We’re in a serious jam. Washington Post columnist Paul Waldman writes that the legislative stalemate over coronavirus disaster relief deals with a complex and thorny negotiation problem. Enhanced unemployment benefits have now expired, leaving over 30 million Americans who have lost their jobs in a precarious economic position. The program providing loans to small businesses … Continue reading Wanted: Master Negotiator
Jim Coben’s wife, Barbara Freese, recently published a fascinating book, Industrial-Strength Denial: Eight Stories of Corporations Defending the Indefensible, from the Slave Trade to Climate Change. I haven’t read it, but I assume it’s a fascinating book based on a wonderful video interview of Barbara by Joe Rogan (and this link contains some clips). Here’s … Continue reading Industrial-Strength Denial
From GFOI Debra Berman: As you begin to prepare your syllabus for next semester, please consider incorporating our Inter School Negotiation Practicum. Last year, I organized a nationwide “Inter-School Negotiation Practicum” that included 623 students from 23 law schools. And we are gearing up to offer it again this fall. If you choose to involve … Continue reading Inter-School Negotiation Practicum in the Fall
During the summer, faculty plan their courses for the fall. This is a good time to consider including Stone Soup assignments in your courses, especially clinical and externship courses. Faculty who used Stone Soup assignments found that they and their students almost invariably were very enthusiastic, feeling that this was a valuable contribution to students’ … Continue reading Consider Cooking Up Stone Soup in the Fall – Especially in Clinical and Externship Courses
If you have problems with BATNA theory (best alternative to negotiated agreement), you aren’t the only one. Some people have privately shared their concerns with me, and I suspect that there are a lot of others who are “in the closet” and don’t express their concerns publicly because BATNAs are so widely taken for granted … Continue reading BATNAs and the Emotional Pains from “Positional Negotiation”
In a recent DRLE listserv colloquy, I threatened to save for another day an extended rant about why we are so doggone attracted to using confusing jargon. That day has arrived. What’s Wrong with BATNA and All the Other ATNAs? My mania was stimulated by an exchange of listserv posts about the use of BATNA … Continue reading BATNA’s Got to Go — and Here’s a Better Idea
If you teach students that it’s important to analyze their BATNAs, consider including material in your course on litigation interest and risk assessment, aka LIRA. Virtually every negotiation, mediation, and ADR survey course teaches students that they should figure out their BATNA when negotiating or mediating. That is sooooo much easier said than done, as … Continue reading Resources for Teaching About BATNA, Bottom Lines, and LIRA
This post summarizes presentations, data collected, and discussion in the “Risky Business: A Toolbox for Managing Litigation Interests and Risks” program on February 28, 2020 at CPR’s annual meeting. There never is enough time to cover everything you want to say, so this post elaborates the discussion at the program. Based on our book, Litigation … Continue reading LIRA @ CPR
Everyone talks about knowing one’s BATNA in negotiation and mediation. But that’s a lot easier said than done. In litigated cases, the value of the BATNA usually is the expected trial outcome, but that is notoriously hard to predict for many reasons. The outcome of numerous legal and factual issues may depend on the evidence, … Continue reading How to Calculate and Use BATNAs and Bottom Lines with LIRA
From LFOI Lara Fowler: The Stanford Institute for Theoretical Economics (SITE) is pleased to announce this call for papers for workshops taking place on the Stanford campus from July 1 to September 11, 2020. Bargaining/negotiation is one of the oldest and most common forms of transaction and interaction; at the same time, it is a … Continue reading Call for Papers: Stanford Institute for Theoretical Economics 2020 Summer Workshops
