Fifty Wayne State University Law School students participated in the 12th Annual Wayne State Taft Transactional Law Competition on Nov. 14, 2025, at the Southfield offices of Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP.
This year’s winners are as follows:
• First Place Negotiations (Seller’s Counsel): Damion Todd and Jacob Meyou
• First Place Negotiations (Buyer’s Counsel): Bennett McGraw and (Gordon) Austin Woody
• First Place Drafting (Seller’s Counsel): Damion Todd and Jacob Meyou
• First Place Drafting (Buyer’s Counsel): Nana Berko and Dilraj Gill
The winners will represent Wayne Law at the 2026 Wayne State Taft Transactional Law Invitational, a national competition hosted by Wayne Law in the spring. This premier event will bring together 22 law schools from across the United States.
This innovative, live-round competition is part of a one-credit course developed and led by Associate Professor and Faculty Director of the LL.M. Program, Eric Zacks. The competition challenges students to build essential drafting, negotiating, and counseling skills through a simulated mergers and acquisitions transaction. Participating teams represented either the buyer or seller in a complex acquisition scenario. Over the semester, each team advised its client, drafted questions, prepared an indemnification agreement, completed a markup of opposing counsel’s draft, and engaged in two rounds of live negotiations during competition day.
A panel of practicing transactional attorneys, including many Wayne Law alumni, served as judges, providing feedback to participants after each round.
The Wayne State Taft Transactional Law Competition, previously known as the Jaffe Transactional Law Competition, was established in 2014 by Professor Zacks and Wayne Law Alumnus and Partner at Taft, Justin Hanna. The program continues to thrive thanks to the Taft Transactional Law Competition Fund, established in 2018.
This year’s competition was organized by student chairpersons and past winners: Dino F. Bucci III, Mackenzie Berebrock, Katherine (Katie) Koczak, Elizabeth Miller, and Scout Ciora.
“Each year, this competition continues to impress,” Hanna said. “The Wayne Law students brought tremendous skill, preparation, and professionalism to the event. Taft is proud to continue supporting this program that helps develop the next generation of our transactional lawyers.”
The attorneys serving as judges included the following, with Wayne Law alumni indicated by graduation year:
Justin Hanna (’15) | Taft
Marguerite Donahue (’87) | Taft (Ret.)
Jeff Izzard | Taft
Bruce Kahn | Taft
Daniel Harwood (’24) | Taft
Connor Schram (’24) | Taft
Jeremy Ellis (’23) | Taft
Arthur Griem (’19) | Miller Canfield
Antonia Giles | Warner Norcross & Judd
DeLone Dawisha (’18) | Dawisha Law
Danielle Graceffa (’06) | Invest Detroit
Jeff Paulsen | Paulsen Law Firm
Allison Bach (’04) | Dickinson Wright
Hillel Nadler | Wayne State University
Jennifer Dewey | General Motors
Dana White | Dykema Gossett
Lydia Dunn (’25) | Miller Johnson
Chris Banerian (’14) | WorkForce
“We are very appreciative of all of the support from Taft and the feedback from the volunteer judges,” Professor Zacks said. “Our student chairs and competitors brought incredible energy and dedication, and I couldn’t be prouder of their work. It was thrilling to see another set of 50 Wayne Law students tackle important transactional issues in a realistic negotiations setting. We are looking forward to hosting the national competition with Taft in the spring.”
This year’s winners are as follows:
• First Place Negotiations (Seller’s Counsel): Damion Todd and Jacob Meyou
• First Place Negotiations (Buyer’s Counsel): Bennett McGraw and (Gordon) Austin Woody
• First Place Drafting (Seller’s Counsel): Damion Todd and Jacob Meyou
• First Place Drafting (Buyer’s Counsel): Nana Berko and Dilraj Gill
The winners will represent Wayne Law at the 2026 Wayne State Taft Transactional Law Invitational, a national competition hosted by Wayne Law in the spring. This premier event will bring together 22 law schools from across the United States.
This innovative, live-round competition is part of a one-credit course developed and led by Associate Professor and Faculty Director of the LL.M. Program, Eric Zacks. The competition challenges students to build essential drafting, negotiating, and counseling skills through a simulated mergers and acquisitions transaction. Participating teams represented either the buyer or seller in a complex acquisition scenario. Over the semester, each team advised its client, drafted questions, prepared an indemnification agreement, completed a markup of opposing counsel’s draft, and engaged in two rounds of live negotiations during competition day.
A panel of practicing transactional attorneys, including many Wayne Law alumni, served as judges, providing feedback to participants after each round.
The Wayne State Taft Transactional Law Competition, previously known as the Jaffe Transactional Law Competition, was established in 2014 by Professor Zacks and Wayne Law Alumnus and Partner at Taft, Justin Hanna. The program continues to thrive thanks to the Taft Transactional Law Competition Fund, established in 2018.
This year’s competition was organized by student chairpersons and past winners: Dino F. Bucci III, Mackenzie Berebrock, Katherine (Katie) Koczak, Elizabeth Miller, and Scout Ciora.
“Each year, this competition continues to impress,” Hanna said. “The Wayne Law students brought tremendous skill, preparation, and professionalism to the event. Taft is proud to continue supporting this program that helps develop the next generation of our transactional lawyers.”
The attorneys serving as judges included the following, with Wayne Law alumni indicated by graduation year:
Justin Hanna (’15) | Taft
Marguerite Donahue (’87) | Taft (Ret.)
Jeff Izzard | Taft
Bruce Kahn | Taft
Daniel Harwood (’24) | Taft
Connor Schram (’24) | Taft
Jeremy Ellis (’23) | Taft
Arthur Griem (’19) | Miller Canfield
Antonia Giles | Warner Norcross & Judd
DeLone Dawisha (’18) | Dawisha Law
Danielle Graceffa (’06) | Invest Detroit
Jeff Paulsen | Paulsen Law Firm
Allison Bach (’04) | Dickinson Wright
Hillel Nadler | Wayne State University
Jennifer Dewey | General Motors
Dana White | Dykema Gossett
Lydia Dunn (’25) | Miller Johnson
Chris Banerian (’14) | WorkForce
“We are very appreciative of all of the support from Taft and the feedback from the volunteer judges,” Professor Zacks said. “Our student chairs and competitors brought incredible energy and dedication, and I couldn’t be prouder of their work. It was thrilling to see another set of 50 Wayne Law students tackle important transactional issues in a realistic negotiations setting. We are looking forward to hosting the national competition with Taft in the spring.”
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