RichelleT.

Beltran
4C

December31,2014

EverythingisPersonal
I remember my college professor writing on the board Not Everything is
Personal.Shethenproceededtocrossoutthewordsandsaidthateverythingispersonal.
Shefurtherstatedthatwhenyoudealwithanotherpersonyoubringeverythingwithyou,
yourpersonalities,beliefs andbiases.Hence,youcanneversaythatsomethingisnt
personal. I believe the same is true in negotiation. When you negotiate, you bring
everything on the table and more. This is shown by the characters played by John
TravoltaandRobertDuvallinthemovieACivilAction.Sowhatdoyoubringtothe
tablewhennegotiating?
Yourstrengths.JanSchlichtmann(JohnTravolta)isanononsenselawyerwhich
heevidentlyshowedwhenhesuccinctlyvaluedamanslife.Thefirstlinesofthemovie
saidthat
Adeadplaintiffisrarelyworthasmuchasaliving,severelymaimedplaintiff.
However,ifit'salongslowagonizingdeath,asopposedtoaquickdrowningorcar
wreck,thevaluecanriseconsiderably.Adeadadultinhis20sisgenerallyworth
lessthanonewhoismiddleaged.Adeadwomanlessthanadeadman.Asingle
adultlessthanonewho'smarried.Blacklessthanwhite.Poorlessthanrich.The
perfectvictimisawhitemaleprofessional,40yearsold,attheheightofhisearning
power,struckdowninhisprime.Andthemostimperfect?Well,inthecalculusof
personalinjurylaw,adeadchildisworththeleastofall.
Throughoutthemovie,Schlichtmannanalyzesthesituationandknowstheoddsbeforehe
evenacceptsaclient.Heknowsthestrengthofhiscaseandcapitalizesonit.Hisdisplay
whereheattendstotheclientwhilethejuryiswatchingisanicetakeonappealtopity.
Bestofallheknowswhentoquit.Heknowsthevalueofthecasehencehestoppedat
$2M.Jerome Facher (Robert Duvall) strength is that heis not easily rattled whena
lawsuitcomesalong.Itmaybebecauseheisanexperiencedlawyerandhehashandled
thesamecasesbefore.Hethinksbeforeheacts.Thehighlightofhischaracteristhathe
onlyfightshisownbattles.Hedoesnotgetmuddledwiththeaffairsoftheotherlawyers.
SuchisthecasewhenhetoleratestheotherlawyerWilliamCheesemanwithhismotions
incourt.
Yourweaknesses. Schlichtmannsweaknessishispride,lackoffundsandthe
strengthofthecase.Hehasasmallfirmconsistingof34lawyers.Hisfirmcannot
handlealltheworkneededtosupportthelitigationhencetheyhadtohireadoctor,
geologistetc.Theycouldntpayforthepeopletheyhiredsotheyhadtoborrowmore
moneyandendedupmortgagingtheirhouses.Eventuallytheyallendedupbroke.Icant

