NEGOTIATION

"Don't negotiate out of fear; but don't fear to negotiate" - John F. Kennedy

Negotiation is the process whereby interested parties resolve disputes, agree upon courses of
action, bargain for individual or collective advantage, and/or attempt to craft outcomes which
serve their mutual interests. It is usually regarded as a form of alternative dispute resolution.
Given this definition, one can see negotiation occurring in almost all walks of life, from
parenting to the courtroom.
In the advocacy approach, a skilled negotiator usually serves as advocate for one party to the
negotiation and attempts to obtain the most favorable outcomes possible for that party. In this
process the negotiator attempts to determine the minimum outcome(s) the other party is (or
parties are) willing to accept, then adjusts her demands accordingly. A "successful" negotiation in
the advocacy approach is when the negotiator is able to obtain all or most of the outcomes his
party desires, but without driving the other party to permanently break off negotiations.
Traditional negotiating is sometimes called win-lose because of the hard-ball style of the
negotiators whose motive is to get as much as they can for their side. In the Seventies,
practitioners and researchers began to develop win-win approaches to negotiation. This
approach, referred to as Principled Negotiation, is also sometimes called mutual gains
bargaining. The mutual gains approach has been effectively applied in environmental situations
as well as labor relations where the parties (e.g. management and a labor union) frame the
negotiation as problem solving. But in India, Negotiation doesnt have any statutory recognition
i.e., through way of legislation.

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SCRIPT
Negotiator 1 (Advocate for the 1st party)

: Thomas Chacko

Negotiator 2 (Injured party)

: Nikhil Antony

Negotiator 1

: Good Morning

Negotiator 2

: Good morning Sir

Negotiator 1

: I hope you know this is a negotiation process and

am

Thomas Chacko, the advocate representing Mrs. Ross

Chacko. This is an outside court settlement. Unlike regular
court procedure, this is not expensive and time consuming.
So this is an opportunity to express your grievances even
without the representation by an advocate. So this will be a
better settlement process. Now you may please introduce
yourself.
Negotiator 2

: Sir, I am Nikhil, a first year student of Engineering. I am

18 years old. I am the injured party and my insured is
going to take the matter seriously.

Negotiator 1

: Hello Nikhil, I am Thomas Chacko, Advocate representing

Mrs. Ross Chacko, the driver of the car. Mrs. Ross is a 40
year old central government employee. Now, what is your
grievance Mr. Nikhil?

Negotiator 2

: Sir, I was knocked down from my bike by Mrs. Ross and I

got injured and I suffered aberrations and head injuries.

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Negotiator 1

: It is true that the car driven by Mrs. Ross hit you. But you
fell down at the centre of the road and that is why she lost
control. It was unexpected and she couldnt do anything
about it. In her past 15 years of driving experience, she
had not made a single negligent act and this time also she
was not acting in a negligent manner. Could you explain
why you fall down even before the car hit you?

Negotiator 2

: Sir, some pedestrians were crossing using the Zebra

Cross. So I suddenly applied brake and fell down since I lost
balance. However, it is not justifiable from her part to come
with such speed while pedestrians were crossing the road.
Also she was not keeping her sides. She tried to overtake
even before the pedestrians crossed the road.

Negotiator 1

: The fact is she couldnt see you due to the pedestrians

crossing the road. However since there is negligence on
the part of both of you, let us try to reach an amicable
settlement. Mr. Nikhil, so what are the claims that you are
putting forward?

Negotiator 2

: Sure Sir. I had to pay a hospital bill of Rs. 100000 initially.

Please go through the bills that Ive submitted for your
reference. Apart from that due to the injury caused I have
been suffering recurrent headaches and Ive turned out to
be a patient of Migraine due to which I am spending around
Rs. 2000 a month additionally. Also I deserve to be
compensated for the shock that Ive gone through during
the accident. I lay down on the road thinking I was dying.
Apart from these, during my stay in the hospital for a
period of 1 month Ive missed my classes and even after
that I missed several classes due to the migraine because

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of which I have fallen short of attendance. Thus I will have

to repeat one year. So also, you will have to compensate
me for my academic loss of 1 year.
Negotiator 1

: Mr. Nikhil, can you put it together?

Negotiator 2

: Sure Sir.
Initial hospital bills of

Rs. 1,00,000, Rs. 50,000 for the

recurrent migraine, Rs. 50,000 for depositing in my college,

and Rs. 1,00000 for the mental shock suffered together
with the loss of 1 precious academic year.
Negotiator 1

: That would amount to a total of Rs. 3 lakhs. That sounds

too much Mr. Nikhil. I agree upon the amount of Rs.
1,50,000 i.e., the hospital bill together with the amount to
remitted in the college. We will have to make an
adjustment regarding the rest. Rs. 50000 is too much for a
headache.

Negotiator 2

: Sir, dont limit my loss to a headache. Sir, I have

submitted the additional bills that I have been paying for
the last 2 months. I will have to continue paying them for
an indefinite period. Also, being a patient of Migraine, I
would not be able to perform efficiently in academics. Plus
I lost my one precious year. If I had passed a year earlier, I
would have been able to earn a higher amount as salary
which I could use to repay my educational loan.

Negotiator 1

: Mr. Nikhil, I understand your agony. But at the same time

you should try to understand that this is a case of minor
negligence which was also present on your side. This could
happen to anyone. In cases like these, you cannot ask the
other party to compensate for your loss for an indefinite

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period like this. I suggest you minimize your claim by an

amount of rupees 1lakh i.e., by reducing the additional bills
for migraine to Rs. 20000 and Rs. 30,000 for your
academic loss and mental agony.
Negotiator 2

: That does not sound reasonable sir. I agree to reduce the

amount with regard to my migraine bills since it is for an
indefinite period. However for the metal shock and loss
that I suffered I need to be paid a minimum of Rs. 50000
Sir.

Negotiator 1

: Alright Nikhil. I understand your pain. We are ready to

adjust to the claim if you can reduce the claim by Rs.
80,000 as you mentioned.

Negotiator 2

: That means I will be paid Rs. 2, 20,000. Isnt it?

Negotiator 1

: Yes, a sum of Rupees two lakh and twenty thousand.

Sounds like a good settlement right?

Negotiator 2

: Yes Sir. We can settle for that amount.

Negotiator 1

: Good Decision Mr. Nikhil. Thank you very much for your
cooperation.

Negotiator 2

: Thanks to you too Sir.

Negotiator 1

: You are welcome Mr. Nikhil.

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