Norwegian Negotiation Competition 2024

May 3rd – 4th, 2024
JUS Lab, Juristenes Hus
Kr. August gt 9, 0164 Oslo

Introduction

The Norwegian Negotiation Competition is our national competition of The International Negotiation Competition (INC).

Since 2013 ELSA Norway and WNI founder, Roar Thun Wægger, have collaborated on hosting this competition in Norway. The INC competition was held by Pepperdine University back in 1998 – it’s the oldest negotiation competition in the world.

We are proud to bring enthusiastic law students to meet the judging panel consisting of lawyers, businesspeople, international military leaders, and professors of law to develop their negotiation skills and to announce a Norwegian Negotiation Champion by the end of this weekend.

Team Bergen

Amalie Lovik

My name is Amalie Lovik, and I am in the third cohort of law school in Bergen. I want to participate in the competition because it is an important and exciting part of working with law, which we learn little about in our classes.

Filip Pinto

My name is Filip, and I am in the third class of law school in Bergen. I wanted to participate in the competition because it is an important and exciting part of working with law, which we learn little about in our classes.

Team Oslo

Kaja Hultgren

My name is Kaja Øien Hultgren, I am 23 years old, come from Tønsberg, and am in my third year of law school in Oslo. I joined the negotiation competition because it reminds me a bit of acting – I like the creative aspect!

Ronja Holtsdalen

My name is Ronja Holtsdalen, I’m 22 years old and come from Horten. I am in my third year of law school in Oslo, and I signed up for the negotiation competition because I find it exciting to develop strategies and be tactical. Additionally, it’s a lot of fun to participate with a good friend!

Team Tromsø

Terese Brunes

Terese is 23 years old and comes from Bodø. She is studying law at UiT in the third department.

Veshalini Kukaraja

Veshalini is 25 years old and comes from Drammen. She is studying law at UiT in the third department.

Moderator

Roar Thun Wægger

Roar Thun Wægger is the founder & CEO, facilitator, mediator, and trainer at Wægger Negotiation Institute AS (WNI). He established WNI in 2017 after working as a lawyer in the Norwegian Association of Lawyers and the Norwegian Tax Authority.

For the last 11 years, Roar has helped ELSA plan the national competition, and judged as well as written several of the roleplays.
Roar has his negotiation education from the “Program on Negotiation” PON by Harvard Law School, and mediation education from the Straus Institute at Pepperdine Law School, the first host of the International Negotiation Competition back in 1998.

Roar became the first mediator in Norway certified as a Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI) accredited civil and commercial mediator as well as a UK-certified mediator.

Roar Thun Wægger

Norway

Judges

In addition to having enthusiastic and competent law students participating in the competition, we also have a large group of esteemed negotiation experts.
This year we are welcoming judges from around Europe, from Turkey, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Scotland, in addition to Norwegian judges.

We want to express our gratitude to each of them for supporting us with their experience and skills and helping develop a culture of negotiation awareness and skills among future Norwegian lawyers.

Here you can read more about who they are:

Arzu Ongur

Attorney Arzu Ongur is the managing partner of Ongur and Partners International Law Office in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey. She is the President of the International Law, Investments, and Development Association (ILIDA) and a board member of Camera di Commercio e Industria Italiana in Turchia.

With nearly 20 years of professional experience, Attorney Arzu ONGUR specializes in international law, international arbitration, and complex dispute resolution involving foreign elements, serving as an international law consultant and attorney. She has extensive professional experience in Turkey and overseas, including Italy, Belgium, and the United States. Additionally, she is well-recognized for providing consultancy services for foreign and local clients in complex corporate matters.

Ongur completed her law degree at Ankara University Faculty of Law between 1996 and 2000. She completed a master’s degree in International Law at the University of Bologna in Italy and a second master’s program at the Collegio Europeo di Parma in Italy as a successful scholarship master’s student.

