LEGAL NEGOTIATION (3 Credits)
SPRING 2002

WORKSHOP MEMORANDUM AND DRAFT SYLLABUS

Professor Scott Peppet
Office: Room 311
Phone: 303-735-0818
Email: scott.peppet@colorado.edu

Welcome to the Spring Term Negotiation Workshop! The Workshop will be a fun and challenging way for you to learn about negotiation, identify your existing strengths and weaknesses as a negotiator, and begin practicing new skills to become more effective when sitting at the table with other lawyers. Through a combination of lectures, group discussions, simulations, small-group feedback sessions, conceptual exercises, and journal writing we will explore what makes legal negotiation tough and how to do it better.

PLEASE READ THIS DOCUMENT IN ITS ENTIRETY ASAP - IT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT MAY PERTAIN TO YOUR ADD/DROP DECISIONS AS WELL AS PRE-WORKSHOP ASSIGNMENTS.



Background

Class will begin on Monday, January 14th, at 3:30 pm. We will have class sessions each week on Mondays from 3:30 pm to 6:10 pm in Room 102. (There will be a built-in break.) In addition, there will be an all-day class on Saturday, April 13th from 9:00 am to 4:00 pm. Because of our slightly extended class hours each week, we will finish this course a bit early in the semester. (See the attached draft syllabus.)

There are a few things that you should know about this course.

First, this course will be very "hands-on" and experiential. We will use a range of simulations and exercises to give you the experience of negotiating difficult problems. Through analyzing your experiences in class you will begin to see what you're doing that works, what doesn't work, and how you could improve.

Teaching people how to negotiate is not like teaching Torts or Contracts. You already have a broad base of knowledge about and experience with negotiating -- after all, you've been doing it since you first learned to cry in your crib in order to get more attention from your parents. Thus, part of learning to negotiate better is learning to observe one's existing behavior in a detailed and accurate way, because only by knowing what we do currently can we learn how to improve upon it. This means that I will expect you to be open to receiving constructive feedback from each other and from me. I, in turn, will be eager for your input and ideas regarding the class and my assistance to you as a negotiation coach. Unless each of us allows others to help us, we will not learn.

Second, the fact that the course is experiential and requires some introspection means that as a group we must create an environment that is open, supportive and creative. Many people see negotiation as a competition to "win", and we will talk at great length about whether and when this understanding of negotiation is correct. Regardless of whether negotiation is a competition, however, my experience teaching negotiation has convinced me that learning negotiation need not, and indeed should not, be. I therefore ask that each of you spend some time thinking about what it would take for you to feel comfortable learning about how you negotiate. What topics would it be hard for you to discuss with others? What kinds of comments in class would make it hard for you to stay engaged? Will the very thought of having to "censor" yourself to make others "safe" put you off and make you feel disengaged? Are there other ways to think about this that would be less offensive? How, as a group, will we reconcile these competing needs?

Third, I want to emphasize that although the class is hands-on and simulation oriented, there is also a very robust conceptual underpinning that you will need to grapple with and try to master. To learn to negotiate better you need to understand the basics of how negotiations work. This involves learning some basic economics, some basic social and cognitive psychology, and, more important still, a conceptual framework with which you can understand what is at stake in a negotiation. The bottom line here: there is a fairly heavy reading load in this course. I strongly recommend that you complete the required books (see below) before the course begins.



Readings

We will build a great deal of that conceptual framework from the three core texts for this course:

Roger Fisher, William Ury & Bruce Patton, Getting to YES (Second Edition 1991). [Be sure to get the second, not the first, edition.]

Robert Mnookin, Scott Peppet & Andrew Tulumello, Beyond Winning: Creating Value in Negotiating Deals and Disputes (Harvard University Press 2000).

Doug Stone, Bruce Patton & Sheila Heen, Difficult Conversations: How To Discuss What Matters Most (1999).

I strongly recommend that you purchase and read them before the course begins in January.

In addition, there will be supplemental reading assignments throughout the semester. Most will be in the following required supplement:

Alan Rau, Ed Sherman & Scott Peppet, Negotiation: The Role of Lawyers (Foundation Press 2002) (available by the time the course begins).

I will also distribute some photocopied supplemental readings as the semester progresses.



Journal

During the Workshop you will be expected to keep a short (3-4 pages) weekly journal of your reflections. Your Journal should contain your comments on your experiences in the Workshop, the lessons you learned about negotiation in or out of class that day, what you think you did well, and what unanswered questions you still have. For those of you who have kept a journal before, this is likely to feel quite natural. For others, journal-writing may seem foreign. I am confident that after a day or two you will find the opportunity for reflection rewarding. Also, although I will read your journal, it will be kept entirely confidential.

