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Cardozo Journal of Conflict Resolution

Abstract

This article reports my observations from teaching those courses and offers suggestions for future efforts to improve legal education, particularly through negotiation and other dispute resolution courses. This article also describes experiments with other teaching techniques in my courses. My experience supports the benefits of the (1) focus on negotiation in a wide range of situations in addition to the final resolution of disputes and transactions ("final negotiation"); (2) addition of "ordinary legal negotiation" stage simulations in addition to traditional single-stage simulations. These approaches were critical in providing students with a more realistic understanding of negotiation.

Of course, one should be cautious about reaching definite conclusions based on a limited set of experiences. I encourage other faculty to experiment with these techniques and develop models that can be readily used or adapted in their courses. Faculty who have previously taught negotiation and are fully satisfied with their courses may feel that there is little need to change their teaching methods and/or that their other commitments (such as producing scholarship) are higher priorities. On the other hand, faculty teaching negotiation (or other courses) may find the suggestions in this article to be helpful if they are planning new courses and/or if they want to consider modifications of prior courses to better prepare students for their negotiations after graduation.

Part II of this article provides an overview of the courses in which I used the approaches described in Teaching Negotiation. Part III describes negotiation in contexts other than the final negotiation in litigation or transactions. Part IV describes the teaching of negotiation theory, including "ordinary legal negotiation" in addition to the traditional positional and interest-based models of negotiation. Part V describes the simulations used in the courses; it particularly contrasts the use of multi-stage simulations with singlestage and improvisational ("improv") simulations. Part VI discusses course assignments and other aspects of the courses. Part VII is the conclusion.

Disciplines

Dispute Resolution and Arbitration | Law | Legal Education | Legal Profession

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