Attorney Arzu ONGUR has also completed his Ph.D. at the Ankara University Faculty of Law, Alternative Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Expertise Certificate Program in Washington, D.C., USA, and various training programs on International Dispute Resolution at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy.

Arzu Ongur

Turkey

Bjørn Gunnar Johansen

Bjørn Gunnar is the Head of Sourcing & Procurement at BearingPoint Norway. He has extensive experience in procurement and supply chain management in the public and private sectors.

Bjørn Gunnar holds a master’s degree from Norwegian Business School (BI) and has his negotiation training from Harvard Law School, Program on Negotiation.

Bjørn Gunnar Johansen

Norway

Christopher Olsson Lønes

Christopher is a International Mediation Institute and Singapore International Mediation Institute Certified Mediator. He has mediated 190+ cases, both domestic and international disputes.

He is a law graduate from the University of Oslo and has been a part of over 20 international negotiation and mediation competitions either as a participant, coach, or judge.

Christopher is a mediator at The Rent Disputes Tribunal in Norway, and a facilitator at the Wægger Negotiation Institute. At WNI he conducts trainings and workshops in the art of negotiation and related fields.

Christopher Olsson Lønes

Norway

Jean-Christophe Barth-Coullaré

Jean-Christophe Barth is the Executive Director of the World Association of PPP Units & Professionals, an international non-government organization acting as a catalyst for the PPP profession and harnessing the power of a global network of PPP Units and PPP practitioners for the furtherance of the UN 2030 agenda.

JC is a 2024 Judge Weinstein JAMS Foundation International Fellow.

As a commercial mediator (accredited by FSM and the French-German Chamber of Commerce), he also facilitates commercial deals internationally. He focuses on efficient project negotiation and the delivery of #NextLevelPPP infrastructure that encompasses climate resilience and includes the Sustainable Development Goals framework to de-risk projects and ensure value delivery for the beneficiaries. He’s also passionate about good governance and has co-authored a guide on Early-Stage Governance. He teaches Governance, Sales & Contract Negotiation, and Protecting your Brand and your Business at various academic institutions.

Past experiences: Bombardier, Citibank, LBBW, German-Brazilian Chambers of Commerce in São Paulo, Robert Bosch Stiftung, SGL Carbon, the European Champions Alliance, and the Global Program against Money Laundering located at the United Nations Office in Vienna.

Jean-Christophe Barth-Coullaré

Switzerland

Jameson Lingl

Jameson Lingl is a Ph.D. researcher with the Tilburg School of Social and Behavioral Sciences and conducts his research with the Humanitarian Studies Centre at the International Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands. He is broadly interested in the psychology of conflict involving perceptions of both symbolic and material resource distribution. As a 2024-2025 Graduate Research Fellow with the Harvard Program on Negotiation, Jameson will be working to integrate new knowledge on zero-sum thinking with theory and practice insights from the fields of negotiation and conflict resolution.

Professionally, Jameson is closely affiliated with the Land and Natural Resources program and the service-focused Collaboration Center situated in UC Davis’ Division of Continuing and Professional Education. Through his affiliation with UC Davis CPE, Jameson teaches two 40-Hour Mediation courses a year and provides services as a consultant and conflict management coach, providing guidance to government agencies dealing externally with natural resource conflicts and internally with organizational dynamics.

He is conducting his research, teaching and consulting with more than 20 years of mediation experience across diverse settings, including real estate, family, business, community, organizational, and restorative justice contexts. Additionally, he holds an MA in Negotiation, Conflict Resolution, and Peacebuilding from California State University of Dominguez Hills and a BS in Organizational Leadership from Goshen College.

Jameson Lingl

The Netherlands

Kristin Lund

Lund began her career in the Norwegian Army in 1979, and after training at the Norwegian Military Academy, she served in several international roles. Notably, she was deployed with the United Nations in Lebanon in 1986, supported Operation Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia in 1991, and participated in UN missions in the Balkans throughout the early 1990s and in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2004.

