New experiences, brighter futures

It has been 9 months since my last post. It was not a result of being too busy or neglectful or unstimulated, but the result of doing client work that required me to keep a lower profile. As a law student I am bound by solicitor-client privilege and regulated by the Law Society of Upper Canada.

The January semester was one of discovery for me. I discovered the thrill of international trade law. I took a 3 week course in International Trade Negotiation taught by the Centre for Trade Law and Policy housed in Carleton University. The first two weeks of the course covered substantive trade in goods and services as well as negotiation techniques. The last week involved a simulation with students at the University of the West Indies in Cave Hill, Barbados. I had heard about the course in December 2010 and saved my summer earnings and successfully registered by lottery in July. I took my friend, Alicia, who is not a law student and we stayed at the Almond Beach Club and Spa in St. James, a mere 8 minute bus ride (on a yellow, calypso-blaring bus - awesome way to start the morning!) to the University.

Jeanelle Clarke, Alicia Breck and Vanessa Davies after the negotiation

There have been a few TED talks that have resonated with me over the Fall semester and I crystallized their messages during this negotiation. The most influential was Sheryl Sandberg's talk about too few women leaders. Because of her, I consciously decided to "sit at the table" and "keep my hand raised". I was the only person on my team, the CARICOM (stands for Caribbean Community, a single market economic trading area) team, to put my candidacy forward for Chief Negotiator. Because I did so, my team sensed my leadership skills and unanimously supported me. The course was largely female-dominated and there are distinct social tensions that arise with female leaders. I eschewed them by supporting my teammates' ideas, listening supportively, giving credit where it was due, keeping them part of any strategizing I did and commending them at the end of each of the four days we were together. As a result, we worked better together which enabled us to make significant gains in our negotiation against the team representing Canada. I also employed similar strategies when dealing with the other Chief Negotiator, which defused tensions that arose in the plenary sessions. I was straightforward with concerns, we shared personal stories, I was not afraid to ask questions or seek clarification. It became apparent to me that "Canada's" Chief Negotiator was on our side and could meet many of our needs if we were to frame it creatively. So I went back to my team having cultivated trust on both sides in order to brainstorm better solutions.

CARICOM Ambassador and negotiation coaches in the classroom at UWI Cave Hill, Barbados

This was an incredible learning experience: I gained experience managing people, creating and pursuing a vision, learning which negotiating tactics to avoid and employ, and balancing priorities in our mandate. Representing the underdog in a negotiation is an upward battle, but by employing the right tactics we made significant gains. On the last day of the negotiation, we presented our Economic Development Agreement to the Ambassador of CARICOM and their Agriculture representative. They took notes and asked excellent questions about how we pitched and balanced our priorities. They were impressed with the overall structure of the agreement. Real life free trade negotiations between Canada and CARICOM are stalled, and CTPL and the Department of Foreign Affairs have asked the students to report back about our creative solutions and problem solving skills. We all learned so much in a short week and I have emerged with new friends and colleagues. Here is a press release about the Economic Development Agreement we concluded.