Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (LAWS90080)

This highly interactive subject will give students practice-relevant skills for negotiation and dispute resolution. Negotiating effectively involves being able to change the conversation, shifting from adversarial to collaborative approaches. The best negotiators are also skilled at structuring processes and listening beneath what is said. This program will introduce a proven framework for creating value and resolving disputes, informed by recent research and extensive practice. Using experiential approaches, case studies and simulations, participants will deepen their abilities to represent clients and negotiate across a range of practice contexts. Participants will have multiple opportunities to refine their negotiation and dispute management skills, and will leave with a series of practical tools for dealing with difficult negotiation behaviours and hard bargaining tactics in diverse settings. This subject will be useful for those working on a wide range of complex issues in a range of contexts including commercial, environmental, public policy and human rights.

Drawing on current interdisciplinary literature and case examples from practice, students will:

• Learn a proven framework for dispute analysis and negotiation to address a range of disputes
• Understand the dynamics of intractable disputes and a range of tools to address them
• Heighten their awareness of personal strengths and weaknesses as a negotiator
• Gain problem-solving techniques to enhance possible solutions in complex negotiations
• Acquire skills for choosing the right process to craft durable outcomes
• Heighten their abilities to work across diverse contexts
• Practice and refine negotiation and dispute management skills toward more successful outcomes

Successful completion of the subject will expand participants’ abilities for complex issue analysis, intervention and follow-up as negotiators, representatives and facilitators in negotiation and dispute resolution processes. Students will learn valuable skills of integrative thinking and creativity through experiential exercises and their final papers.