Negotiation

• Semester: Fall 2026
• Course ID: 381J
• Credit Hours: 3
• Unique: 31358

Registration Status: Waitlisted

Description

Negotiation is the most used skill of all attorneys. For litigators: Data indicates 90-95% of all civil cases settle before trial. Thus, effective negotiation skills are essential skills for litigators. For transactional lawyers: Bad negotiation skills can cause deals to blow up, and effective negotiation skills can lead to achieving the goals of your client. For criminal law attorneys: Negotiating plea bargains are key as 90-95% of criminal cases are resolved by negotiated plea bargains. For family lawyers, negotiating custody arrangements, child support, and property divisions are bread and butter of family law practice. This course will explore both the art and the science of negotiation. We will look at various styles of negotiation: distributive; interest based; and integrative. We will look at lessons from game theory; behavioral economics; and cognitive science. We will also look at the role of culture and gender as it impacts negotiating behavior. Negotiation is a skill developed by its use. There will be interactive negotiation exercises in almost every class. The negotiation exercise will either be preceded by or followed by lecture and discussion. Grading will be based upon two major negotiations in which students will negotiate real world scenarios that lawyers face, and a final essay of approximately 10 pages. The final essay, My Rules for Negotiation, will be each student's summary of lessons learned from their negotiations, and each student's toolkit for negotiating. It is my hope the final essay will become part of each student's professional workbook as they enter the practice of law. In order to prepare the essay, each student will need to keep a weekly journal of each class exercise and major exercise regarding negotiating tactics observed and lessons learned. The journal will not be graded, but based upon my experience, the more complete and analytical the journal, the better the final essay.