Can lawyers use threats in a negotiation?

Threats and other aggressive tactics can be an effective tool at times in negotiations. Legal ethics rules in some jurisdictions, however, set limits on threats to pursue criminal, administrative, or disciplinary proceedings to gain an advantage in civil suits. Professor Carrie Menkel-Meadow of UC Irvine Law explains the types of threats that are disallowed against opposing counsel or counter-parties and the policy reasoning behind such prohibitions.

 

 

Carrie Menkel-Meadow is the Distinguished and Chancellor's Professor of Law at UC Irvine School of Law and an expert in the dispute resolution field.