Negotiations – PLST 450

CG • Section 8WK • 01/03/2020 to 06/11/2020 • Modified 09/05/2023

Course Description

This course provides a general introduction to negotiations, alternative dispute resolution, and client counseling. In addition to reviewing the general theories and practice of negotiation, students will study the various styles of negotiation.

For information regarding prerequisites for this course, please refer to the Academic Course Catalog.

Rationale

Lawyers negotiate in a wide range of settings—including, criminal plea-bargaining, settling civil suits, and planning transactions. Effective negotiation skills and knowledge of underlying negotiation theory is thus critical to the paralegal profession. Negotiating allows legal professionals to discover alternative ways to resolve lawsuits, build value, solve problems, and meet client objectives. Therefore, this course exposes the student to essential elements of negotiation theory, application, and practice.

Course Assignment

Textbook readings and lecture presentations

Course Requirements Checklist

After reading the Course Syllabus and Student Expectations, the student will complete the related checklist found in the Course Overview.

Discussions (6)

There will be 6 Discussions throughout this course. Discussions are collaborative learning experiences. Therefore, the student is required to provide a thread in response to the provided topic for each Discussion. Each thread must be at least 300 words and demonstrate course-related knowledge. In addition to the thread, the student is required to reply to 2 other classmates’ threads. Each reply must be at least 200 words.

Alternative Dispute Resolution Writing Assignment

The student will write a 1000-word paper that describes alternative dispute resolution (ADR) in the legal field. The Alternative Dispute Resolution Writing Assignment must have at least 3 sources and must be cited in current Bluebook format.

The student will review a fact pattern and draft a 1-page memorandum in preparation for a negotiation. This assignment will test the student's knowledge of negotiation preparation, tactics, and theory. It will also test the student's ability to identify and synthesize relevant information in an easily readable manner.

Read & Interact Textbook Assignments

The student will complete 12 Read & Interact assignments that align with the course text to help understand and master the material.

Quizzes (4)

Each quiz will cover the Learn material for the module in which it is assigned as well as the previous module. Each quiz will be open-book/open-notes, contain 50 true/false and/or multiple-choice questions, and have a time limit of two hours.