Negotiation and Dispute Resolution (LAWS90080)
Graduate courseworkPoints: 12.5On Campus (Parkville)
About this subject
Contact information
April
Teaching staff:
Professor Michelle LeBaron (Coordinator)
For current student enquiries, contact the Law School Academic Support Office
May
Teaching staff:
Professor Michelle LeBaron (Coordinator)
For current student enquiries, contact the Law School Academic Support Office
Overview
| Availability(Quotas apply) | April May |
|---|---|
| Fees | Look up fees |
This highly interactive subject will give students practice-relevant skills for negotiation and dispute resolution. Negotiating effectively involves being able to change the conversation, introducing collaborative approaches alongside competitive ones. 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 learn 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, construction and human rights.
Drawing on current interdisciplinary literature and case examples from practice, students will:
- Learn a proven, research-informed framework for dispute analysis and negotiation to address a range of disputes
- Understand the dynamics of intractable or complex disputes and a range of tools to address them
- Heighten their awareness of personal strengths and weaknesses as a negotiator and identify a personal path of development
- 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, engagement 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.
Intended learning outcomes
A student who has successfully completed this subject will:
- Know how to apply a range of tools informed by neuroscientific research to effectively analyse disputes and accompany clients in change processes
- Be able to effectively negotiate and positively shift interpersonal dynamics in legal disputes
- Demonstrate creative problem-solving in advocacy and dispute processes to improve results
- Understand psychological aspects of negotiation as well as coalition dynamics and intra-group dispute management
- Provide meaningful input into process design and engagement for private or public clients and organizations
- Be able to Integrate creative approaches to complex legal problems into all aspects of their practice
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Eligibility and requirements
Prerequisites
Students must meet one of the following prerequisite options:
EITHER
Admission into a Melbourne Law Masters program
OR Admission into MC-JURISD Juris Doctor
One of
| Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAWS50027 | Dispute Resolution | No longer available | |
| LAWS90140 | Disputes and Ethics | Semester 2 (On Campus - Parkville) |
12.5 |
Corequisites
None
Non-allowed subjects
| Code | Name | Teaching period | Credit Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAWS90062 | Business Negotiations and Deal-Making |
August (Online)
December (Online)
|
12.5 |
| LAWS70468 | Negotiation Skills | Not available in 2025 |
12.5 |
LAWS90021 Intercultural Dispute Resolution
Recommended background knowledge
Applicants without legal qualifications should note that subjects are taught at an advanced graduate level and requires a thorough background in common law. While efforts are made to meet the needs of students trained in other fields, teaching and assessment activities are designed to give an advanced and integrated understanding of the discipline of law for legal practitioners, learners and researchers.
Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)
The University of Melbourne is committed to providing students with reasonable adjustments to assessment and participation under the Disability Standards for Education (2005), and the Assessment and Results Policy (MPF1326). Students are expected to meet the core participation requirements for their course. These can be viewed under Entry and Participation Requirements for the course outlines in the Handbook.
Further details on how to seek academic adjustments can be found on the Student Equity and Disability Support website: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Assessment
| Description | Timing | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Class participation – participation in simulations and joint negotiating assignment to be completed during class | During the teaching period | 20% |
Reflective journal - a reflective journal chronicling students' experiences of negotiations in class, and optionally in their work or personal lives, and negotiations observed involving others
| 2 Weeks after the end of teaching | 20% |
Research paper – Students can choose a topic on an aspect of negotiation or dispute resolution which needs to be approved by the subject coordinator
| April offering: 25 June 2025 | May offering: 23 July 2025 | 60% |
| Hurdle requirement: A minimum of 75% attendance is required. | Throughout the teaching period | N/A |
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Quotas apply to this subject
Dates & times
- April
Principal coordinator Michelle Lebaron Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 34 Total time commitment 150 hours Pre teaching start date 2 April 2025 Pre teaching requirements Please refer to Canvas LMS to check on the pre-class readings and preparatory learning activities before the teaching period commences. Teaching period 30 April 2025 to 6 May 2025 Last self-enrol date 7 April 2025 Census date 2 May 2025 Last date to withdraw without fail 13 June 2025 Assessment period ends 18 July 2025 April contact information
Teaching staff:
Professor Michelle LeBaron (Coordinator)
For current student enquiries, contact the Law School Academic Support Office
- May
Coordinator Michelle Lebaron Mode of delivery On Campus (Parkville) Contact hours 34 Total time commitment 150 hours Pre teaching start date 30 April 2025 Pre teaching requirements Please refer to the Reading Guide on the LMS subject page for confirmation of which resources need to be read and what other preparation is required before the teaching period commences. Teaching period 28 May 2025 to 3 June 2025 Last self-enrol date 5 May 2025 Census date 30 May 2025 Last date to withdraw without fail 11 July 2025 Assessment period ends 15 August 2025 May contact information
Teaching staff:
Professor Michelle LeBaron (Coordinator)
For current student enquiries, contact the Law School Academic Support Office
What do these dates mean
Visit this webpage to find out about these key dates, including how they impact on:
- Your tuition fees, academic transcript and statements.
- And for Commonwealth Supported students, your:
- Student Learning Entitlement. This applies to all students enrolled in a Commonwealth Supported Place (CSP).
Subjects withdrawn after the census date (including up to the ‘last day to withdraw without fail’) count toward the Student Learning Entitlement.
Additional delivery details
Please refer to the Melbourne Law Masters enrolment webpage for further information about re-enrolment, subject quotas and waitlists.
Melbourne Law School may reserve places in a subject for incoming international cohorts or where a subject is core to a specialisation with limited alternate options.
Last updated: 4 March 2025
Further information
- Texts
- Related Handbook entries
This subject contributes to the following:
Type Name Course Master of Construction Law Course Master of Commercial Law Course Graduate Diploma in Construction Law Course Graduate Diploma in Dispute Resolution Course Master of Laws Course Master of Public and International Law Course Juris Doctor - Links to additional information
- Available through the Community Access Program
About the Community Access Program (CAP)
This subject is available through the Community Access Program (also called Single Subject Studies) which allows you to enrol in single subjects offered by the University of Melbourne, without the commitment required to complete a whole degree.
Please note Single Subject Studies via Community Access Program is not available to student visa holders or applicants
Entry requirements including prerequisites may apply. Please refer to the CAP applications page for further information.
Additional information for this subject
If subject coordinator approval is required, or for further information about Community Access Program study, please contact us
(enquiries for current students | enquiries for prospective students).
- Available to Study Abroad and/or Study Exchange Students
Last updated: 4 March 2025