Indisputably

Jonathan Lenzner joins Andrea Schneider to discuss how his approach to negotiation has evolved throughout his career, from his early days as a prosecutor to his work in high-stakes government and corporate matters. He shares his first experience negotiating while serving on a jury, and how later experiences taught him that strong negotiation requires more than persuasive arguments. Preparation, he explains, means understanding the facts, researching the other party’s motivations and identifying the interests of all relevant stakeholders. Lenzner also discusses the importance of recognizing your own leverage and being thoughtful about when to cooperate, compromise or take a more forceful approach.  Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution at Cardozo School of Law

In this episode of Stories Mediators Tell, Professor Homer La Rue shares a story about a race discrimination case in which the employee made allegations of microaggressions and unequal access to leadership opportunities. When settlement seemed out of reach, La Rue to a risk and asked the parties to engage in one last conversation without their attorneys present. That final conversation allowed the supervisor to hear the employee’s experience firsthand and changed the outcome of the case. La Rue reflects on the importance of ensuring parties feel heard, the role of empathy and lived experience in mediation, and the need for greater diversity among mediators and other dispute resolution professionals. Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution at Cardozo School of Law

In this episode of How My Friends Negotiate, host Andrea Schneider speaks with Andrea Baumann Lustig, managing partner of Fischer Stralem Advisors, about the importance of listening in negotiation. Drawing on her decades of experience in wealth management, Lustig explains how helping clients examine their deeply held assumptions can help them make better decisions and build lasting legacies. She reflects on how her approach has evolved from talking and selling to asking questions, listening with intention and allowing clients to reach their own conclusions. Lustig also discusses the importance of trust, respect and patience, sharing lessons for young professionals who may feel pressure to prove their expertise. Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution at Cardozo School of Law

In this episode of Stories Mediators Tell, mediator and author Eric Galton shares two unconventional approaches to resolving conflict. In the first, he helps a university president experience firsthand the accessibility barriers facing students with disabilities, transforming a contentious legal dispute into a collaborative effort to identify solutions. In the second, he recounts taking two estranged law partners to a Buddhist temple to meditate, an unexpected turn that helped them reach an agreement after hours of stalled negotiations. Galton reflects on the flexibility and creativity required in mediation and the importance of fostering mutual understanding. Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution at Cardozo School of Law

Elliott Portnoy, founding global CEO of Dentons and now Global CEO Emeritus, shares what he has learned from decades of negotiating mergers, partnerships, and cross-cultural deals. Elliott reflects on how his approach has changed from seeing negotiation as a contest where the best-prepared person wins to understanding that the real goal is a lasting agreement—and, especially in mergers, the relationship that comes afterward. “It’s not about the merger,” he explains. “It’s about the marriage that results.” Kukin Program for Conflict Resolution at Cardozo School of Law