Some settlement negotiators chronically defer to the ghost negotiator "back in the home office."  If your mediator has been unable to make sure the party with full settlement authority is present or if your mediator surprises you by actually bringing the parties near settlement when you thought you were there just to get your mediation dance card punched, you might want to follow this advice.

Explore the extent of your counterpart’s authority early in the negotiation.  Then, to the extent you can, match it.  Generally, it’s disadvantageous to have more authority than your counterpart because you can concede – and often do - while your counterpart can’t.

Thanks to Marty Latz, founder of Latz Negotiation Institute, a national negotiation training and consulting company, and ExpertNegotiator, a Web-based software company that helps managers and negotiators more effectively negotiate and implement best practices based on the experts' proven research.