Curriculum Guide · Courses

Professors Chad Carr, Mark Holloway, Jeremy McClane, and Ryan Taylor

J.D. Seminar 317 | 3 credit hours

Most lawyers, irrespective of their specialty, must negotiate. Litigators resolve far more disputes through negotiation than by trials. Business lawyers—whether putting together a start-up company, arranging venture financing, or preparing an initial public offering—are called upon to negotiate on behalf of their clients. Public interest lawyers, in-house counsel, government attorneys, criminal lawyers, tort lawyers, and commercial litigators all share the need to be effective negotiators.

This seminar, by combining theory and practice, aims to improve both the participants’ understanding of negotiation and their effectiveness as negotiators. Drawing on work from a variety of research perspectives, the readings and lectures will provide students with a framework for analyzing negotiations and tools and concepts useful in negotiating more effectively. In particular, this seminar will expose students to the problem-solving approach to negotiation. Accordingly, our main texts will be Getting to Yes, by Roger Fisher, William Ury, and Bruce Patton, and Beyond Winning, by Robert Mnookin, Scott Peppet, and Andrew Tulumello. An additional packet of readings will also be required for the course.

Participants will spend much of their time in a series of negotiation exercises and simulations, where, as negotiators and critical observers, they will become more aware of their own negotiation behavior and learn to analyze what works well, what does not, and why. Class sessions will be devoted to a combination of lectures, case simulations, discussions, and film clips.

The seminar is intensive (9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. for six sessions, spread over two weekends, plus a time to be scheduled by each student between the two weekends for videotaping and reviewing one negotiation). Full attendance and participation is required at all six sessions.

Grades are based on the quality of student participation, several writing assignments, and a final 10- to 12-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 the Negotiations and Drafting Seminar.

This class will be divided into two sections of 24 students, and each of the sections will be supervised and graded by two of the professors. Students will be randomly assigned to a section of 24 students on or before the first day of the class. They will receive their section assignment from the professors. Joint lectures and cross-section negotiations shared by the two sections will enrich the students' experiences in the course.

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 course will meet for 6 days of intensive sessions from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. as follows: 9/27, 9/28, and 9/29 and 11/1, 11/2, and 11/3. Between the two weekends, students will conduct one negotiation that will be video-taped, at a time convenient for them.