Negotiation

In Chapter 7 students were introduced to a range of dispute resolution processes available to parties in conflict. One of those processes was negotiation, defined (in [7.1001) as a process in which parties confer with each other for the purpose of reaching an agreement that satisfies their respective interests. By design, this definition did not confine negotiation to dispute resolution. While it is a dispute resolution process, more often negotiation is used by parties who are not in conflict in order to settle the terms of an agreement. Sometimes the agreement is formalised in a binding and enforceable contract; more often it is not. Negotiation has been singled out for special attention because it is the most common of the tasks that lawyers perform.