The Acquisition Mating Dance and Other Essays on Negotiating is a collection of essays about negotiating – about style and substance, quirks and quandaries, the real world and even a bit of fantasyland.

James C. Freund, New York corporate and securities lawyer, teacher and author, negotiates for a living – and loves it. He comunicates his fascination with the negotiating process by taking the reader through a wide range of real-life transactions – negotiating commercial contracts, resolving business disputes, and especially handling mergers and acquisitions – which he dissects and analyzes to uncover the essence of the negotiating process. He demonstrates how the lawyer can penetrate the mind of his negotiating adversary to gain the upper hand: what's likely to appeal to the adversary or rile him, what you can sneak by his guard, and when is the best time to do it. Conversely, Mr. Freund teaches the lawyer how to be on guard against what his advesary's apparently reasonable demands, what time bomb lurks in his seemingly neutral contractual language.

The Acquisition Mating Dance also highlights a number of skills not taught in law school and some that lawyers inexplicably refuse to take seriously – individual psychology and motivations, strategic planning and the concept of bartering. Another key focus of these essays is the importance for lawyers of being able to deal effectively with their own client. Topics covered include how to convey a sense of where the deal is going, how to grasp the client's vital interests and how to help him steer a reasonable course.

Through all these essays, Mr. Freund communicates the joy and satisfaction that awaits the lawyer who plays a role in consummating the deal – overcoming the disagreements and other obstacles to arrive at that final handshake that says the deal is done. And along the way, as always, there is Jim Freund the storyteller: the dream sequences, the fantasy of making a deal by rolling the dice, and notes toward a novel of suspense, intrigue and negotiating with the KGB.

Out of print. Available at Amazon.com.