Negotiating with Power
A 3-day course for social justice lawyers
Get notified when this course launches next.
Grow Your Skill Set
At Movement Law Lab, we believe authentic and effective negotiations can help build community power. That’s why we’re inviting you to apply for our Negotiations with Power. It’s a 3-day online course that is custom-tailored to help you navigate these challenges with confidence.
This training now offers CLE credits!
Join a negotiations training for legal advocates just like you.
This training is designed to teach negotiation skills to experienced negotiators, those totally new to the bargaining table, and everyone in between.
You’ll learn to recognize when something is (and is not) a negotiation, different theories and ways to approach a negotiation, how to prepare for a negotiation, and how to build and maximize your negotiating power.
EVERYTHING IS A NEGOTIATION.
Registration currently closed.
Who should attend this course?
Lawyers committed to building community power, whether you’re a litigator, policy advisor, public defender, legal aid attorney, or someone using legal tactics to support organizing work in another way
Legal workers
Community organizers engaged in an active campaign who are enrolling with an attorney they’re working with
We will also accept a limited number of law students who have past movement/organizing experience or who can demonstrate a commitment to pursue public interest law. We strongly encourage advocates coming from marginalized and non-traditional backgrounds to register—if you’re BIPOC, queer, trans, from a low-income background, or formerly incarcerated, this space is for you!
This 101-level training will serve as a prerequisite for our 201-level course taking place in 2025. The 201-level course is dedicated to workshopping live simulations applying the negotiations skills learned in this training. No experience is required to take this 101-level course.
How can this training benefit your career?
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Unlike traditional negotiation courses focused on business interests, this training is specifically designed for lawyers working on community-led campaigns and movement-based litigation. It provides strategies tailored to advance the goals of social movements and build community power through principled negotiations.
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The training equips you with mindsets and tactics to maintain your values and radical politics even when negotiating against formidable, well-resourced opposition. This skill is crucial for navigating hostile environments and power imbalances while staying true to your principles.
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You'll learn systematic, step-by-step methods to build negotiating power and leverage in a principled way. This can help you achieve meaningful gains for your causes instead of resorting to begging or making unrealistic demands from a compromised position.
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The comprehensive curriculum covers a wide range of negotiation skills, from recognizing situations to theories, preparation strategies, and leverage-building techniques. This versatile training caters to both experienced negotiators and newcomers, allowing you to continuously develop your skills.
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The collaborative learning environment provides an opportunity to learn alongside other social movement practitioners from various sectors. This cross-pollination can help build stronger coalitions and scale up negotiation capacities across movements.
Testimonials
How it Works
Apply for the Course
Applying is easy. Follow the link below and fill out the online application for free. Our team is actively reviewing and we'll let you know as soon as you're accepted. If you are admitted to the course, payment is required to secure your registration.
Join the Training
If you are admitted to the course, payment is required to secure your registration. Make sure to attend all three sessions on October 11, 18, and 25, 2024 from 10-2 pm PT/1-5 pm ET.
Build Your Confidence
You’ll leave feeling more prepared to deliver big wins for community-led campaigns and movement-based litigation. You’ll also learn the mindsets and tactics to maintain your values and radical politics when negotiating against formidable and well-resourced opposition. And you’ll learn in a collaborative learning environment that helps you build stronger coalitions and scale capacities across movements.
Trainers
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Nikki is an accomplished movement lawyer multiplier and popular educator dedicated to building our collective capacities to carry out liberatory strategy. She is a tenacious cross-pollinator, bridging the fields of law, organizing, political theory, and cultural resistance. Nikki cut her teeth organizing transnational networks in the Americas to challenge US military, economic and development policies with organized labor, churches, peasant movements and community organizations. In 2010, she returned to the US to earn a J.D. from Loyola University College of Law. Nikki pioneered a movement lawyering solo practice model that extended strategic legal tools to organizers and social movements without in-house counsel in the Gulf South and is the former Legal and Policy Director at the Black and immigrant organizing project, the New Orleans’ Workers Center for Racial Justice. She believes our sector needs to level up our negotiating skills to deliver real, material wins for our people.
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As staff attorney and then Executive Director at the Southern Center for Human Rights, Kung Li acted as lead or co-counsel in class action litigation regarding prisons, jails, detention centers, and other components of the criminal-legal system throughout the South. They have been involved in campaigns to close prisons and jails, minimize the detention of migrants, change sentencing laws, and reallocate municipal and state budgets away from punishment to invest in community-centered services. They have negotiated with wardens, sheriffs, police officers, police chiefs, Department of Corrections Commissioners, ICE officials, mayors, legislators, and journalists, as well as friends, co-workers, allies, bill collectors, and used car salesmen. Kung Li believes (almost) everything is negotiable, and that believing otherwise limits our agency and power.
Training Cost
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The standard price below includes a $75 CLE administrative fee. If you do not wish to receive CLE credits, you can deduct the CLE administrative fee when you complete your payment.
