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Negotiation
Texas A&M School of Law Expands ADR Curriculum Under New Dispute Resolution Program Director
December 27, 2017
The Texas A&M University School of Law has beefed up its ADR curriculum after welcoming Professor Nancy Welsh as Director of the Aggie Dispute Resolution Program this fall. According to a Texas A&M news release, all first-year law students will now be required to enroll in a one-credit survey course addressing ADR mechanisms. The law school has also begun offering an upper-level mediation workshop twice per year. The news release states: With Welsh at the helm, Texas A&M...
December 27, 2017
The Texas A&M University School of Law has beefed up its ADR curriculum after welcoming Professor Nancy Welsh as Director of the Aggie Dispute Resolution Program this fall. According to a Texas A&M news release, all first-year law students will now be required to enroll in a one-credit survey course addressing ADR mechanisms. The law school has also begun offering an upper-level mediation workshop twice per year. The news release states: With Welsh at the helm, Texas A&M...
How Good is Your EAR?
December 26, 2017
No one is perfect. We all get upset. But some of us get upset more often than others. If that person is the client or the person you’re dealing with “EAR Statements” may help, according to an article by Bill Eddy. He says high conflict people often attack those closest to them and those in authority (like their attorney), especially if they are frustrated (such as during litigation) because they have a hard time dealing with their emotions. Eddy says making EAR statements...
December 26, 2017
No one is perfect. We all get upset. But some of us get upset more often than others. If that person is the client or the person you’re dealing with “EAR Statements” may help, according to an article by Bill Eddy. He says high conflict people often attack those closest to them and those in authority (like their attorney), especially if they are frustrated (such as during litigation) because they have a hard time dealing with their emotions. Eddy says making EAR statements...
Expressing Gratitude in Negotiations May Not Be A Good Idea
December 15, 2017
Previous research has revealed that expressing gratitude motivates prosocial behavior in cooperative relationships. However, expressing gratitude in competitive interactions may operate differently. Across five studies, we demonstrate that individuals interacting with grateful counterparts become more likely to engage in selfish behavior during competitive interactions. In Studies 1a and 1b, participants who interacted with counterparts expressing gratitude were more likely to make aggressive offers...
December 15, 2017
Previous research has revealed that expressing gratitude motivates prosocial behavior in cooperative relationships. However, expressing gratitude in competitive interactions may operate differently. Across five studies, we demonstrate that individuals interacting with grateful counterparts become more likely to engage in selfish behavior during competitive interactions. In Studies 1a and 1b, participants who interacted with counterparts expressing gratitude were more likely to make aggressive offers...
Anger Has Its Benefits
December 14, 2017
From this, the researchers concluded that “‘People intuitively chose to become angry… They believed they would become more effective competitors.’” (Id.): They were right. Anger is what psychologists call an ‘approach’ emotion—it makes us move toward or attack something. It can help us tackle problems, such as when we get mad about something political and rally to a cause. And getting made before a negotiation, competition or sporting event can fire us up. That’s why coaches trash...
December 14, 2017
From this, the researchers concluded that “‘People intuitively chose to become angry… They believed they would become more effective competitors.’” (Id.): They were right. Anger is what psychologists call an ‘approach’ emotion—it makes us move toward or attack something. It can help us tackle problems, such as when we get mad about something political and rally to a cause. And getting made before a negotiation, competition or sporting event can fire us up. That’s why coaches trash...
Litigation Risk Assessment: A Tool to Enhance Negotiation
December 12, 2017
Comparisons between final settlement offers and trial outcomes raise serious questions about whether lawyers and clients...
December 12, 2017
Comparisons between final settlement offers and trial outcomes raise serious questions about whether lawyers and clients...
Stressed Out, Anxious or Sad? Try Meditating
December 11, 2017
Meditation can make you more compassionate and ease depression. Psychologist Daniel Goleman, author of ‘Emotional Intelligence,’ on the benefits of focusing the mind Should you meditate? Psychologist and author Daniel Goleman—well-known for his 1995 book “Emotional Intelligence”—spent almost two years combing through more than 6,000 academic studies on meditation with a team of researchers to sort through the hype and discover the real benefits. He wrote about his findings...
