Effective Legal Negotiation And Dispute Resolutions

Course

In Paris (France)

£ 3,450 VAT inc.

Description

  • Type

    Course

  • Level

    Intermediate

  • Location

    Paris (France)

  • Class hours

    40h

  • Duration

    5 Days

  • Start date

    Different dates available

Who should attend:
Oil and Gas Lawyers and Contract Negotiators who want to refresh their negotiating skills Commercial
Technical and Legal Managers and Executives who are expected to undertake or support major negotiations.
Professionals and support staff working with contracts and agreements or working in project teams from across the industry

Facilities

Location

Start date

Paris (France)
See map

Start date

Different dates availableEnrolment now open

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Subjects

  • Petroleum
  • Play
  • Team Training
  • Industry
  • Law
  • Simulation
  • Oil and Gas
  • IT Law
  • Negotiation Skills
  • Gas
  • Oil Field

Teachers and trainers (1)

Dr. Ken Mildwaters

Dr. Ken Mildwaters

World-renowned legal expert specialising in the field of natural resou

In a career spanning more than 30 years he has practised law as a partner with leading English and Australian law firms, Theodore Goddard, Jackson McDonald and Kott Gunning. Dr Mildwaters is a member of the faculty at the Centre for Petroleum and Mineral Law Studies at the University of Dundee. Globally, he has presented numerous papers and conducted workshops in the fields of natural resources law, joint ventures and joint operating agreement, negotiation skills and managing in-house legal functions.

Course programme

THE CONTRACT MATRIX

In the context of the lifecycle of a petroleum field there are numerous agreements that need to be negotiated, some with the State, some with partners and others with third parties. The contract matrix provides an overview of a petroleum field’s lifecycle and where the various agreements fit into that lifecycle.

AN APPROACH TO NEGOTIATION

  • Distributive
  • Integrative

When it comes to negotiation there are two approaches that stand out. Both need to be considered. What are they and how are they different? Are they mutually exclusive, or is there overlap? When might one approach be preferred over the other?

TRUST

Trust plays a role in any business transaction. You can’t negotiate trust. But trust is part of the negotiation. What is trust? How does it work? How do you build trust? Why is it so fragile? Are there the things that can be done to reduce the fragility of trust? Delegates will participate in 1 simulation/role-play exercise which explores the concept of trust, and the debriefing of the exercise.

ETHICS
The question of what is ‘ethical’ in the context of a negotiation has been the subject of debate for a long time. For example, is it acceptable to deliberately mislead a person during the course of negotiations? In the petroleum industry we confront the issue of ethics in many different situations. Delegates will be confronted with a series of such situations and will be asked to discuss how they would deal with them.

NEGOTIATION IN THE SHADOW OF THE LAW

  • Good Faith
  • Misrepresentation
  • Inducements
    • Common Law
    • Bribery Act (UK)
    • Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (USA)

The Robert Mnookin term – all negotiation takes place in the shadow of the law – is as true for the oil and gas industry as it is for any other negotiation. What law applies to negotiations and what are the potential consequences of breach?

The oil and gas industry is on the front line when it comes to the issue of what inducements, if any, can be given to secure agreement. Delegates will be introduced to the issue of inducements and how the law deals with them.

THE NEGOTIATION STRUCTURE
The start point to any negotiation is structuring the negotiation: both the internal negotiation and the external negotiation. How might this be done to increase the likelihood that the desired outcome may be achieved?

THE NEGOTIATION PROCESS
Negotiation is a process. What is that process and how might it be managed to increase the likelihood that the desired outcome may be achieved?

SIMPLE NEGOTIATIONS

  • Single issue
    • With Bargaining Range
    • Without Bargaining Range
  • Multiple issues
  • Non-monetary issues

Through a series of simulation/role-play exercises based on situations that have arisen in the petroleum industry, and the debriefing of those exercises, delegates will be introduced to simple negotiations and issues that arise during the course of such negotiations. All delegates will be required to participate in these exercises and their debriefing – it is a key part in the development of the learning to be taken-away from the workshop.

