Santa Clara Law’s Center for Global Law & Policy proudly hosted the inaugural Transpacific Negotiation Institute last week at Charney Hall, welcoming twelve esteemed attorneys from some of Japan’s largest corporations, along with 50 students and recent alumni, to 
engage in a week of intensive negotiation training and simulations.
This groundbreaking program is a product of a decades-long collaboration between Professor Emeritus Phil Jimenez, founder and longtime director of our outstanding summer abroad program in Tokyo, Japan, together with Etsuo Doi, who is a partner at Foley Lardner and a beloved supporter of Santa Clara’s programs in Japan. Their visionary leadership has been instrumental in crafting this innovative educational platform that fosters meaningful cross-Pacific legal education and training.
“Thank you very much to Santa Clara University faculty…because it’s a lot of work to get this done and I think we reached great success…
and the Japanese participants are all VERY happy. The first year students are also very impressive, very excited about this program, and I hope that this will bring additional value to Santa Clara University,” commented Mr. Etsuo Doi.
Under the expertise of Professor Laura Love—who has been at the forefront of teaching negotiations to Santa Clara students for the past decade—and who meticulously designed the curriculum for the attendees and taught the intensive morning training sessions, this week-long training offered valuable practice in intercultural communication, collaboration, and negotiation skills.
Asked what Professor Love felt was the most important thing that the students learned from this experience, she responded, “What I hope they learned is that there are always differences between cultures and people, but that we have more similarities than differences, and the more you can talk to other people you can build that bridge and find the connection point so that you’re able to communicate more effectively, person-to-person wherever you come from in the world.”
Students also had the opportunity to visit the campuses of Intuitive Surgical and Google to speak with attorneys to learn about business and negotiation practices. At Intuitive Surgical, they toured the production floor and then spoke with Santa Clara Law alums Cyprian Okafor ’98 and Wendy Cheng ’08, and also Diwei Zhang. At Google, they met with Santa Clara Law alum Azita Saghafi ’04, and also Annie Pogue, Emily Garber, and Tristan Ostrowski. “The Santa Clara Law alumni network in Silicon Valley is unparalleled, and it was a privilege to connect our outstanding graduates and their colleagues with our visiting guests,” noted Michael Flynn, Associate Dean for Global Engagement.
The institute was not all about training and simulation; throughout the week, attendees were also given ample networking opportunities, with social activities including group dinners, a baseball game at Stephen Schott Stadium, and culminating in a closing reception at the Adobe Lounge.
The negotiation simulation provided an invaluable learning experience for our students. Oren J. Rosenberg described his experience, “it
was wonderful to participate in this negotiation exercise! Negotiating with practicing Japanese lawyers was very insightful: I was able to learn from their experience practicing law and how that translated to their negotiation styles. It was also interesting to learn more about the cultural differences between American and Japanese negotiations.”
The inaugural Transpacific Negotiation Institute was a resounding success! We are deeply grateful to the founders, Phil Jimenez and Etsuo Doi, our curriculum designers and faculty, Laura Love, and Michael Flynn, and our program manager, Sarah Brockmeyer, who deftly coordinated the week-long program with meticulous care and attention to detail. A special thank you goes to the Center for Global Law & Policy and all the attendees, students, and alums for your invaluable contribution and engagement.