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.