Formal Training Does Not Always Eliminate Gender-Based Negotiation Differences

For over forty years, I have taught Legal Negotiation courses to second and third year law students. I have also taught Effective Legal Negotiation skills to over 95,000 attorneys in continuing legal education courses and in-house law firm courses in over forty states and in countries around the world. When I initially began to teach negotiation skills to practicing attorneys, law firm partners often asked me whether I thought female students could negotiate as effectively as male students. Because I also teach Employment Discrimination Law, I was concerned that partners with such stereotypical beliefs might overtly or even subconsciously discriminate against females when they initially seek employment with law firms, and when they are being considered for promotion into partnership positions.

In Part II, I will briefly describe the manner in which I teach my Legal Negotiation course. In Part III, I will explore some of the real and perceived gender-based differences that might affect bargaining outcomes, and in Part IV I will describe the statistical results. In Part V, I will discuss the educational implications of my findings.