JIM THOMAS

Jim Thomas is a Washington, D.C. lawyer and Director Emeritus of Common Ground. For the past 25 years, Thomas' law practice has focused exclusively on negotiating. His negotiating experience encompasses domestic and international business trans­actions, arms control, the environment, trade and diplomacy, real estate, mergers and acquisitions, labor relations, criminal and family issues, and a host of other fields. His clients include most of the Fortune 500, as well as non-profit groups, professional and trade asso­ciations, and federal, state, and local governmental agencies.

Thomas is the author of Common Ground, It's Negotiable, and scores of articles about negoti­ating. His latest book is Negotiate to Win: How to Get the Best Deal Every Time. He is a frequent guest on television and radio, and a popular speaker and trainer for corporate, government, trade and professional groups.

Among Thomas’ negotiating projects are the Cingular-ATT and First Union-Wachovia Bank mergers, and the Sears-Lands End acquisition. He was a member of the United States’ negotiating team in the successful Intermediate Nu­clear Forces (INF) negotiations with the former Soviet Union. He also serves on the United States’ WTO (formerly GATT) negotiating team.

In 1977 Thomas began a series of pre-negotiation briefings for clients that had the fortuitous side effect of dramatically improving attendees’ negotiating skills. This material was made available to the general public as a workshop in 1982. Since then, Thomas’ seminars have become some of the leading negotiation training programs in the world. They are recipients of a number of ASTD and NAPM awards for excellence.