Queen’s Law Transactional LawMeet team members Christina Kim, Dixon Sunthoram, Bharbara Parken and Felix Moser-Boehm outside the Georgetown University Law Center.
Queen’s Law Transactional LawMeet team members Christina Kim, Dixon Sunthoram, Bharbara Parken and Felix Moser-Boehm outside the Georgetown University Law Center.

A team from Queen’s Law spent February 23 at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. taking on regional competition at the 2018 Transactional LawMeet. The three-member team was Christina Kim, MBA'18/Law’19, Felix Moser-Boehm, Law’18, and Dixon Sunthoram, Law’19. Bharbara Parken, Law’18 served as the team’s student advisor. The team was co-supervised by Amelia Miao Law’11, and Professor Mohamed Khimji.

The problem presented to teams was described on the Transactional LawMeet website:

This year’s case involves the acquisition of all the outstanding capital stock of Volt Process Design Company (Volt) by an affiliate of Beijing Global Investors Limited (BGI). Volt is a process control software company based in Philadelphia. It is controlled by its Founder, Dr. Ronald Richards, and his children. BGI is a Beijing-based private equity investment firm. While BGI invests primarily inside China, its newest fund is pursuing a strategy of investing in privately-held companies based in North America or Europe that can benefit from BGI’s network to expand their businesses in China. The teams in this year’s LawMeet® are being asked to draft and negotiate the acquisition agreement for this US$2.25 billion transaction.

“Competing in the Transactional LawMeet on behalf of Queen’s Law has been a highlight of my law school experience,” says Parken. “As a team, we learned how to draft and negotiate deals under the close mentorship of practising corporate lawyers – a completely unique opportunity at Queen’s.”

This year’s case challenged the team to navigate and respond to complex deal terms in a private equity context and to effectively arrive at an agreement reflecting their client’s interests. At the regional round of the competition, the team negotiated the deal with law students from across the United States and received individualized feedback from prominent transactional lawyers. 

“The practical and intensive nature of the Transactional LawMeet makes it an invaluable experience for law students with an interest in corporate practice,” says Parken. “I have no doubt the skills learned throughout the competition will assist me as I enter a career in corporate law.”

Queen’s Law would like to thank adjunct professors Marlin Horst and Michael Whitcombe, Law’85, for generously providing guidance and feedback to team  members during their preparations, Law Library Head Amy Kaufman, Law’04, for ensuring the team had access to any resource it needed, Carol Johnson for administrative assistance, Megan Hamilton for providing voice/expression training, and the Moot Court Committee for co-ordinating the team’s participation.     

The school’s participation in the meet was funded through a generous gift made by the Class of Law’80 to the Business Law Program. The Transactional LawMeet is designed to prepare students who seek to be transactional lawyers on how to structure and negotiate a simulated deal on behalf of a fictional high-profile client. In preparation for the meet, students participate in client conference calls, draft relevant provisions and mark up opposing provisions. Teams participate in two rounds of in-person negotiations and their work is judged by expert practising lawyers.