Whether you're closing a multi-million dollar acquisition or the purchase of a new family home, securing a raise from a tough minded boss or reaching an agreement with a partner, the pitfalls of negotiating are the same. Now the brilliant strategist behind some of the business world's toughest negotiations tells you how to avoid these pitfalls and achieve your goals -- without being a bully or a wimp.

Attorney James C. Freund forged hard-won victories in many of the major corporate takeover battles of the 1980s -- from TWA to Federated Department Stores. In Smart Negotiating, he offers a "game-plan" approach that will help you strike a balance between striving for advantage and compromising too quickly. You will learn how to:

• Determine in advance your realistic expectations on key bargaining issues
• Deal with bluffs and other gambits
• Motivate the other side
• Use leverage and information to your advantage
• Formulate the terms of the ultimate compromise