On January 1, 2018, DLA Piper’s Israel Country Group had the pleasure of visiting the law school at Tel Aviv University (TAU) to observe an intensive international negotiations mini-course led by our colleague, Jay Finkelstein.  The course is structured around a simulated negotiation exercise, spanning over two weeks, in which students from TAU and UC Berkeley School of Law actively participate in training, class discussions, written exchanges, and, ultimately, multi-day live negotiations.   This now his fourth year teaching at TAU, Jay also regularly teaches the course to students and professionals around the world.  Our own Jeremy Lustman taught a similar course alongside Jay in late 2016 in Nairobi, Kenya as part of DLA Piper’s New Perimeter Global Pro Bono Initiative, helping to train mid-level government lawyers involved in negotiating contracts related to natural resources.

Our group was also treated to a tour of the TAU law school, led by Professor David Schorr, where we had the opportunity to meet with Dean Sharon Hannes, as well as learn about the important work undertaken by the various clinics of the law school, including the Holocaust Survivors’ Rights Clinic, the Refugee Rights Clinic, and the Environmental Justice and the Protection of Animal Rights Clinic.

We look forward to Jay’s return to Israel in the spring, when he will again lead the negotiations course for students from TAU law school and Northwestern University’s Pritzker School of Law.