Generative AI can give lawyers a huge edge in negotiations
Hopefully by now, most professionals have accepted that artificial intelligence is the new way of working—it’s not a passing trend. Still, a few holdouts remain. Negotiation has traditionally been a human-centered skill, but AI is rapidly reshaping the landscape faster than many professionals realize.
Lawyers, executives and professionals must strike a delicate balance: embracing emerging technologies while continuing to hone timeless skills like negotiation. Those who integrate AI thoughtfully will outpace those who resist it. It won’t be lawyer vs. AI—it will be lawyer using AI vs. lawyer who isn’t.
While AI can replicate many tasks, it can’t replace those that remain distinctly human: intuition, emotional intelligence and artful negotiation. Individuals who are strong in these irreplaceable skill sets and can augment their practice and become more efficient with AI are going to stay at the front of the pack.
The AI disruption
AI is disrupting most aspects of our lives, and negotiation is no exception. While solid negotiation skills will remain squarely human, there are ways to use AI to better prepare for any negotiation. AI offers powerful tools to enhance preparation and decision-making.
One such tool is data-driven deal analysis. When it comes to negotiation, few things provide better positions than facts and data. A well-positioned negotiator is armed with facts. AI can provide in-depth, data-focused analysis on the deal being negotiated. AI can help provide you an unbiased analysis of the economics of a deal and may provide insights and figures you may not have considered.
For example, you could prompt a large language model to analyze the current deal proposal and provide statistics and figures of gaps and outliers. Here is a sample prompt:
You are an in-house lawyer and are supporting a deal for a business client. Review the following term sheet for a commercial software as a service agreement. Highlight any financial outliers, risk allocation concerns or unusual liability caps. Based on similar deals in the market, are there areas where our position is weaker or stronger? [Insert deal text or summary.]
Another emerging use of AI is predictive modeling of counterparty behavior. Knowing this in advance will help the negotiator anticipate possible positions the counterparty may take and preemptively prepare a counterpoint grounded in facts and sound reasoning.
For example, you could prompt a large language model with the following:
You are an in-house lawyer and are supporting a deal for a business client. Given the following negotiation history with [Company X], and a summary of their standard negotiation patterns, what positions are they likely to push for in the next round? Provide reasoning based on precedent, behavioral cues and market data. [Insert summary of prior negotiations or key patterns.]
Organizations that use contract life cycle management platforms can also gain a competitive edge in negotiation by utilizing that software to their advantage. Negotiators can use them to review and understand prior positions taken; the current amount of liability exposure; historical negotiations with this particular party or similar parties; and reported data on contracts in force.
Counter to this are those who choose not to use the technology available. One key risk is losing leverage due to information asymmetry: If the other side can gather and analyze mass amounts of data in minutes while you are still shuffling files, you are already starting at a disadvantage.
The other risk is the speed at which a traditional negotiator can make decisions compared with the negotiator who has AI in their toolkit. AI algorithms can analyze large datasets and identify patterns, enabling faster and more informed decisions.
There are many different AI tools that negotiators can leverage in their process, and these continue to evolve every day. Be open to learning and trying different tools to make you a better negotiator.
First steps
So you’re new to technology. How do you get started? You want to embrace AI but don’t know where to begin. If you’re new to AI tools, the key is to start small, but be intentional. Here are some entry points:
• It’s important to understand what AI can and can’t do in the negotiation context. AI can help map out your best alternative to a negotiated agreement—aka your backup plan—but be prepared for emotional drivers or personal issues that may arise during a negotiation. That remains your domain.
• Humans are not being replaced by AI; there are human skills that AI cannot replicate. Negotiators should focus on continually developing their irreplaceable skills—emotional intelligence, creativity, judgment and intuition. These will remain the nonautomatable skills. Make them your signature strengths.
• Integrate AI analysis into pre- negotiation research, but be sure that you are not outsourcing human judgment, logic or reasoning. Use platforms to identify patterns in the partnership (or similar partnerships), and then use your judgment and reasoning to craft tailored strategies based on those patterns.
• AI is a great tool for brainstorming. Let AI help map multiple deal pathways, scenarios, plans or pressure-test outcomes. AI scenario planning tools can model settlement risks or merger negotiation routes.
• AI isn’t stagnant, and you shouldn’t be either. Make learning and adopting technology part of your permanent negotiation process. You can do this by staying current on new AI tools and negotiation best practices. For example: Commit to quarterly tech audits of your negotiation tool set. Identify areas you are lacking, and search for ways AI can help strengthen your negotiation.
Those who combine human negotiation mastery with AI-driven insights will dominate the future of deal-making. Don’t fear technology as a means to an end. Rather, view it as a resource that frees up your time and mental capacity to focus on tasks at which you excel: judgment, reasoning, empathy and persuasion. Continue to work on those nonautomatable skills.
AI isn’t replacing lawyers, but it will reshape who thrives. You don’t need to fear AI; you need to evolve with it. The future belongs to those who evolve. n
Meganne Thaxton is an attorney with 20 years of combined corporate and legal experience, including expertise in technology, commercial negotiations and leadership. Her career includes leading AI governance and commercial negotiations for high-growth tech companies, guiding cross-functional teams and serving as a general counsel.
This column reflects the opinions of the author and not necessarily the views of the ABA Journal—or the American Bar Association.
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