Curriculum Guide · Courses

Professor Cathy Costantino

J.D. Seminar 317 | 3 credit hours

This seminar is an interactive workshop designed to teach the practice and principles of joint problem-solving and to improve students' negotiating skills. Students will be expected to read, write, discuss, critique, and participate in simulated disputes, both in and outside of class. The simulations are designed to familiarize students with the negotiating process, to plan and prepare for negotiations, to identify and experiment with individual negotiating styles and to raise ethical and practical questions. Simulations are taken from a variety of practice areas, including community, commercial, environmental, interpersonal, litigation, and transactional disputes. The effect of gender, culture, power, politics, impasse, and attitude toward conflict will also be explored. The course will also offer an introduction to use of alternative dispute resolution and designing conflict management systems as a means to break negotiation impasse.

Students learn to negotiate by participating in simulations, studying and discussing negotiation theory and principles, analyzing negotiation exercises, and critiqued. They will analyze their own negotiations by maintaining a weekly journal throughout the seminar.

The class meets one Friday afternoon and four weekend days. Attendance at all sessions is required to fulfill class commitment and students must attend the first class to be enrolled. Grades will be based on class participation, development and application of negotiation skills, the quality of the student's journal (including analysis, application of theory and principles, self-reflection, creativity, style, and organization), and a five-page paper.

Prerequisite: Completion of all first year courses, except Property and Criminal Justice (or the equivalent Democracy and Coercion), or Criminal Procedure, is required.

Students may not receive credit for both this seminar and the Negotiations and Mediation Seminar; or Negotiations and Mediation in a Public Interest Setting, or Contracts: Structure and Negotiations or Negotiations and Drafting Seminar.

Students must attend each class session in its entirety in order to receive credit for the seminar. All enrolled and waitlisted students must attend the first class session in order to be enrolled. In Fall 2013, this seminar will meet for five days of intensive sessions as follows: 10/18, 12:15 - 4:45 p.m.; 10/19 and 10/20, 9:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.; and 11/9 and 11/10, 9:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.