We just returned from a family trip to Japan, and I couldn’t help but consider some of the culturally different negotiation approaches – and the lessons we can learn from them. Here are three. Of course, these are broad and general tendencies. And exceptions abound, especially on an individual level.

I remember a time when I was a young lawyer. The opposing counsel, a managing partner at a prominent law firm, swore at me in front of my client. I was taken aback. I had simply requested documents that his associate had promised. My client had flown in to review these documents, which we were legally entitled to. Instead of complying, he chose to intimidate and embarrass me.

We recently solicited bids to repaint our house from three residential painters/painting companies, all of whom came recommended by friends or family. We also requested bids for an upcoming home renovation. (Yes – our house needs some work!). Despite having gone through this for similar projects 10-15 years ago, I was still surprised to receive a huge variation in the bids. In fact, some were almost twice as expensive as others.

Please join Indiana Worker's Compensation Board Chair Linda Hamilton, program Co-Chair Krysten LeFavour, along with their faculty discussion leaders and several members of the Indiana Worker's Compensation Board for the annual Masters program. Be sure to register and reserve your spot now as attendance is in-person only!

Leadership is no longer optional for today’s legal professionals—it’s essential. Whether you're managing a corporate legal department, running a firm, or guiding a team of professionals, your ability to lead with clarity, purpose, and resilience directly impacts performance, culture, and client outcomes.

Effective March 1, 2026, the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) new law goes into effect that requires certain residential real estate transactions be reported to the federal government. Lawyers are subject to the reporting requirement. We will include a WalkThrough the Flowcharts to Determine What Transactions are Reportable and Determining What Must Be Gathered Using FinCEN’s Fileable Form.

Masayoshi Son had “earned a reputation as the Bill Gates of Japan” by making it big with the software distributor SoftBank. According to Sebastian Mallaby in The Power Law: Venture Capital and the Making of the New Future, while Son’s “childhood home was a squatter’s shack near a railroad that he shared with six siblings,” he invested “like a desperado with nothing to lose, even when his fortune was worth billions.” This style served him well when he negotiated with Yahoo’s f

Personal Hands-On Trial Skills Training, March 11-14, ICLEF Conference Facility, Indianapolis, IN

“Does it help or hurt to be unpredictable in a negotiation,” I am often asked these days. Let me give you a great legal answer – it depends! What does it depend upon?

Bob Metcalfe, the inventor of the Ethernet computer-networking technology and founder of a tech company sold in 2010 to Hewlett-Packard for $2.7 billion, called this negotiation tactic of a potential venture capital investor the “Oh-by-the-Way Syndrome.” Here’s what happened. This venture firm would reach a tentative agreement with him on all the major terms, but then – just when he expected to sign – they would say “oh, by the way, we also need …,” and add another signifi