Architect's Essentials of Negotiation

AVA J. ABRAMOWITZ, ESQ. HON. AIA, lectures nationwide on negotiation, risk management, and assertive practice. She teaches negotiations at George Washington University Law School and Catholic University's School of Architecture and Planning, and serves as a mediator in the federal courts in Washington, D.C. Formerly AIA deputy general counsel, she is a senior fellow of the Design Futures Council and a founding fellow of the American College of Construction Lawyers. She is currently the public member of the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards.

“Supposedly architects don’t need negotiating skills along with other communication skills because great design “sells itself”. How lovely that an AIA legal counsel created this definitive book to shatter that thin myth. I’ll assert that only a critically-positioned outsider to the profession could have written a book with this valuable slant. If you’re involved in any way in architectural education, be subversive and recommend this book as the first assigned reading for entering students. This is what the world – of architecture and everything else – needs now.” (Norman Weinstein, ArchNewsNow, June 5, 2009)

• Introduction ixA Word from an Owner xixA Word from an Architect xxiiiA Word from a Construction Lawyer xxvii1 Why You Want to Read This Book 1How to Use This Book 52 Front-End Alignment 17The Study 18How to Use Front-End Alignment in Practice 373 The Purpose of Contracts 45The Difference between Contracts and Torts 46How Liable Are You? 60The Purpose of Design and Construction Contracts 63Managing Risk 764 Power and Leverage: How to Get It and Keep It 89Negotiation: What Is It? 90Why Architects Fear Negotiation 94Two Ways to Negotiate: Hard and Soft 97Another Way of Negotiating: Principled 101How to Negotiate on the Merits 115There You Have It: Principled Negotiation 1255 Preparation Tips 127Who Prepares More? 128Negotiating Fees 141Fees as Grease: An Operational Theory 144Defining Your Value 147Making the Pie Bigger 152When "You're Too Expensive" 155Ava's Preparation Cheat Sheet 1586 The Communication Behaviors of Expert Negotiators 165The Three Classes of Communication Behaviors 166Whom Do You Trust? Who Trusts You? 183What Expert Negotiators Don't Do 1977 Collaboration and Team Building 205Types of Meetings 208How to Make Meetings Work 2148 How to Say Yes, How to Say No 231Ava's Rules of Contract Interpretation 236Applying the Rules 241Putting the Rules to Work 2449 When the Best Laid Plans . . . 283When a Rift Is Brewing: Recognizing Disputes 284When the Air Thickens: Handling Confrontations 287When a Change Is Looming: Managing Change 291When a Claim Is in the Offing: Managing Claims 299When a Lawsuit Is Pending: Negotiating Disputes 30310 Pulling It All Together 311One Final Story 320Appendix Building a Support System 325On Selecting Your Lawyer 326A Word to My Legal Colleagues 328If You Want to Learn More 332Final Thoughts 338Index 339