Beyond Winning

by Mnookin, Robert H.

• ISBN13: 9780674012318
• ISBN10: 0674012313
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-04-15
• Publisher: Belknap Pr

Summary

Conflict is inevitable, in both deals and disputes. Yet when clients call in the lawyers to haggle over who gets how much of the pie, traditional hard-bargaining tactics can lead to ruin. Too often, deals blow up, cases don't settle, relationships fall apart, justice is delayed. Beyond Winning charts a way out of our current crisis of confidence in the legal system. It offers a fresh look at negotiation, aimed at helping lawyers turn disputes into deals, and deals into better deals, through practical, tough-minded problem-solving techniques. In this step-by-step guide to conflict resolution, the authors describe the many obstacles that can derail a legal negotiation, both behind the bargaining table with one's own client and across the table with the other side. They offer clear, candid advice about ways lawyers can search for beneficial trades, enlarge the scope of interests, improve communication, minimize transaction costs, and leave both sides better off than before. But lawyers cannot do the job alone. People who hire lawyers must help change the game from conflict to collaboration. The entrepreneur structuring a joint venture, the plaintiff embroiled in a civil suit, the CEO negotiating an employment contract, the real estate developer concerned with environmental hazards, the parent considering a custody battle--clients who understand the pressures and incentives a lawyer faces can work more effectively within the legal system to promote their own best interests. Attorneys exhausted by the trench warfare of cases that drag on for years will find here a positive, proven approach to revitalizing their profession.

Author Biography

Robert H. Mnookin is Williston Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and Director of the Harvard Negotiation Research Project Scott R. Peppet is Associate Professor, University of Colorado School of Law Andrew S. Tulumello is an attorney in private practice

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Introduction	1	(8)
Part I The Dynamics of Negotiation	9	(84)
1 The Tension between Creating and Distributing Value	11	(33)
2 The Tension between Empathy and Assertiveness	44	(25)
3 The Tension between Principals and Agents	69	(24)
Part II Why Lawyers?	93	(80)
4 The Challenges of Dispute Resolution	97	(30)
5 The Challenges of Deal-Making	127	(29)
6 Psychological and Cultural Barriers	156	(17)
Part III A Problem-Solving Approach	173	(100)
7 Behind the Table	178	(26)
8 Across the Table	204	(20)
9 Advice for Resolving Disputes	224	(25)
10 Advice for Making Deals	249	(24)
Part IV Special Issues	273	(42)
11 Professional and Ethical Dilemmas	274	(21)
12 Organizations and Multiple Parties	295	(20)
Conclusion	315	(10)
Notes	325	(24)
Index	349