For Individuals in Organizations: The tuition is sliding scale based on your organization's budget. For example, the tuition for one person is:
Organizational budget of less than $1 million = $450
Organizational budget of $1-2 million = $700
Organizational budget of $2+ million = $900
Group Rate: We offer a 15% discount for two individuals or more coming from the same organization. We also encourage teams to take the course together and offer the same discount cross-organizationally to folks working in active law and organizing partnerships.
For Individuals Applying On Your Own: If you are applying as an individual without the support of an organization, the tuition is sliding scale $375 to $950. Please use the self-assessment tool to learn more about determining the right amount for you.
Scholarships: Limited scholarships are available but not guaranteed—we will do our best to ensure money is not a barrier to participation. Scholarships only cover course tuition and not the CLE administrative fee. They are offered on a first come, first serve basis.
Payment is due to secure registration at the final stage of the application process; no payment is due at the initial application stage.
Frequently Asked Questions
Course Details
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This training is designed to teach negotiation skills to experienced negotiators, those new to the bargaining table, and everyone in between. We’ve designed this course knowing that movement lawyers work in a variety of practice settings, so you should find it useful whether you’re moving litigation, a campaign, or just hoping to better leverage smaller, more everyday moments. Our course faculty utilizes diverse teaching methods including lectures, live workshopping, and discussions to help you build and maximize your negotiating power. You’ll learn to recognize when something is (and is not) a negotiation, different theories and ways to approach a negotiation, how to prepare for a negotiation, and how to build and maximize your negotiating power. This 101-level training will serve as a pre-requisite for our 201-level course taking place in 2025. The 201-level course is dedicated to workshopping live simulations applying the negotiations skills learned in this training.
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This training is being organized by Movement Law Lab and taught by Nikki Thanos, MLL's Director of Training and Praxis, and Kung Li, a longtime litigator, campaigner and movement strategist. As staff attorney and then Executive Director at the Southern Center for Human Rights, Kung Li acted as lead or co-counsel in class action litigation regarding prisons, jails, detention centers, and other components of the criminal-legal system throughout the South. They have been involved in campaigns to close prisons and jails, minimize the detention of migrants, change sentencing laws, and reallocate municipal and state budgets away from punishment to invest in community-centered services. They have negotiated with wardens, sheriffs, police officers, police chiefs, Department of Corrections Commissioners, ICE officials, mayors, legislators, and journalists, as well as friends, co-workers, allies, bill collectors, and used car salesmen. Kung Li believes (almost) everything is negotiable, and that believing otherwise limits our agency and power.
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The training is virtual and will be hosted via Zoom on October 11, 18, and 25th between 10-2 PM PT/1-5 PM ET. The sessions build on each other and participants are required to attend all three sessions.
General Information
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This course is for:
- lawyers committed to building community power, whether you are a litigator, policy advisor, public defender, legal aid attorney, or someone using legal tactics to support organizing work in another way
- legal workers
- community organizers engaged in an active campaign who are enrolling with an attorney they’re working with on the campaign
We will also accept a limited number of law students who have past movement/organizing experience or who can demonstrate a commitment to pursue public interest law. We strongly encourage advocates coming from marginalized and/or non-traditional backgrounds to register—if you’re BIPOC, queer, trans, from a low-income background, or formerly incarcerated, this space is for you! This 101-level training will serve as a pre-requisite for our 201-level course taking place in 2025. The 201-level course is dedicated to workshopping live simulations applying the negotiations skills learned in this training. No experience is required to take this 101-level course.
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APPLICATION PROCESS & DEADLINE: We expect this course to fill up and encourage you to apply early. There are three steps to apply:
Application. Fill out the application (no payment is needed at this step) as soon as possible. Applications will stay open until the course is full.
Admission. Participants will be notified by September 23rd if admitted to the course.
Payment. Secure your registration by completing payment as instructed in your acceptance letter. If you do not complete the payment by the payment deadline, we will offer your spot to another participant.
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Certainly! The application will immediately opt you into our newsletter and you will continue to receive upcoming training opportunities. We encourage you to apply to future opportunities early and often!
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The application is free. If you are admitted to the course, payment is required to secure your registration.
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Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Participants who apply by the September 6 early application deadline will be notified no later than September 23rd.
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Yes, each person must submit their own application even if multiple individuals from the same organization are attending the training.
Registration & Costs
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Fill out the application. If your application is accepted, you will receive a confirmation email and a payment link to secure your registration.
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The standard price below includes a $75 CLE administrative fee. If you do not wish to receive CLE credits, you can deduct the CLE administrative fee when you complete your payment.
For Individuals in Organizations: The tuition is sliding scale based on your organization's budget. For example, the tuition for one person is:
Organizational budget of less than $1 million = $450
Organizational budget of $1-2 million = $700
Organizational budget of $2+ million = $900
Group Rate: We offer a 15% discount for two individuals or more coming from the same organization. We also encourage teams to take the course together and offer the same discount cross-organizationally to folks working in active law and organizing partnerships.
