Negotiation by Mike Gregory

State Bar of Texas - Collaborative Law Course

Dallas, Texas - March 10-11, 2011

CHAPTER 9

I. Introduction:

John F. Kennedy said, “Let us never negotiate out of fear.  But let us never fear to negotiate.”   Negotiation: lawyers do it all the time.  Lawyers are negotiators. We negotiate with ourselves, family members,   sales people, law partners, clients, opposing lawyers, unrepresented opposing parties, mediators, judges and others.  “Kids play their parents off each other. Whether you’re arguing with your spouse, buying a car, or selling a product or a house, you’re negotiating. Yet few have ever learned the strategies and techniques of effective negotiation.  Even fewer have mastered them.”  Martin Latz, Gain the Edge! Negotiating to Get What You Want (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2004).  Most of the time these negotiations are haphazard, without adequate preparation.