At the end of the course you will be expected to "annotate" your journal by going back through your existing entries and adding to them, commenting upon them, etc. Some people do this by inserting additional text in a different font, others by adding footnotes, etc. (It is much easier to annotate if you have kept your journal on your computer.) The annotations generally increase the total length of the existing journal by about 25%. They are an opportunity for you to synthesize what you've learned in the course, consider how you want to apply what you've learned going forward, and re-consider early entries. We will discuss this annotation process during the semester.

Journals will be due on Wednesday each week by 4:00 pm by email. We will discuss journal format, etc., during the first class session. Note: you are allowed to "pass" on one journal entry during the semester. Please submit a note on that Wednesday indicating that you are "passing" that week.



Videotaping

To improve your negotiation skills requires changing your behavior. Changing behavior is notoriously difficult. Video can be a great aid, allowing you to isolate what you do well and not so well and surprising you with real data about your behaviors that you can then analyze.

Each week at least one pair or group of negotiators will be videotaped as they conduct their simulation. You will be able to review these videos at home and we will use clips from some student videos in class as reference points for our discussion. (In addition, I may make clips available to you on the web for your analysis in journals if I can get the technology working.) Although seeing yourself on video can be embarrassing, it is also an invaluable learning opportunity. Hopefully as a class we can make video an integral part of the semester.



Grading

Finally, a word about participation and grading. Because of the nature of this course, participation and attendance are vitally important. In almost every class session you will be paired with another student to negotiate a "case" simulation. Your absence will therefore not only impact your learning -- as is the case in any course -- but also will disrupt and diminish the ability of your fellow students to learn. It will also make the logistics of the course a nightmare for me. For these reasons, I will expect full and on-time attendance at every class session.

If right now you do not expect to make every session on time during the course you must discuss this with me before November 16th, 2001 by calling me at the number listed above or sending me an email. If it seems that you will be unable to meet the attendance requirement I will advise you to drop the course before it starts.

In addition, if for some unexpected reason it turns out that you must miss a class session during the Workshop, I ask that you notify me by telephone or email before your absence so that I can rearrange the logistics for the day.

Your grade will reflect a combination of:

Your grade will not reflect my perception of your performance in any of the negotiation simulations that we will conduct; you will not be "scored" or judged as to the results you secure for yourself. I will, however, reserve the right to consider absences or lateness when setting your grade, as appropriate under the law school's rules. In addition, I will certainly factor in (as part of your participation grade) whether you have adequately prepared for and vigorously engaged in the simulations.

If you have any questions about the course, you can reach me at the phone number or E-mail address listed above.

I look forward to meeting and working with each of you.




PRELIMINARY SYLLABUS
(Please note: This syllabus is subject to change.)

Class #1 - Monday, January 14

INTRODUCTION TO THE WORKSHOP
THE OIL PRICING EXERCISE

Assignment for this class:


Class #2 - Monday, January 28

REVIEW OF THE LAW LIBRARY NEGOTIATION
OBSERVING A NEGOTIATION AND GIVING USEFUL FEEDBACK
THE SALLY SOPRANO NEGOTIATION
WHAT IS A GOOD OUTCOME?

Assignment for this class:


Class #3 - Monday, February 4

THE MOUNTAIN VIEW FARM NEGOTIATION
CREATING VALUE EXERCISES

Assignment for this class:


Class #4 - Monday, February 11

THE POWER OF CRITERIA OR NORMS
THE 67 FISH POND LANE NEGOTIATION

Assignment for this class:


Class #5 - Monday, February 18

DISCOUNT MARKETPLACE
VALUE CREATION IN DEAL-MAKING

Assignment for this class:


Class #6 - Monday, February 25

REVIEW OF DISCOUNT MARKETPLACE RESULTS
REVIEW OF VIDEO (Negotiation of a Commercial Lease)
THE BASICS OF HARD BARGAINING


Class #7 - Monday, March 4

REVIEW OF THE OFFER
THE DONS NEGOTIATION
NEGOTIATION ETHICS

Assignment for this class:


Class #8 - Monday, March 11

EMPATHY AND ASSERTIVENESS:
THE PROBLEM OF PARTISAN PERCEPTIONS
THE ROLE REVERSAL EXERCISE

Assignment for this class:


Class #9 - Monday, March 18

THE CASINO EXERCISE
LISTENING EXERCISES

Assignment for this class:


Class #10 - Monday, April 1

LISTENING EXERCISES
THE EMOTIONAL FOOTPRINT EXERCISE
IDENTITY

Assignment for this class:


Class #12 - Monday, April 8

REVIEW OF YOUR SIBBING RIFLERY NEGOTIATIONS
THE EAZY'S GARAGE EXERCISE
DEALING WITH DIFFICULT TACTICS

Assignment for this class:


SATURDAY -- April 13th

9:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. (lunch from 12:00-1:00)
THE MAPO NEGOTIATION
REVIEW OF MAPO
DEALING WITH DIFFICULT TACTICS REPRISE

Assignment for this class:


Class #13 - Monday, April 15

CHUCK'S WAGON
PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
GOING FORWARD

Assignment for this class: