The Closer 2026: Oregon Law’s Adelaide Fitzgerald Claims Top Honors

Adelaide Fitzgerald, a third‑year Oregon Law student, won The Closer 2026, a pre‑eminent transactional law competition hosted by Baylor School of Law in Waco, Texas. Fourteen students from leading transactional law programs across the country competed in the event, which marked its tenth year.

High‑Intensity Competition Sharpens Real‑World Legal Skills

Assistant Clinical Professor Kristie Gibson, who coached Fitzgerald, emphasized that The Closer gives students a practice-focused opportunity to develop and hone transactional law skills in a realistic negotiation environment. 

“Students work under a tight timeline to become familiar with the transaction and legal issues, develop their negotiation strategy, and consider forward-thinking solutions that align with their client’s interests and the spirit of the transaction,” Gibson said. “The knowledge and skills students gain through this experience provides a foundation upon which they can build as they enter practice.”

Key Tension Centers on Risk, Control, and Brand Protection

Competitors receive the transaction details only twenty‑four hours before the first negotiation round, pushing them to quickly identify key issues and develop practical, efficient solutions, simulating real-world demands. Throughout four preliminary rounds, they negotiate, receive detailed feedback, and refine both their solutions and negotiation style before entering a final round.

Fitzgerald encouraged future participants to embrace the unique opportunity the competition offers. She noted that The Closer is “the only time in your life where you're going to do four consecutive rounds of the same negotiation and get feedback every time,” which gives competitors a chance to improve from round to round. “Really take advantage of that,” she said. “It’s such a great learning experience.”

Fitzgerald negotiated on behalf of Lightstream Presents, an event production company entering a contract with lifestyle brand The Magnolia Company to host a weekend concert as part of a larger event in the spring. The final round introduced a twist: the event would be broadcast, expanding the negotiation to include licensing and broadcast rights.

The negotiation highlighted the fundamental tension between risk and control, according to Baylor Law School, with Lightstream seeking a long-term, financially secure agreement with strong control and revenue participation and Magnolia prioritizing brand protection, oversight, and flexibility.

A Diverse Background Strengthens Fitzgerald’s Legal Approach

A native of Brookings, Oregon, Fitzgerald taught high school for four years before starting law school. Before winning The Closer, she won the Moot Court Negotiations Competition during her first year at Oregon Law and competed at the Tulane Sports Law Negotiation Competition. She is currently editor-in-chief of the Oregon Law Review, her second year on the editorial staff. After graduation this spring, Fitzgerald will join Gleaves Swearingen LLP in Eugene.

Fitzgerald credited her success to lessons from coursework in business law, appropriate dispute resolution, and oral argument classes; Gibson’s coaching expertise; her life experience managing high‑pressure situations; and practice negotiations with her boyfriend, also an Oregon Law student. 

Fitzgerald’s victory marks the second Oregon Law win in recent years, following Clark Barlowe, JD ’25, who won The Closer in 2024. “Oregon Law has a really good dispute resolution program and a really good business law program. This is the nexus of those two things,” she said.