Not Every Strong Legal Position Is a Strong Negotiating Position

Not Every Strong Legal Position Is a Strong Negotiating Position

In some matters, your legal position may be excellent, but your ability to secure the outcome you want may be limited.

In other matters, the legal issue may be open to debate, yet you may have negotiating leverage that makes the other party more willing to reach a resolution.

That is why I have learned not to confuse two different questions:

What can I prove before the court?
And what can I achieve at the negotiating table?

Negotiation is governed by factors broader than legal texts and evidence alone: time, the need to preserve the relationship, the cost of the dispute, the speed of implementation, and the alternatives available to each party if the agreement fails.

A lawyer who enters negotiations with a litigation-only mindset may win the argument and lose the deal.

Likewise, being too accommodating in negotiations without understanding the strength of the legal position may lead to a concession that was not necessary.

Therefore, good negotiation begins with understanding two matters precisely:

What are my rights? And what is the practical value of those rights for me and for the other party?

Legal success does not always mean obtaining the maximum that the law permits…

It means knowing when you can turn the strength of the law into a better outcome for your client.

— Omar Al-Baghdadi