helpbutcomparethismoviewithanothermovie.WhileIdonotknowalotaboutthe
backgroundofthelitigationinthismovie,theothermovieErinBrockovichencountered
thesameproblemastheyencountered.Theywerelackingonfundssotheypartnered
withabiggerlawfirmsotheycancontinuewiththelitigationevenifthemaincharacter
doesnotapproveofthepartnership.Iguesstherefusaltopartnerwithanotherfirmhasto
dowithSchlichtmannspride.Anotherweaknesswasthattheydidnotknowwhois
responsibleforthedeathoftheeightchildren.ItwaseitherRileyTannery,asubsidiary
ofBeatriceFoodsorW.R.GraceandCompany.Schlichtmanncorrectlystatedthat
I can appreciate the theatrical value of several dead kids, I mean, I like that.
Obviously,that'sgood.Thatisallthiscasehasgoingforit.That'snotenough.Get
ridofit.
On the part of the defense, their weaknesses are the witnesses they presented for
deposition,thestoryoftheparentsofthevictims,andJeromeFachersgoading.Those
thepresentedaswitnesseseventuallyturnedagainstthemandevenhelptheplaintiffs.
ThestoryoftheparentsmovedbothFacherandSchlichtmann,enoughforFacherto
makeawayforthemnevertotestifyandforSchlichtmannsmotivetochange.Ilisted
hereasaweaknessFachersgoadingsinceduetothisSchlichtmannneveragreedtoa
settlement. The main point of negotiating is to eventually reach an agreement.
Schlichtmannspridecouldnottakeitsohelost.Butbecausehelosthehadnothingto
loseandhehadtoomuchtimeonhishandssohehadtimetofileanappealandsendthe
filestoEPAwhichendedupwiththetwocompaniespayingatotalof$68Mfortheclean
up.
Yourmotives.Fachersmotiveisplainwhichistowin,meaninghisclientwillnot
payalargesumofmoneytotheplaintiffs.Schlichtmannsmotiveatfirstwastoforcethe
handoftheotherpartyforthemtoagreetoasettlement.Whentheywereatthetable
negotiatingandheaskedfor$25Mtosettle,Ithinktheotherlawyerswouldhaveagreed
tothat.Hismotiveschangedhoweverwhenheheardthestoryoftheparentabouthis
childdyingonthewaytothehospital.ApartfromthatIthinkhewantstoprovethathe
couldwinthislitigationmainlybecauseofFacherhurtinghispride.Hismotivechanged
duringthecourseofthelitigationthatitnegativelyaffectedtheexpectedoutcome.
Yourpride. Schlichtmannsundoingwashispride.IagreewithFacherwhenhe
saidthat
Nowthesinglegreatestliabilityalawyercanhaveispride.Pride...Pridehaslost
more cases than lousy evidence, idiot witnesses and a hanging judge all put
together.Thereisabsolutelynoplaceinacourtroomforpride.
ItwaspridewhenSchlichtmannsgaveanamountof$320Masthestartingamountfor
thesettlement,whenherefused$20MfromFacheroutsidethecourtroomandwhenhe
refused$8MfromGraceandCompany.

Your experiences. I learned a lot from Facher in this movie First, object to
everything.EVERYTHING.
Aplaintiffscaserestonmomentum.Thefewerobjectionhegetsthebetterhis
casewillgo.Sowheneveryoucandoit,object.Relevanceobjection.Hearsay
objection.Bestevidenceobjection.Authenticityobjection.Ifyoushouldfall
asleep in the counsel table the first thing you say when you wake up
OBJECTION!
Second,thereisnoplaceinthecourtroomforpride.Third,neveraskaquestionyou
dont know the answer to. Im sure that he got those rules to follow because of
experience.Mytrialtechniqueprofessorsaidthesamethingsactually.Hetoldusthat
therewasthislawyerwhokeepsonobjectingtoeveryquestionoftheopposinglawyer
notbecausetherewassomethingtoobjecttobutbecauseitruinstherhythmofthecross
examination.Apartfromthatitangersthelawyerandwhenyouareangryyoucantthink
straight.Healsotoldtheclasstoneveraskthewitnessthequestionwhysinceyougive
themtheopportunitytoexplain,theanswertowhichmaynotbeinyourfavor.
When you negotiate you bring all of those to the table strengths, weaknesses,
motives,prideandexperiences.Ihaveyettoseealawyerthatisnotaffectedbywhohe
is.Ihaveyettoseeanyonewhocanleavewhotheyarebythedoorandproceedto
negotiate.Isupposethebestthingtohaveisasenseofselfawareness.Whenyouknow
whatgetstoyouthenyouknowhowtoreactthenitwouldnotbeusedagainstyou.
Whenyouareawareofyourweaknessesandpreparedwithyourresearchthenyouhave
afightingchance.Changingwhatcanbechangedratherthangettingridofyourself.
Whichleadstotheconclusionthateverythingreallyispersonal.