Texas Transactional Skills Competition: UT Intramural Competition
In the fall semester, the Texas Business Law Society hosts an intramural competition for first-year and upper-level students known as the TTSC. The competition provides an opportunity for students to draft and negotiate a transactional document, such as a term sheet or an agreement, in a manner that mirrors corporate legal practice. The competition is judged by corporate partners and associates from firms all over the state of Texas. This is an excellent opportunity for students to gain exposure to real practical documents and experience the role of a transactional attorney. Additionally, the TTSC provides students with networking and mentorship opportunities with practicing transactional attorneys.
The 2023 competition will be held Saturday, October 14th. During the competition, participants compete against their peers over two rounds of negotiation. The goal is to reach a deal by demonstrating your negotiation skills and articulating your client’s needs. TBLS will host a reception for the judges and participants following the competition. This year, we are excited to host the competition in-person!
11:00 am Welcome Lunch and Registration for Judges
12:30 pm Welcome and Registration for Participants
1:00 – 1:45 pm Round One of Competition
2:00 – 2:45 pm Round Two of Competition
3:00 — 5:30 pm Reception and Awards Ceremony
First-Year Students
First-year law students will compete individually or in pairs to draft and negotiate a non-disclosure agreement. Students will be given a neutral form agreement to markup as buyer-friendly or seller-friendly. The buyer
and seller teams will negotiate in two rounds, against two different teams. Judges will provide each team with feedback on their drafting and negotiation skills.
Upper-Level Students
Second-year, third-year, and LL.M. students will individually draft and negotiate a venture capital term sheet (1-2 pages in length). One student will represent the founder of a startup, while the other student will represent the venture capital firm that wants to invest. Students will be given the National Venture Capital Association form term sheet and draft the terms sheet to fit the competition problem.
The upper-level students will be invited to apply for one of the traveling LawMeet teams. The teams consist of
3-5 students and are coached by alumni of UT Law and TBLS.
Texas Transactional Skills Program (LawMeet®)
The Texas Transactional Skill Program is a competition based program that provides participants with practical learning experiences tailored toward developing both drafting and negotiating skills used in a corporate transactional legal practice. LawMeet parallels the litigation based experience of moot court. This program consists of a Fall intramural competition, called the Texas Transactional Skills Competition, followed by several traveling Spring transactional competitions across the nation.
Each year, The University of Texas School of Law sends several teams of students to participate in the Transactional LawMeet® competitions. In the past these competitions have included the following practice areas: Bankruptcy, Sports Representation, Oil, Gas, and Energy Transactions, General M&A Transactions, and more.
LawMeet® is the premier “moot court” experience for students interested in transactional practice. The competition takes place in the spring semester and involves three phases beginning with preparation of a draft agreement. Teams then conduct a mark up of the opposing team’s draft. The final phase involves in-person negotiations with the opposing teams.
In recent years, teams from Texas Law have competed and earned multiple accolades at LawMeet competitions across the nation, including Best Overall for the Seller’s Representative at the UCLA competition in 2023. Texas Law has been represented in the national LawMeet competition in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2023.
For the 2023-2024 school year, The University of Texas School of Law is hoping to send a minimum of three teams to compete in different regional competitions. Participation in the Texas Transactional Skills Competition is the best way to prepare to compete in the spring traveling competitions.
LawMeet competitions & practice areas will be announced Nov - Dec 2023
First-Year winners from the 2022 Texas Transactional Skills Competition.
Upper-level winners from the 2022 Texas Transactional Skills Competition
Board members at the 2022 Texas Transactional Skills Competition.
Why You Should Join Texas Transactional Skills Competition
Learn about corporate law in a practical environment
Develop relationships with associates and partners at firms all across Texas
Hone drafting and negotiation skills
Build your resume in a manner that demonstrates keen interest in corporate law