I just returned from vacation with my wife and kids and it reminded me that we apply our negotiation skills with family members every day. While we don’t consider these formal “negotiations” like in business, many experts – including myself – view the...
Several months ago I did a 30-minute presentation before a very intimidating group – my son’s 4th grade class. My goal? Help them learn one or two crucial negotiation concepts and make my son proud (or at least not embarrassed). While negotiation is a fundamental...
Twenty years ago, when I was asked to teach negotiation at the Arizona State University College of Law, my predecessor suggested my students negotiate an exercise involving a neighbor who consistently blared loud music at night. It sounds like an easy negotiation –...
As my law school colleague Barack Obama enters the final few months of his presidency, I’ve been thinking about legacies. As a father, I’ve crafted a short list of negotiation tips, with the hope that my kids might benefit from the most crucial lessons I...
“Rejected,” read the e-mail response John received from his counterpart half a world away. It was a one-word reply to John’s initial request (also by e-mail) that his counterpart evaluate in detail the concerns John had expressed to their contract....
The mediation process encompasses a series of negotiations. Parties negotiate with each other. Counsel negotiate with parties and other counsel. And everyone negotiates with the mediator. An attorney participating in a mediation should remember that dealings wit the...
A friend recently expressed a great deal of frustration to me, saying he had already spent thousands of dollars on legal fees in a messy divorce with no end in sight. Given that few civil litigation cases go to trial — the vast majority end in negotiated...
“It came down to $10,000, and this was a small amount relative to the size of the deal. But there was some ego involved, and we both wanted it,” this client told me. “What did you do?” I asked. “We flipped a coin, with the winner taking the $10,000.” Was this a good...
“What should I do differently when negotiating with someone in Japan or from another culture,” I’m often asked. “Should I still use the strategies you recommend in your book and your seminars?” Absolutely. And yet, cross-cultural...
