By Chris Caesar
law of technology
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winter 2026
When retired Suffolk Law Professor Dwight Golann first tried negotiating with ChatGPT, he found it disappointingly easy to win. “The bot was hopelessly reasonable,” he recalled. “You could just eat its lunch.”
That won’t happen with the AI negotiators he’s created now.
Working with experts at the school’s Legal Innovation & Technology Lab, Golann has developed a free online platform where law students practice negotiation against AI bots programmed to bargain like experienced attorneys—not accommodating assistants. The tool, available at sites.suffolk.edu/ai-negotiation, has already drawn attention from The Boston Globe, Bloomberg Law, and law professors nationwide.
Recent Suffolk Law graduate Caitlin Pianka, JD ’25, was impressed by the bot’s creative problem-solving. During a negotiation over buying a family farm, the AI suggested setting aside part of the property as a park honoring the owners. “I was amazed at the creative way it tried to find value,” she said.
The tool has gained traction beyond Suffolk Law. Kelly Browe Olson, who has taught negotiation law for nearly 25 years at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, read about Golann’s work online and adopted it for her students. “You don’t usually find students who keep engaging beyond the assignment,” she noted, but the bot is driving sustained interest.
Golann sees the project as essential preparation for his students’ future. “If they can’t figure out how to either negotiate better than a bot, or work with a bot, they’re going to be replaced,” he said. “And it’s not going to be very far off.”
technology of law
By Michael Fisch
Suffolk Law Professor Dwight Golann
Photography: Michael J. Clarke
