Cari Waters placed sixth, while the team of Stephanie Hardie and Nadine Morton placed ninth. The competition included teams from Northwestern, Fordham, and Washington & Lee universities. UNLV, however, was the only school that had more than one team qualify for the finals.

In the regional competition held in November, Hardie and Morton took first place, and Fiddyment and Waters placed second. Both teams were coached by UNLV law professors Jeff Stempel and Mary Berkheiser.

"I can say with confidence that both teams performed extremely well and did a sterling job of representing the law school in both tournaments, ending the season in the top 10 of the 100 or more teams participating in the negotiations competition," Stempel said.

In the competition, a team of two law students must negotiate a resolution to a hypothetical situation by meeting with an "opposing counsel" team of students from another law school. Competitors are judged on their handling of legal and factual issues, their ability to work with opposing counsel in structuring settlements, and their recognition of ethical responsibilities.