The Clash of Counsels Cyber Law Negotiation Competition, organized by the Cyber Law and Cyber Security Society of KIIT School of Law on 18-19th April 2025, under the guidance of Dr. Sambhabi Patnaik, conevnor of the society and Dr. Lipsa Dash, the co-convernor of the society bringing together budding legal minds to solve real-life problems at the crossroads of law and technology. The competition witnessed enthusiastic participation of over 30 passionate teams from our law school, each consisting of clients and counsels, who engaged in intense negotiations over cyber law disputes. This is the first ever negotiation competition held at the law school. This impactful initiative was significantly enriched by our invaluable Knowledge Partners, the Asian School of Cyber Laws and PACT, who provided us with the challenging and relevant negotiation problems. Furthermore, PACT served as our esteemed Mediation Advocacy Partner. They also provided free certificate courses offered by their organization to all winners of the competition and offered reduced fee on their certificate courses to all participants. The participants benefited from a special orientation workshop led by the insightful Jonathan Rodregues Sir, equipping them with essential negotiation strategies for the cyber realm. Adding depth to the judging process, Ms. Shuchi Nagpal, COO and Co-founder of Asian School of Cyber Laws, briefed the panel on the intricacies of assessing cyber law negotiations to ensure rigor and fairness.The competition spanned around two days, unfolding in two demanding preliminary rounds, testing team’s ability to balance legal accuracy with creative problem solving skills. The preliminary rounds were judged by 16 advocates (including few alumni) practicing at Orissa High Court. Following the showcase of their skills, the top 8 teams advanced to the semi finals. The final round saw two brilliant teams battling it out inadvertently in a highly competitive negotiation process, showing top-notch advocacy, teamwork and technical legal analysis. By bridging theory and practice, Clash of Counsels not only highlighted the increasing relevance of cyber law expertise, but also fostered practical skills essential for tomorrow’s lawyers. The participants were judged and awarded with best negotiator, best negotiation plan along with winner and runners up prize.
