When might you negotiate?

You’ll likely find yourself negotiating right the way through your career, and not just as a lawyer. 

• As an employee, you may need to negotiate deadlines on a daily basis if you’re balancing heavy workloads for multiple supervisors. 
• You might need to negotiate your holiday days with supervisors or other team members, especially if you work in a small team that can’t afford to lose multiple employees at the same time. 
• You might negotiate your salary and bonus structure as you move between firms and up the ladder. 
• If you leave or are fired, you might find yourself negotiating a settlement agreement, and not just some kind of financial payment, but the extent of any restrictions you’ll need to agree to (for example, the duration of any restriction on your ability to work for competitors). 
• If you transition into a management role, you might need to negotiate budgets for your team, be that budgets for new hires, equipment, training or socials. 
• You may also need to negotiate with clients: fees, deadlines, free services and so on.
• Of course, commercial lawyers are also regularly involved in legal negotiations. For example, dispute resolution lawyers may negotiate settlement agreements. Transactional lawyers often negotiation transaction documents, including any proposed contractual protections. Employment lawyers may negotiate the terms of employment contracts. Trainees may negotiate non-disclosure agreements or engagement letters. The list goes on.