The International Negotiations Handbook - Baker & McKenzie

When New Parties (or New Representatives of Existing Parties)
Join the Negotiation
• New delegation members at the negotiations may slow down or speed up the
negotiation progress. Either can be used to your delegation’s advantage if it
takes on this new turn of events strategically.
• Educate the new parties in a way that will be advantageous to your delegation.
• Decide whether to use credibility/reasonability – knowing your delegation’s
material, expressly stating that the delegation is coming in good faith, possibly
bringing in a third person/neutral person that has credibility.
• Use same techniques as your delegation would with an inexperienced party,
as applicable.
• Understand their interests and priorities/issues.
• Understand the extent of their authority.
The International Negotiations Handbook
• Ascertain the interaction/relationship between the prior delegation members
and new delegation members.
• Consider whether to position the newer delegation members against the
remaining delegation members.
Facing An Intractable Party
• Sometimes a party is so fixated on its own position, it is difficult to know why
it is negotiating at all. Your delegation’s first step in this situation is to determine
why the party is intractable; analyze what issues it is intractable about and then
reassess the delegation’s strategy in that light.
• If the an issue becomes intractable, move onto the next issue and return to the
intractable issue later.
• If the other party is not accepting your delegation’s position, consider proposing
alternative solutions.
• Seek to convince the intractable party that its position will lead to failure.
• In the short-term, deal with an intractable party by taking a break or leaving
the room.
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