Add Your PerspectiveNovember 28, 2008

More Negotiation Tactics: Stop the Nibbler Before He Starts

I recently wrote One Use for an Unnecessary Confidentiality Clause, where I outlined a tactic that helped me buy a house I really wanted. In that same deal I learned how to stop what Chester Karrass describes as “the nibbler” with a technique that can translate well beyond your next home purchase — whether you are settling a lawsuit or just working to close your next business transaction.

While you might not know him by name, you know the Nibbler already. On the cusp of getting your deal done, your opponent asks for just a bit more — we’ve all heard something like “if you’ll pay today’s mediator, too, we will accept your settlement offer.” If you’re in a one-time deal with the other side, you don’t More…

Categories: Negotiation,Tactics

Add Your PerspectiveNovember 18, 2008

“Blink”: Why No One Starts with a Clean Slate

The call comes in from out of the blue.  You don’t know her;  it’s Jen Spaziano, and she represents the company your client is — or perhaps was — merging with.  Apparently there is a problem, and she is proposing to mediate before litigation.  Your fingers work the keyboard to figure out who she is while she’s still talking:  Skadden.  Partner.  Woman.  Pepperdine Law 1995, summa cum laude.  Boston College undergrad.  You begin to react.  Do you respond any differently than if the call came from Bill Adams?  Of course you do.

Blink:  One Professional Starts with a Clean Slate

In negotiation no one starts with a clean slate; we file that lawsuit, we walk into that conference room, or we place that call, and our identities are immediately revealed.   More…

Categories: Communication,Fundamentals,Negotiation,Strategy

2 PerspectivesNovember 14, 2008

One Secret the Two Million Miler Club Has Taught Me

I’ll never forget a presentation by the Chief Litigation Counsel of a well-known tool company who complained about how long it takes to learn whether a newly-alleged product defect is really unsafe or not.  He told us that the first lawsuit outlining the defect takes time to serve, the charges take time to digest, and interrogatories and depositions can take months to complete before he can get to an answer.  All these delays prevent him from learning whether his product is really dangerous.

There is a better way.  As I write this I’m in seat 20B.  Perhaps he should be sitting next to me.

$24 Can Buy a Lot These Days

A few years ago one of my clients called to tell me a lawsuit was on the way.  After several years of efforts to unwind a joint venture, my client and my client’s partner had broken off negotiations.  The other side would wait no longer to get their money out of the deal, and five minutes with the file told me why.   More…

Categories: Communication,Negotiation,Settlement,Tactics

1 PerspectiveNovember 7, 2008

Better Settlements From Better Information: Early Case Assessments IV

“You can pay them, or you can pay me.  But don’t pay us both.”  My friend Robert Manley told me that as we sent him a new lawsuit a few years ago, and his quote sums up one of Early Case Assessments’ biggest benefits.  As we have discussed before, getting your ECA done — gathering the information required by the Early Case Assessment Checklist discussed in Part II and Part III of this series — requires an up-front investment.  This post will tell you why, if you plan to settle your case, a thorough Early Case Assessment will be worth that investment.

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Categories: ECA,Miscellaneous,Negotiation,Settlement,Strategy,Tactics