For Individuals Applying On Your Own: If you are applying as an individual without the support of an organization, the tuition is sliding scale $375 to $950. Please use the self-assessment tool to learn more about determining the right amount for you.
Scholarships: Limited scholarships are available but not guaranteed—we will do our best to ensure money is not a barrier to participation. Scholarships only cover course tuition and not the CLE administrative fee. They are offered on a first come, first serve basis.
Payment is due to secure registration at the final stage of the application process; no payment is due at the initial application stage.
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CLE credits are available for this course for all states. MLL works with the American Bar Association to issue your certificates and ensure compliance with all state requirements. The administrative cost for CLE processing is $75. If you are accepted to the course, you will receive a payment link that will ask you to make a selection between obtaining CLE credit or not. Your overall tuition will then include the fee if it is selected as an option.
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You will receive:
12 hours of content, including all slide decks and related materials
Recordings available after each session
Access to our future 201-level Negotiations Course in 2025 — a course dedicated to workshopping live simulations applying the negotiations skills learned in this 101-level training.
A certificate of completion and a small gift that will be mailed to you at the end of the course
If you seek CLE hours, you will receive a certification of completion and state bar processing.
Professional Development
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As a community organizer, this negotiation training can be a game-changer for your work. Though it’s designed for movement lawyers, the skills being taught are universal and transferable to organizing. You'll learn how to negotiate in a way that builds real power for the communities you serve, whether you're dealing with adversaries or allies. The training will give you strategies to stay true to your radical politics, even when you're up against a well-resourced and formidable opposition. You'll discover systematic methods to build your negotiating power from a position of strength, rather than begging or making unrealistic demands. And you'll have the opportunity to learn alongside other movement workers in a collaborative, supportive environment. With a comprehensive curriculum covering everything from recognizing negotiation situations to preparation tactics and leverage-building techniques, this training will equip you with the skills to achieve meaningful victories through principled negotiations that advance your community's goals.
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This training provides tailored strategies to effectively advance the goals of social movements and build community power through principled negotiations, even when navigating hostile environments and power imbalances against formidable opposition. Participants will learn systematic, step-by-step methods to build negotiating leverage and achieve meaningful gains without compromising values or resorting to unrealistic demands. The collaborative learning environment fosters cross-sector exchange, helping to scale up negotiation capacities and strengthen coalitions across movements. The comprehensive curriculum covers everything from recognizing negotiation situations to theories, preparation tactics, and leverage-building techniques, catering to both experienced negotiators and newcomers. Additionally, the training aligns with the client-centric approach, proven to enhance client satisfaction through effective communication and focus on client interests. Overall, this training offers versatile, practical skills development for advancing social justice goals, navigating power dynamics, building negotiation leverage, fostering movement coalitions, and improving client-centric representation.
Technical & Access Questions
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Our training will use Zoom for all sessions. You may find more information about how to use Zoom in our troubleshooting guide.
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Participants will receive all related information including join links via email once selected. The sessions are live and will be recorded.
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This 101-level training will serve as a pre-requisite for our 201-level course taking place in 2025. The 201-level course is dedicated to workshopping live simulations applying the negotiations skills learned in this training. No experience is required to take this 101-level course.
CLE Certification & Outcomes
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Yes. More information about credit hours will be made available soon.
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Yes, the ABA will be issuing your certificate. Please allow 30 days to receive it.
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This negotiation training can significantly benefit your career as a movement lawyer in several ways:
Tailored for Social Justice Work
Unlike traditional negotiation courses focused on business interests, this training is specifically designed for lawyers working on community-led campaigns and movement-based litigation. It provides strategies tailored to advance the goals of social movements and build community power through principled negotiations.
Navigating Power Imbalance
The training equips you with mindsets and tactics to maintain your values and radical politics even when negotiating against formidable, well-resourced opposition. This skill is crucial for navigating hostile environments and power imbalances while staying true to your principles.
Building Negotiation Leverage
You'll learn systematic, step-by-step methods to build negotiating power and leverage in a principled way. This can help you achieve meaningful gains for your causes instead of resorting to begging or making unrealistic demands from a compromised position.
Versatile Skill Development
The comprehensive curriculum covers a wide range of negotiation skills, from recognizing situations to theories, preparation strategies, and leverage-building techniques. This versatile training caters to both experienced negotiators and newcomers, allowing you to continuously develop your skills.
Cross-Movement Coalition Building
The collaborative learning environment provides an opportunity to learn alongside other social movement practitioners from various sectors. This cross-pollination can help build stronger coalitions and scale up negotiation capacities across movements.
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You will receive a complete guide with resources and supplemental reading after the course.
Policies
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Refunds are distributed on a case by case basis. Full tuition and CLE refunds are available 14 days prior to the course start date. Please reach out to us at negotiations@movementlawlab.org if you’d like to initiate a refund.
