Master 5 Negotiation Skills From A Former Public Defender

This article originally appeared on Forbes.com.

Being a public defender involves negotiating under conditions most leaders never face: extremely thin leverage, a prosecutor across the courtroom holding the vast majority of the cards, often unsympathetic judges, not to mention a client whose liberty is on the line. As a former New York City public defender, over a decade later, I still remind myself when I’m stressed over work: no one is going to jail based on what I do or don’t do, what I say or don’t say here. It never fails to help me regain perspective.

Most professionals dive into their careers never having learned how to negotiate. As a result, most people don’t negotiate. As of 2023, 60% of U.S. workers did not ask for pay higher than what they were first offered the last time they were hired, according to Pew Research Center findings. When they do negotiate, however, the majority come out ahead: 66% of workers who asked for more ended up with pay above the initial offer, again according to the Pew Research Center. Use these five negotiation skills that I learned from my career as a public defender to advance your career, whether in terms of salary, role, workplace boundaries or overall career trajectory.

Do The Homework Nobody Else Will Do

Most prosecutors carry a caseload of hundreds of cases at once. As public defenders, we were also stretched thin; at its peak, my caseload was 130 clients. As the saying goes, knowledge is power, and whichever lawyer is more familiar with the facts and legal circumstances of any given case will have the advantage.

Preparation buys the same edge in your career. Before a negotiation or high-stakes conversation, poll trusted mentors and ask them the uncomfortable questions. What are all the reasons my argument would fail? What is the other side likely to think, feel and say? Moot (i.e., role play) the discussion with someone who can think like whoever you’ll be speaking to. Walk into the conversation not only with your points down cold, but also with their constraints and objections mapped out.

Know Your Walkaway Before You Sit Down

Leverage comes from knowing your best alternative to a negotiated agreement (or “BATNA”), and it has to be set in stone before the conversation, not felt out during it. “I’ll just see what they say and go from there” is not a plan. Know the number or terms below which you will not budge, and know exactly what you will do if the answer in the moment is no.

The clarity and confidence this will give you will also free you to move first. Although this has been disputed over time, a 2025 meta-analysisof 90 studies gathering data from 16,334 individuals published in Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes found that, in general, making the first offer (and making it ambitiously) results in economic gains for the person who makes it. Notably, the same research found aggressive openers also raise the odds of impasse and can strain the relationship, so make that first move thoughtfully.

Find The Goal You Both Share

A negotiation framed as a fight will end like one. In a plea negotiation, both sides want the same underlying thing: for the case to be resolved. Remembering and even naming that common goal can change the entire tone and course of the negotiation.

If you’re negotiating for a raise, the common goal would be that they want to retain you and you want to stay. If you’re vying for a role, they want the results that only the right person in the role can deliver, and you want to deliver those results. In both cases, the negotiation is simply around the conditions that would make the common goal possible. Rather than argue opposite or antagonistic positions, make sure the shared goal is emphasized early and often, then problem-solve the terms that get everyone there.

Separate The Person From The Problem

Public defenders face the same prosecutors (and judges) again and again, which builds a discipline leaders and ambitious careerists need: go hard on the problem and easy on the person. Treating a counterpart as the enemy might win one round, but cost you the next five.

In your career too, go after the issue on the table. Do not make it about the person across from you. Negotiations are rarely a “one and done.” Protecting and preserving working relationships will bring you multiple wins throughout your career, including that your next negotiation with them can start from a place of common ground instead of bruised egos and festering resentment.

Use Time To Your Advantage

People make mistakes when they feel rushed. The side that controls the clock usually controls the outcome, so don’t let anyone else set your timeline, and do not put an artificial one on yourself.

When someone says the offer expires Friday or a recruiter pushes for a same-day yes, that deadline is often a tactic. Slow the pace and the pressure shifts back onto them. The party working against the tighter clock is the one who will give ground first. Let the clock work for you.

Understand That These Negotiation Skills Improve With Practice

Putting the five negotiation skills into practice and perfecting them does not take a career in law or a particular personality. These negotiation skills are learned, and they sharpen with practice, so start in low-stakes moments where a misstep costs you nothing and build the muscle from there.

Opportunities to put in the reps are everywhere in everyday life, because negotiation was never only about a comp conversation once a year. It runs through every discussion you have at work about scope, timing, budget and headcount. Improving your negotiation skills in those contexts will bring you dividends over the course of your career—both in what you see in your bank account and in the industry reputation you build one negotiation at a time.