Hinshaw paper explores negotiation ethics

Art Hinshaw, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Lodestar Dispute Resolution Program at the Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law, recently presented a paper, "Attorney Negotiation Ethics: An Empirical Study," at the University of Missouri School of Law.

The paper is the culmination of an extensive data collection effort with President's Professor Jess K. Alberts in the Hugh Downs School of Communication. It reveals that nearly a third of the respondents indicated a willingness to engage in fraudulent and unethical negotiation behavior when a client asked them to do so. And another 20 percent were not sure what they would do in the situation.

Hinshaw and Alberts suggest that attorneys need to become more aware of what the Rules of Professional Conduct require of them in a negotiation context, both to protect themselves from unscrupulous negotiators and to keep them from violating the rule, and that attorney discipline officers increase their efforts to enforce the rule.

Judy Nichols, Judith.Nichols@asu.edu
(480) 727-7895
Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law