Executive Negotiation: Game Theory & Deadlocks
Model deals as games, test bluffs and threats, counter anchors, and build value packages and deadlock ladders, rehearsed with AI. 8 advanced lessons.
Negotiation as strategy, not improvisation
The disputes that shape a career rarely turn on who argued best. They turn on structure: whose alternative was stronger, whose threat was believed, which third party could tip the balance, and whether anyone had designed a way out before the deadlock set in. Twitter forced Musk to close at the original price by changing his alternatives in court. Disney and Charter ended a ten-day blackout by redesigning the product, not by splitting the fee. Danone and Wahaha ran 39 joint ventures without a deadlock process that held, and the partnership ended in a sale.
This course gives senior counsel and executives a rigorous, repeatable method for that kind of negotiation. It combines core game theory (payoff matrices, disagreement points, credible commitments, repeated games), the experimental evidence on anchoring and value creation, the ethics of bluffing, and the contract mechanics of deadlock resolution. Throughout, AI acts as your modeler, simulator and sparring partner.
How AI is used, and where it stops
You’ll use ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini to build payoff matrices, audit leverage, stress-test threats, generate multiple equivalent offers and rehearse against a hardball counterpart configured to resist flattery. Every exercise runs on synthetic or sanitized scenarios. Lesson 1 explains why consumer AI isn’t a confidential channel. Every legal, ethical and enforceability question is flagged for qualified counsel in the relevant jurisdiction. This is education and rehearsal, not legal advice, and it doesn’t promise outcomes.
Built at the request of a Pro member. Lessons 1–2 are free.
What You'll Learn
- Analyze any negotiation as a game (players, moves, payoffs, information, repetition) and find the equilibrium that explains a deadlock
- Evaluate leverage and power imbalance as disagreement points plus patience, and design set-up moves that shift them
- Evaluate the credibility of commitments, threats and bluffs, and flag statements that cross from puffing into false fact
- Apply counter-anchoring and hardball-response protocols in adversarial AI rehearsal
- Create value-creative concession packages: MESOs, issue trades and contingent terms under asymmetric information
- Design a deadlock ladder and partnership-preserving scripts for multi-party, long-term commercial relationships
After This Course, You Can
What You'll Build
Course Syllabus
Prerequisites
- Experience leading or advising on commercial negotiations (transactions, licensing, or disputes)
- Working familiarity with BATNA/ZOPA vocabulary and basic AI prompting
Who Is This For?
- Senior in-house counsel and general counsel leading high-stakes commercial negotiations
- Business executives running cross-border transactions, JV relationships, or licensing renewals
- Deal and disputes lawyers who want a rigorous, rehearsable negotiation method
- Commercial leaders facing a more powerful counterparty or a multi-party deadlock
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this legal advice or a substitute for counsel?
No. It's negotiation-strategy education that uses AI for scenario simulation, decision matrices and script rehearsal. Every jurisdiction-specific legal or ethical question, including truthfulness rules and clause enforceability, is flagged for review by qualified counsel, and no framework here guarantees an outcome.
Can I use real deal information with the AI tools?
Not in consumer tools. Lesson 1 explains why (ABA Formal Opinion 512, the Heppner privilege ruling, and vendor data policies) and teaches you to convert a live matter into a synthetic scenario. Live-matter work belongs only in tools your organization has approved.
Which AI tools does it use?
Any of ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini. Free tiers handle the exercises; paid tiers handle longer multi-round simulations more reliably.
How much game theory do I need?
None formally. The course uses payoff matrices, equilibria, disagreement points and repeated games in plain language, with no equations to solve. It is advanced in judgment, not in mathematics.
Are the case studies real?
Yes, and all come from the public record: Twitter v. Musk, Unwired Planet v. Huawei, Disney–Charter, Apple–Qualcomm, Microsoft–Activision, Danone–Wahaha and Texaco–Pennzoil, plus English commercial-court judgments on escalation clauses.
Is there a certificate?
Yes. Complete all eight lessons and the quizzes to earn a verifiable certificate. Lessons 1–2 are free; the rest and the certificate are part of Pro.