She furthered her education at the United States Army War College, obtaining a master’s degree in strategic studies in 2006. In 2007, Lund became the deputy commander of the Norwegian Army Forces Command, and in 2009, she was promoted to major general, becoming the first woman to hold this rank in the Norwegian Army.

In 2014, she was appointed as the Head of Veteran Affairs for the Norwegian Defence Staff and later that year became the Force Commander of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus, marking the first time a woman commanded a UN operation. Lund later led the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization in Jerusalem from 2017 until her retirement in 2019.

Kristin Lund

Norway

Pascal Comvalius

Pascal Comvalius MSC is an IMI-Certified Mediator and a Certified Hostage /Crisis Negotiator.

He obtained a Masters Degree in “Communication, Behavior and Credibility analysis”. Pascal practices and teaches in the USA, Europe, Middle East and Asia. He is specialized in family and criminal law mediation.

He is the former vice-president of the Academy of Professional Family Mediators, a former member of the International Standards Executive Committee of IMI and is the current chair of the IMI appraisal committee. Pascal also a visiting faculty member at Maharashtra National Law University in Mumbai for the Masters Degree in Mediation and Conflict Resolution. Pascal is the author of the book ‘Mediation in criminal cases’.

Pascal Comvalius

The Netherlands

Sverre Blandhol

Sverre Blandhol is professor at The Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, where he teaches Negotiation, Conflict Resolution.

His latest books are Smarte forhandlinger (Universitetsforlaget 2020), Konfliktkoden (Fagbokforlaget 2021) and Kontraktsforhandlinger og forliksforhandlinger (Universitetsforlaget 2024).

Sverre Blandhol

Norway

Susan Stokeld

Professor Susan Stokeld, PhD, MSc, LLB is a Professor of Criminal Law at the School of Law, University of Aberdeen. and the School’s Director of Education. She is a Justice of the Peace and Honorary Sheriff for Grampian, Highlands & Islands, and Chair of the Fitness to Practice Committee for the Medical and Dental Schools at Aberdeen University.

Susan is a qualified Scottish solicitor (now non practicing) but previously worked in private practice in Glasgow, Aberdeen and London. She is a member of the Law Society for Scotland’s Access to Justice Committee, the Judicial Advisory Board and the Scottish Association for the Study of Offending Committee and the Scottish representative for the International Negotiation for Law Students organization and a judge at international competitions for law students in both negotiation and client consultation.

Susan Stokeld

Scotland

Juristenes Utdanningssenter (JUS)

Center for Continuing Legal Education (Juristenes Utdanningssenter – JUS) offers a comprehensive range of courses to the legal profession, both in the public and private sectors. The Center is a non-profit independent association, that provides further and higher education at an advanced level to the juridical profession of lawyers, judges, managers, and case officers in Norway.

We are the largest provider in the Norwegian market for continuing legal education and receive very good reviews from our customers. To maintain and develop new courses we have established over 40 different legal councils.

At Juristenes Utdanningssenter we attach a great deal of importance to the quality of our lecturers, the content of our courses, and our administration. This is why we work closely with The Faculties of Law in Norway and with judges, top lawyers, and civil servants.

Visit JUS's website

ELSA Norway

ELSA Norway is one of a total of 42 national groups in The European Law Student’s Association, which is an international student organization for all law students. ELSA Norway is the national board for Norway, which has a local group in Bergen, Oslo, and Tromsø.

ELSA will be a professional and social offer for students and will help strengthen the lawyers, lawyers, and judges of the future. One of the hallmarks of ELSA Norway is The National Negotiation Competition, which is the national negotiation competition where a team from our law faculties in Bergen, Oslo, and Tromsø meet and compete to join our partner Wægger Negotiation Institute (WNI) to compete against the rest of the world.

WNI has been ELSA Norway’s permanent partner in The National Negotiation Competition for over 10 years, and without the effort and expertise of Roar Thun Wægger and his team, the competition would not have been known as ELSA Norway’s trademark.

Visit ELSA's website