What Family Lawyers are Really Doing When They Negotiate

Abstract

How should lawyers negotiate? This Article outlines an empirical study of how lawyers rate each other's negotiation behaviors. After discussing what skills are needed for effective negotiation behavior, the Article then looks more closely at how family lawyers in particular are negotiating. Examining some troubling data, this Article finds that family lawyers appear to be more adversarial and less problem-solving than other types of practitioners - even though their field of law, which involves emotion-laden disputes and ongoing relationships, seems to call for more problem-solving and a less adversarial approach. This article concludes by discussing why this might be so and what the family law bar and family law professors should do in the future to address this problem.

Keywords: Negotiation, ethical, ethics, skills, lawyers, family law, effective