Add Your PerspectiveMarch 30, 2012

Because the Other Side Has a Perspective

Sometimes I don’t need to hear why, or how, it happened — the thing just speaks for itself.  A few months ago I read an article in The New York Times and made up my mind by the third line, which detailed the audience’s anger as “a cellphone began ringing – and ringing, ringing, ringing without cease – during a performance by the New York Philharmonic.”  Through first-hand accounts available from thousandfold echo, Superconductor, and Max Kinchen, we now know that no one cared why, or how, it happened.  Fellow concertgoers yelled, “Thousand dollar fine!”, “Get out!”, and “Kick him out!”.

Later I learned the rest of the story, and the case of the unrelenting marimba ringtone is now an easy way to More…

Categories: Communication,Fundamentals,Mediation,Negotiation

5 PerspectivesNovember 9, 2011

The Decision Tree, Step by Step: How Much Is Your Million Dollar Case Worth?

What’s your dispute worth – to you and to the other side? It’s hard to imagine settling without knowing the answer, and a decision tree can be a critical tool to help you get there. As I have said before, there are plenty of reasons why we should use decision trees, but – until now – there hasn’t been a step by step guide detailing how to use them. It’s time to change that.

Smith v. BiggCo, Inc. – Case Background

To demonstrate how to create a decision tree I have used a few screenshots from Resolution Tree, a decision tree product from my friends at Unit Interactive and me.  In this decision tree, you represent Smith, who plans to sue More…

Categories: Communication,Decision Trees,Negotiation,Resolution Tree,Selected Posts

2 PerspectivesApril 1, 2010

The Multi-Step Dispute Resolution Clause: A Few Reasons Why Clients Like Them

Last week we defined multi-step dispute resolution clauses and explored why a dispute resolution framework, negotiated before the contract is signed, can help businesses avoid litigation in many cases.  This post will give you a few more reasons why your client might want a multi-step dispute resolution clause next time — even if a dispute seems unlikely.

To better understand why I spoke with my longtime transaction counsel Colleen Vossler last week, and she made her clients’ case clearly:

In my experience many clients with long-term contracts understand the intrinsic value of creating, at the outset of the relationship, a roadmap to follow when disputes arise. Importantly, the client shares the same roadmap with the other party – rather than creating separate roadmaps when the dispute is upon them. Clients who have experienced conflicts in long-term contracts, where the preservation of the relationship may have more value than in a short-term contract, often view these clauses as an insurance policy for when a dispute arises.

The “roadmap” provided by a multi-step dispute resolution clause More…

Categories: ADR,Communication,Negotiation,Settlement

2 PerspectivesMarch 22, 2010

Another Look at How the Brackets Work

It’s no secret that I went to Duke Law School and I’m happy to see the Blue Devils advancing through the NCAA Tournament brackets this year, but this isn’t a post about basketball.  I wander off topic every now and then, but there are limits.

This post is about bracketing — one of the more important, and overlooked, aspects of negotiation.  First, a summary:

In negotiation no number is irrelevant, and no proposal is ever forgotten.  Every offer you make, every figure you float, and every potential path to settlement you communicate to the other side will forever impact your negotiations.

Negotiators ignore this rule at their peril.

What Are Negotiation Brackets?

The message from my client’s deal lawyer was as informative as it was economical:  “We’re bracketed at 250 and 400.”  With this shorthand he More…

Categories: Communication,Fundamentals,Negotiation,Settlement,Tactics