Menu
Log in
Forgot password

construction financial management association chicago chapter

The Source and Resource for Construction Financial Professionals

Search
Log in

The Secret Science and Critical Art of Negotiation

  • 1 May 2025
  • 3:00 PM - 6:30 PM
  • Gibson's Oak Brook

Registration

  • Registration code required
Registration is closed


Life, and certainly the life of a contractor, is a series of negotiations. Whether you're securing a project, negotiating with an employee, or sizing up a potential spouse, the question is not whether you negotiate -- it's whether you negotiate well.

Join us for this engaging and eye-opening session where seasoned construction attorney and national speaker Eliot Wagonheim shares how you can reframe your approach to contracts and negotiations. With more than 37 years of experience—and a healthy dose of wit—Eliot will reveal the skills and critical mind-shift that combine to create the agreements that build great organizations. You will learn to do the seemingly impossible – how to use legal strategy as a tool for business development and relationship-building, rather than just a box to check.

Stick around after the program for a networking reception. We'll move to Gibson's Spring Room and adjacent patio for cocktails, light appetizers, and good conversation. It will be the perfect opportunity to put your new negotiation skills to the test!

 Timeline
2:30 pm: Check-in
3:00 - 4:30 pm: Program
4:30 - 6:30 pm: Networking Reception

Program Takeaways/Learning Objectives

  • The simple way to identify your organization’s contract priorities
  • How to revise contract terms to minimize risk
  • Negotiating techniques powerful enough to change take-it-or-leave-it
  • The critical mindset shift necessary to become an effective negotiator (regardless of experience or legal training)

About Eliot Wagonheim

Eliot is a teacher and a national public speaker as well as being a seasoned (37 years and counting) and fairly cynical construction lawyer. In 2018, he founded First Rule Contract Training because he realized that teaching construction professionals how to avoid problems was vastly preferable to profiting off of those problems as a lawyer. In 2022, Eliot was engaged by Crowe, LLP, a national accounting and consulting firm, to teach construction law to its proprietary AI which has now been relaunched as First Rule Contract Manager.  
   
 In addition to his passion for teaching, Eliot is equally stalwart in his absolute refusal to shave until he is accepted by polite society.   






Call Us
Office: 312-324-0223

Address:
19250 Everett Lane, Suite 103
Mokena, IL 60448

Powered by Wild Apricot Membership Software