The ABA has just released a new book on Planned Early Negotiation authored by John Lande, Isidor Loeb Professor and Director, LL.M. Program in Dispute Resolution, University of Missouri School of Law. The book, which includes a CD with numerous practical forms, is entitled “Lawyering with Planned Early Negotiation: How You Can Get Good Results for Clients and Make Money.”
Here is an excerpt from John’s website describing the book:
This book is written primarily for lawyers who want to improve their effectiveness. Whether you’re a solo practitioner or in a mid- to large-sized firm, you negotiate all the time. This guide shows how you can be more successful using Planned Early Negotiation (PEN). The strategies in this book can help you become a more effective negotiator, which can increase your professional satisfaction, generate good will, relieve stress, and increase your effective billing rates with creative fee arrangements. The book includes advice from interviews of outstanding lawyers who handle all kinds of cases.
But this book is not only about negotiation — it outlines a general approach to practicing law. This book will help you:
- Build strong relationships with your clients
- Choose billing systems that maximize both your interests and your clients’ interests
- Develop effective working relationships with the other side and minimize unnecessary conflict
- Increase your confidence when you negotiate
- Manage problems that commonly arise in negotiation
- Use experts and other professionals effectively
- Improve your negotiation skills throughout your career
Although I have not read it yet, the description sounds like it will be a useful training resource for lawyers seeking to resolve their clients’ disputes through negotiation and, even more generally, lawyers who want to more effectively problem-solve for their clients.
Thanks for your very kind words, Jill. I plan to use the book for my Negotiation course next year and some readers might want to ask for a review copy to consider using it for their courses as well. For more information, see http://www.law.missouri.edu/lande/.