Elon Law professor Howard Katz was featured in the most recent publication of Transactions: The Tennessee Journal of Business Law. For the 2011 special report, Katz published, "Negotiation as a Fundamental Skill."
In the article, Katz writes that negotiation is a fundamental skill, and “therefore is more important and should be more central to the law school curriculum than it currently is.” Katz also encourages current transactional professors to take a more active role in lobbying their individual law schools for more widespread offering of the negotiation course.
In discussing the importance of a negotiation course in the law school setting, Katz notes three main objectives of such a course: imparting knowledge of that particular skill, setting the table for further instruction in that skill, and making clear that “skills” are an integral part of law school.
“Most schools require or strongly suggest a course in trial advocacy,” explained Katz. “And while it is true that many lawyers will litigate, all lawyers and all human beings will negotiate. That’s the basic case for the importance of the course.”
Katz’s presentation was delivered at the Emory Law Center for Transactional Law and Practice 2010 conference entitled, “Transactional Education: What’s Next?” It was then edited into a special volume of The Tennessee Journal of Business Law.
Click here to read more about Elon Law professor Howard Katz.