Welcome to The Halpern Group,experts in structured settlements and negotiation services.

Warning: Recently, phony structured settlement blogs and other forms of websites have been illegally and unethically using our corporate and domain names to attract internet traffic to their websites for profit. These illicit individuals have "pay per click" advertising revenue sharing arrangements with companies such as Google and Yahoo, etc. and they are using our high profile and sterling reputation to attract people to other websites for the so-called "buyers" of structured settlement payments.

Not only does The Halpern Group condemn this marketing practice but also, more importantly, we are publicly opposed to the entire concept of plaintiffs selling their payments. We have seen many examples of this practice wherein the plaintiff only receives 25% to 40% of fair market value when they sell their periodic payments. A properly designed plan for the management of the plaintiff's recovery would eliminate the need to liquidate the fixed periodic payments (in case of an emergency) while making it impossible for the plaintiff to imprudently squander their recovery.

No Halpern Group Structured Settlement would be vulnerable to this type of attack by vultures who prey upon the human weaknesses of already injured people.


Proud Benefactor

	Structured Settlement Negotiation Strategy Corporate Info Settlement Strategist Articles Archive Contact Testimonials

Unsolved Mysteries: What Are the Top Ten Negotiation Blunders, And How Can You Stop Making Them?

By Richard G. Halpern

Only about 5% of all civil suits are settled by going to trial. That dynamic 5% gives attorneys a chance to use all the skills they may have developed in law school clinical programs, but therein dwells an irony: nothing you are likely to have studied in preparing for a legal career gives you background in the one skill central to success in the other 95% of your cases.

The missing skill?

Negotiation.

It is something many of us pick up as we wander through the marketplace of life, as we buy cars or agree on nuclear non-proliferation treaties. We probably don't take courses in negotiation, except from Hard Knocks U., and most of us can only gauge our proficiency in it by assessing whether our negotiation efforts are "successful" (whatever that means).

The Halpern Group is preparing a pamphlet on the Top Ten Negotiation Blunders by plaintiff's counsel in settlement conferences, and this newsletter will periodically expand on one of them. There is a problem, however: the search for these gaffes uncovered 28 blunders, not ten. So, we invite readers to assist us in making the final choices: which of the 28 negotiation errors listed below have you committed recently? Which ones don't sound like errors? (That's a dead give-away.) And which ones do you not understand?

It's a useful checklist for you, and valuable information for us. Either check off your top ten and send it to us, or drop us a note or fax (973-379-3763) with the numbers you've selected. And if you can't wait to find out how to avoid one of the blunders listed, just call The Halpern Group 800 number, and ask Rich Halpern. It's one of his favorite topics.

So here, for the first time (not in order of priority!), is the list of Plaintiff's Attorneys' Top Twenty-Eight Negotiation Blunders:

1. Failing to Recognize the Proper Function of the Claims Community

2. Failing to Utilize the Power of "Indifference"

3. Rebutting the Defense Position in Settlement Conferences

4. Treating "Pain and Suffering" as One Element of Loss

5. Allowing the Defense to "Trap" You into a "Needs Based" Negotiation

6. Attempting to Negotiate a Structured Settlement

7. Making a Settlement Demand Prematurely

8. Not Knowing When or How to Withdraw Your Demand

9. Making Unrealistic Settlement Demands

10. Misusing Verdict Data-Bases in Case Valuation

11. Staying at the Negotiating Table Too Long

12. Leaving the Settlement Conference Prematurely

13. Negotiating with a Time Limitation

14. Making Inappropriate Time Limit Demands

15. Allowing Yourself to be "Double-Bracketed"

16. Failing to Capitalize on Dramatic Events

17. Failing to Create and Maintain Credibility

18. Talking When You Should Be Listening

19. Taking "Absolute" Positions

20. Inadequate Presentation of General Damages

21. Painting Yourself Into a Corner

22. Focusing on What You Wish to Say Instead of What Is Being Said

23. Failing to Understand the Psychology of Negotiation

24. Failing to Understand Human Motivation

25. Agreeing to Mediation or Arbitration Before Having Tried Negotiation

26. Failing to "Paper" Your Adversary's File

27. Getting a Reputation for "Trial Reluctance"

28. Erroneous Mindset: "What Are They Going to Give Me?" versus "Release for Sale!"

E-mail Webmaster for web site technical issues
Web Management: Miles Technologies, Inc.