Successful Contract Negotiation

Introduction • Legal foundation for negotiation Introduction • Freedom to negotiate • Agreement of the parties • Duty to disclose information • Representations, promises and puffery • Duress and undue influence • Exclusion clauses • Unfair contracts • Agency • Mistake and mistakes • Uncertainty • Framework • Legal assistance • Internal factors • Introduction • Organisational issues • Writing a negotiation plan • Authority to negotiate • Approval for negotiations • Reserve position • Fall-back plans • Terms of reference • Managing the involvement of superiors • Reporting back • Selecting the negotiator • Negotiation principles • Introduction • The single negotiator • Negotiating in pairs • Team negotiations • Selecting the team • Rules for the lead negotiator • Rules for the support negotiator • Planning • Preparation • Strategy • Tactics • Objectives analysis • The whole process • Introduction • Managing the relationship • Expectation engineering • Prior events • Supporting documents and evidence • Platform building • Defensive measures • Time bombs • Corporate, general and personal relationships • Self-preparation • Introduction • Mental imaging • Performance imaging • Game analogies • Self-induced feedback • Process analysis • Win-win • Transactional analysis • Gap closing • The negotiation • Introduction • Location, timing, agenda, opening shots • Single and series meetings • Negotiating techniques • Ploys • Human interaction • Body language • Listening skills • Questioning skills • Four phases • The buzz •Post-negotiation activities • Introduction • Summarise • Check the relationship • Agree future actions • Confirm the agreement • Dealing with ‘unagreements’ • Internal debriefs • Exploiting the agreement • The content of a contract negotiation • Introduction • General principles • The contract requirement • Price • Payment • Delivery • Terms and conditions • Intellectual property rights • Warranties • Risks, liabilities and indemnities • Negotiating variations, claims and disputes • Introduction • Source of post-contract issues • Variations • Claims • Disputes • Mediation, conciliation, assisted dispute resolutiion (ADR), arbitration and litigation • Afterword