Lead negotiators

John Liston and Thomas Frank coach student competition teams to wins

“Every day, we’re trying to get people to do something we want them to do,” says John Liston (JD ’12). “Whether it’s buying a car, figuring out where you’re going for dinner, or attempting to dress a four-year-old, you’re presenting a sound argument that you hope will win the day and get you what you need. The negotiation skills our students develop translate across all of life.”

Liston is executive director of Serra International, a nonprofit organization promoting vocations. He and Thomas Frank (JD ’19), a Cook County assistant state’s attorney, co-coach the student teams that Loyola’s Dan K. Webb Center for Advocacy sends to the American Bar Association Negotiation Competition each year. Loyola’s teams have had notable success, particularly the last two years when at least one team advanced to the national competition. At the regional competition in October, both of Loyola’s two teams advanced from the qualifying round of 24 teams to the final round of just four teams. Both teams will compete at nationals in February.

The ABA Negotiation Competition simulates legal negotiations in which students, acting as lawyers, negotiate a series of legal problems. This year, the problem sets focused on torts. “The practice area changes—one year it’s property law, one year employment law, and another year entertainment law-based, but the skills needed to resolve the matter remain the same,” says Liston.

Because nearly all civil cases are settled rather than going to trial, those skills—including researching, planning, communicating, listening, building rapport, crafting persuasive arguments, remaining adaptable, and employing emotional intelligence—prepare law students to succeed in dispute resolution and the practice of law in general.

“I think it’s helpful for students to see two very different people teaching the subjective art of negotiation.”

As students, Liston and Frank both competed on Loyola’s negotiation team. Like the many Loyola alums who come back year after year to share their competition expertise and experience with students, both enjoyed their time on the team so much that they returned to coach immediately after graduation.

Liston, who’d graduated a few years earlier, coached Frank and helped recruit him as a fellow coach. “Most of our students have been great, and Tom was truly exceptional among those, really understanding what it means to negotiate and advocate on behalf of others,” Liston says.

“I liked that John had notes for me, which made me a better negotiator,” Frank recalls of Liston’s coaching. “I got a lot out of it because I took his feedback seriously.”

The two bring complementary skills—and approaches—to the task of coaching.

“We have different energy. John is the calm Zen master of the team, whereas I’m the barn-burning prosecutor,” says Frank. “I think it’s helpful for students to see two very different people teaching the subjective art of negotiation. They say, ‘If John can do it and Tom can do it, then what I’m doing is fine’—and it usually is. One of the best pieces of advice I got in law school was to be yourself when you’re a lawyer; take what you’re learning and implement those skills through your own personality.”

Frank brings one unique skill set—the subject of countless jokes about the art of persuasion—to teaching negotiation: He was a used-car salesman before coming to law school. “Coaching negotiators has been a fun way to get back into my sales career in a way that’s not nearly as stressful,” he says. “We have a high return rate with our students, and the fact that they keep coming back makes me want to keep coming back.”

Liston also has firm plans to continue coaching. “This is a wonderful program—not just on the academic and professional development side, but in the friendships that get formed,” says Liston. “You think you don’t have the time, but you make the time for it, because we know there’s genuine benefit for the students who participate.” –Gail Mansfield (December 2023)