Negotiation is an everyday activity, especially in the life
of a lawyer.The tip of the negotiation
iceberg is seen when you are negotiating the particulars of a personal injury,
contract, or other civil action or giving advice to a business that you represent.But how about your negotiations with other
partners or associates and office staff, even your negotiations away from the
office? Negotiation basics are the same in all of these situations.When many of us went through law school there
wasn't even a course for negotiation.Today every single law school has such a course
While I spent almost 20 years in courtrooms and the last 20+
as a mediator this course is not about war stories.When given the opportunity to develop a
brand new negotiation course for my law school,I hit the books reviewing all that was available not only in the law
field but also in the business and psychology.Then I went back to school to further study at the Harvard Program on
Negotiation.This journey culminated with
a brand new 3 credit course whose foundation is from Professor Roy Lewicki,
from the Fisher School of Business at The Ohio State University and the Harvard
Negotiation Program.
Both distributive bargaining (that give and take process
until you agonizingly reach resolution) and interest based negotiation (where
the parties attempt to create value before claiming value) are treated.In both planning plays a big role and the
Harvard Negotiation Program Seven Element Worksheet is treated in depth.
Othersubject matter
includes:Ego management; separating the
personalities from the problem,keeping
your eye on the prize, resistance points, targets and zones of possible
agreement, breakdown of power sources, empathy and perception,Kelly's dilemmas, importance of process as
well as outcome.Cross cultural and
other diversity (you find it somewhat different when negotiating with a member
of the opposite sex).
