A Transactional Law Competition Like No Other
The Closer is a unique invitational transactional law competition reflecting Baylor Law's commitment to training practice-ready lawyers. Unlike other transactional law contests, the problem details are disclosed to competitors only 24hours before the first round of negotiations. This tight timeline pushes competitors to identify legal issues and devise and negotiate solutions that best serve their clients' wishes with the efficiency required of lawyers under realistic time constraints.
Invitations to The Closer are limited to schools that have demonstrated a commitment to excellence in transactional law training.
Invitations will be issued to selected schools in Fall 2026.
To be eligible for an invitation, your Invitation Request Form must be submitted by September 11, 2026.
Is Your Transactional Program Up to the Task?
A significant aspect of The Closer is the competition's selectivity. Only schools distinguished in transactional law training are invited to compete. This ensures that in every round, the best transactional law students from the best transactional law programs in the country compete.
Closing the Deal With $10,000 in Prize Money
With a substantial $10,000 prize pool, Baylor Law’s The Closer National Transactional Law Competition offers competitors a significant prize while allowing them to flex their deal-making prowess.
“The Closer is a whole new class of competition. What most impressed me about The Closer is the way that the problem required participants to not only understand the deal and the client’s related business needs, but also how to map those to a contract draft and how the provisions of that draft related to one another. The resulting negotiations resemble the real-world practice of deal lawyers more closely than any other competition I have ever seen.”
—Carla Reyes
Professor SMU Dedman School of Law
Coach of 2021 The Closer Winner, Floy Gaidarski“We’ve participated in The Closer a number of years, and we just think that this is an excellent transactional competition. It's a really good way to help our students and future practitioners hone their skills in a very real environment.”
—Kristie Gibson
Coach of the 2026 The Closer Winner, Adelaide Fitzgerald
