C9652 - INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS NEGOTIATION AND ADR

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to provide students with the knowledge and practical skills needed to conduct a negotiation in a transnational context, with the goal of concluding a contract or settling a civil or commercial dispute. The course encourages participants to master negotiation settings not only from the perspective of applicable laws and legal instruments, but also by paying close attention to strategy and communication in their interaction with the other party. To this end, the course adopts a learning-by-doing approach, offering practical skill development through in-class simulations of negotiation scenarios. The course will offer students the opportunity to: (i) analyze cases in order to develop a negotiation strategy; (ii) acquire communication and interpersonal skills to conduct negotiations effectively; (iii) gain experience in drafting communications and agreement templates; and (iv) experiment with the sequential development of negotiations in a way that reflects real legal practice.

Course contents

The "IBN and ADR" course is designed to offer theoretical and practical knowledge of negotiation, which will be explored as deal-making and problem-solving processes, as well as a non-adjudicative dispute resolution mechanism in civil and commercial matters. The course will introduce students to the interdisciplinary theory of negotiation, drawing from the Principled Negotiation model developed at Harvard Law School (10h).

The course will also provide a theoretical background on the relevant legal framework for dispute resolution through parties’ negotiation in Italy and worldwide (e.g., Italian assisted negotiation under Decreto Legge 12.09.2014, n. 132; the circulation of international settlements under the 2019 UNCITRAL Singapore Convention on Mediation; etc. – 8h). Finally, the IBN course offers extended training in negotiation skills by adopting learning-by-doing methodologies (30h). Students are expected to work on in-class negotiation simulations on a weekly basis. The results of these practical experiences will also be used as material for collective discussion and for further focus on the relevant negotiation theories and tools.

The "IBN and ADR" course equips students with skills extremely relevant in modern legal work, where negotiations in complex interpersonal settings, deal-making, consensus-building, and problem-solving frequently take center stage.

Readings/Bibliography

Teaching materials and negotiation cases will be made available in class and via the Virtuale platform. All students are recommended to read: Fisher, Ury, Patton, Getting to Yes (Random House Business, 2012).

Non attending students shall adopt as textbook: Gabellini, Monoriti, NegotiAction (McGraw-Hill Education, 2024).

Teaching methods

Students’ attendance is strongly encouraged, as in-class participation and simulations play a key role in fostering the acquisition of practical negotiation skills. Class time will be allocated between theoretical lectures, including guest lectures by experts in various fields of negotiation, and hands-on practical activities. During in-class simulations, each student will assume a distinct role (e.g., negotiating party, party's representative or counsel, third-party observer) within the context of commercial transactions or attempts to settle civil and commercial disputes.

Assessment methods

Attendance will require presence to 80% of classes (miss max 10h of class).

Attending students will be graded taking into account: i) active participation to lectures and weekly simulations (60% of the final grade - up to 18 points); ii) a take-home exam, consisting of open questions (20% of the final grade - up to 6 points); iii) short oral exam on selected topic (20% of the final grade - up to 6 points).

Non attending students will sit an oral exam with 3 questions on the contents of the textbook (see above).

The course assigns 7 CFU and each student will be assigned an individual mark out of 30 (pass grade: 18/30).

Teaching tools

Relevant materials (reading extracts from textbooks; essays and articles; simulation cases; videos; AI tools) will be made available on Virtuale.

Office hours

See the website of Angela Maria Felicetti