December 11, 2017
Meditation can make you more compassionate and ease depression. Psychologist Daniel Goleman, author of ‘Emotional Intelligence,’ on the benefits of focusing the mind Should you meditate? Psychologist and author Daniel Goleman—well-known for his 1995 book “Emotional Intelligence”—spent almost two years combing through more than 6,000 academic studies on meditation with a team of researchers to sort through the hype and discover the real benefits. He wrote about his findings...
How to Control Your Emotions During a Difficult Conversation
December 7, 2017
It’s hard not to get worked up emotionally when you’re in a tense conversation. After all, a disagreement can feel like a threat. You’re afraid you’re going to have to give up something — your point of view, the way you’re used to doing something, the notion that you’re right, or maybe even power – and your body therefore ramps up for a fight by triggering the sympathetic nervous system. This is a natural response, but the problem is that our bodies and minds aren’t particularly...
December 7, 2017
It’s hard not to get worked up emotionally when you’re in a tense conversation. After all, a disagreement can feel like a threat. You’re afraid you’re going to have to give up something — your point of view, the way you’re used to doing something, the notion that you’re right, or maybe even power – and your body therefore ramps up for a fight by triggering the sympathetic nervous system. This is a natural response, but the problem is that our bodies and minds aren’t particularly...
Failing to Initiate Settlement Negotiations is Risky Business
December 7, 2017
Two recent cases have addressed insurance company extracontractual exposure for failing to initiate settlement negotiations. In Stalley v. Allstate Insurance Co., 2016 WL 1752764 (M.D. Fla. April 29, 2016) the court considered the so-called “Powell rule” where the insurance company has an affirmative duty to initiate settlement negotiations under Florida law when the liability of the insured has become clear and the injuries are so serious that a judgment in excess of the policy limits...
December 7, 2017
Two recent cases have addressed insurance company extracontractual exposure for failing to initiate settlement negotiations. In Stalley v. Allstate Insurance Co., 2016 WL 1752764 (M.D. Fla. April 29, 2016) the court considered the so-called “Powell rule” where the insurance company has an affirmative duty to initiate settlement negotiations under Florida law when the liability of the insured has become clear and the injuries are so serious that a judgment in excess of the policy limits...
Real Car Dealing
November 29, 2017
I just listened to an episode of a This American Life podcast entitled 129 Cars, referring to a car dealership’s monthly sales quota. A team of reporters followed various people at a Long Island dealership for a month and the episode sounds like a sitcom. But it is very real, reflecting tensions in negotiations between the manufacturer and the dealership as well as between various employees at the dealership — not to mention tension between the dealership and the customers. This...
November 29, 2017
I just listened to an episode of a This American Life podcast entitled 129 Cars, referring to a car dealership’s monthly sales quota. A team of reporters followed various people at a Long Island dealership for a month and the episode sounds like a sitcom. But it is very real, reflecting tensions in negotiations between the manufacturer and the dealership as well as between various employees at the dealership — not to mention tension between the dealership and the customers. This...
Conversations left open-ended don’t rise to the level of an offer
October 23, 2017
The case out of New Jersey, Kristine Deer, Inc. v. Booth, No. C-29-16 (behind paywall), involved a luxury active wear company, K-DEER, for which the defendant, Booth, worked. Booth had several conversations over the course of her employment with K-DEER's sole shareholder, Kristine Deer, about Booth receiving possible equity interest in the company. However, every one of those conversations was fairly vague. Deer seemed to always finish the conversations with some kind of demurral: that she had to "think...
October 23, 2017
The case out of New Jersey, Kristine Deer, Inc. v. Booth, No. C-29-16 (behind paywall), involved a luxury active wear company, K-DEER, for which the defendant, Booth, worked. Booth had several conversations over the course of her employment with K-DEER's sole shareholder, Kristine Deer, about Booth receiving possible equity interest in the company. However, every one of those conversations was fairly vague. Deer seemed to always finish the conversations with some kind of demurral: that she had to "think...
