Negotiation Support

Negotiations are usually lost in preparation rather than at the table. The party that knows which points it will not concede, what its position is worth if talks fail, and where the other side is exposed will do better than the party improvising. Legal support in a negotiation is largely about establishing those things in advance and then holding the line while commercial pressure builds to give it up.

This is support during the conversation, not merely a review of what comes out of it. It typically covers:

• preparation: your objectives, your limits, and what happens if no deal is reached;
• an assessment of the other side’s position and where its real exposure lies;
• drafting and responding to proposals as the negotiation moves;
• attendance at meetings, either leading on the legal points or supporting quietly;
• managing the sequence — what is agreed when, and what stays open deliberately;
• protecting your position in correspondence while talks are still exploratory;
• handling deadlock, and the options that exist short of walking away;
• converting what was agreed into a document that reflects it accurately;
• the same support in employment, supplier and shareholder discussions, not only in deals.

Our lawyers can support you with this.