This year, like last year, I ended my negotiation course with students discussing their personal recipes for success in negotiation.

To give them some ideas, I assigned them to read Andrea’s cute piece (written along with half the rest of the field) with various recipes.  I wanted them to think about their own needs and development, so I insisted that their recipes should be just for them, not general recipes about negotiation.  Students wrote their recipes before class and then in class, we went around the room listing ingredients from their creations.

It is quite something how, with a class of almost 24, we got a wonderfully wide range of ideas.  And it was a fun way to end the course.

I compiled the ingredients in their recipes into this document, showing the frequency that they mentioned various ingredients. Their cumulative recipe combines a wide range of things including interpersonal mindset, good communication, strategy, skills and techniques, and getting paid!

Then, as a review of the course, I asked them to share things they learned this semester.

I emphasized throughout the course that students need to continue learning after law school because they can’t learn it all in three years.  So we talked about how they should plan to continue learning after they graduate.

This was a great way to end the course and it made me feel good that students have learned things that they will find helpful in their careers.

I finished the class with a recommendation that they read my Last Lecture article.  Most of my students were 3Ls and this was not only the last lecture in this class but one of the last lectures they will get in law school.  Although I think this article is especially appropriate at the beginning of law school, it distills good advice for students on their way out the door as well as for lawyers of all ages.