The Closer
The Closer
A Transactional Law Competition Like No Other
The Closer is a unique invitational transactional law competition reflecting Baylor Law's commitment to training practice-ready lawyers. Unlike other transactional law contests, the details of the problem are only disclosed to the competitors twenty-four hours prior to the first round of negotiations. This tight timeline pushes competitors to identify the legal issues and devise and negotiate solutions that best serve their client's wishes with the efficiency required of lawyers under realistic time constraints.
The Closer 2023 champions Will Cowan and Ryann Connell negotiate during the final round.
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2024 Competition |
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2023 Competition |
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2022 Competition |
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2021 Competition |
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2020 Competition |
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2019 Competition |
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2018 Competition |
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2017 Competition |
Is Your Transactional Program Up to the Task?
A significant aspect of The Closer is the competition's selectivity. Only schools who have distinguished themselves in the area of transactional law training are invited to compete. This ensures that in every round, the best transactional law students from the best transactional law programs in the country compete. |
Closing the Deal With $10,000 in Prize Money
Featuring a substantial $10,000 prize pool, Baylor Law's The Closer National Transactional Law Competition offers competitors a significant prize while giving them a chance to flex their deal making prowess. |
“The Closer is a whole new class of competition. What most impressed me about The Closer is the way that the problem required participants to not only understand the deal and the client’s related business needs, but also how to map those to a contract draft and how the provisions of that draft related to one another. The resulting negotiations resemble the real-world practice of deal lawyers more closely than any other competition I have ever seen.”
—Carla Reyes
Professor SMU Dedman School of Law
Professor SMU Dedman School of Law
Coach of 2021 The Closer Winner Floy Gaidarski
“This is the most prestigious transactional law competition in the country, and I really consider it a national championship.”
—Preston Chaffee
2021 The Closer Winner
2021 The Closer Winner