COMPLEX NEGOTIATIONS
Delegates will participate in a simulation/role-play exercise based on a situation that has arisen in the petroleum industry, and the debriefing of the exercise. The exercise will look at a negotiation where there are a number of players, a number of issues and a number of roadblocks to reaching agreement, some at the negotiation table and others away from it.
In addition, delegates will be given a case study to review. There will be a subsequent debriefing of the case study with a view to delegates critiquing the manner in which the key player in the case study negotiation handled himself and the issues he had to deal with.

NEGOTIATION AND THE RESOLUTION OF DISPUTES
Negotiation is one way of resolving disputes and differences between parties to an agreement Should such matters be approached in a different manner? If so, what is it? How does one use the negotiation to minimise relationship damage?

INTERNAL NEGOTIATIONS VS. EXTERNAL NEGOTIATIONS

  • The Approval Process

In any negotiation where corporations are involved there are at least two ‘negotiations’ to be handled – the internal negotiation of the party and the external negotiation between the parties. It is often said that the internal negotiation is more difficult to conduct than the external. Why is this? What can be done to reduce the difficulties?

USING AGENTS TO NEGOTIATE
Some parties use an agent to negotiate on their behalf; a lawyer, for example. What issues arise if an agent is used? How might those issues be handled?

NEGOTIATING AS A TEAM
Corporations often send a team to negotiate. How should that team be assembled and operate? Delegates will participate in a simulation/role-play exercise based on a situation that has arisen in the petroleum industry which calls for negotiation as a team, and the debriefing of the exercise.

“PLAYING THE GAME”
Everyone has read the books or heard the stories about how to gain an advantage in negotiation by ‘playing games’ – the good cop/bad cop routine, for example. Delegates will consider a number of these ‘games’, look at what they achieve (if anything) and how to address them when they arise.

DIFFICULT PEOPLE AND SITUATIONS

  • Power Imbalance
  • Building Coalitions
  • Managing Conflict

Everyone has confronted the difficult person or the hopeless situation during negotiations. Are there things that might be done to better handle difficult people or to improve your situation in what looks like a hopeless situation?

LOOKING BEYOND CLOSING THE TRANSACTION

  • Implementation

Reaching agreement isn’t everything – the agreement has to be implemented and stand the test of time. Too often the negotiator doesn’t look beyond closing the transaction to how the transaction will be implemented and play out over time. Delegates will consider what might be done during the negotiation to ensure smooth implementation and sustainability of the agreement reached.

  • Differences and Disputes

No matter how well an agreement is negotiated, differences and disputes are inevitable. Why is this so? Delegates will consider the learning or feedback cycle to understand why differences and disputes arise. Particular focus will be placed on expectation gaps.
Delegate will review the proceedings so far and consider what could have been done to reduce the likelihood of a difference or dispute arising.

  • Resolving differences and Disputes

Delegates will participate in some simulation/role-play exercises based on a situation that has arisen in the petroleum industry, and the debriefing of the exercise. The exercises will look at the various options for resolution of differences or disputes: negotiation, mediation, expert determination, arbitration, litigation and hybrid resolution.

NEGOTIATING WITH THE STATE
One of the more difficult parties to negotiate with is the State – be it the Minister, the Director General of the Petroleum Department, their representatives. Are the negotiations any different to negotiations with any other third party? How might such negotiations be approached?

Additional information

The course content comprises realistic, oil industry-based role-play negotiating case studies based on a variety of commercial and non-commercial situations. Class numbers for this workshop are kept low to ensure maximum delegate’s participation and individual consultations from the course instructor.
The workshop will enable participants to benefit from Dr Ken Mildwaters’ extensive global experience – he is an acknowledged expert in his chosen field – and also from the extensive professional research behind this course.

Effective Legal Negotiation And Dispute Resolutions

£ 3,450 VAT inc.