I. Basic Factors Affecting Negotiations
§ Human behavior
§ Consideration of personal needs
§ How to prepare for negotiation
II. Establishing Negotiators’ “Identities” and the Tone of the Negotiation
§ Information exchange
§ Negotiating the tone of the negotiation – intimidation, open competitiveness, cooperation, etc.
III. Negotiation Phases
§ Preparation stage
§ Preliminary phase
§ Information phase
§ Competitive (distributive) phase
§ Closing phase
§ Cooperative (integrative) phase
IV. Non-verbal Communication
V. Identifying and Responding to Negotiation Games and Techniques
§ Dealing with common methods of negotiation:
§ Limited authority
§ Real or feigned anger
§ Aggressive behavior
§ False demands
§ Boulwareism
§ Use of a symmetrical time pressure
§ Mutt & Jeff
§ Belly-up
§ Passive-aggressive
VI. Cultural / Gender Considerations
VII. Psychological Traps
§ Knowing when non-settlement is preferable
§ Knowing when to “cut your losses”
VIII. Specific Problems
§ Initiation of settlement discussions
§ Weakening a powerful opponent and strengthening a weak bargaining position
§ How to deal with a “locked-in” opponent
§ Telephone negotiations / face-to-face negotiations
§ What to do when an opponent will not represent your offers fairly to his or her client
IX. Ethics in Negotiating
§ When are “strategic misrepresentations” permissible?
§ What is the difference between acceptable “puffing” / “embellishment” and unacceptable mendacity?
§ When must negotiators disclose critical factual or legal information?
§ When is a partial disclosure less acceptable than a nondisclosure?
§ When might offensive tactics intervene in the Model Rules?
This seminar is worth 6.1 WV MCLE credits, including 1.2 Ethics credits.
