Material Adverse Change

CHAPTER 8How to Negotiate a Better Deal

My father said: ‘You must never try to make all the money that's in a deal. Let the other fellow make some money, too, because if you have a reputation for always making all the money, you won't have many deals.’

—J. Paul Getty

I remember one morning before work several years ago, when my family was living in London. My youngest daughter, Megan, nine years old at the time, was struggling to get out of bed in time for school. She very much wanted to sleep late, stay home, and have a fun day. When I tried to wake her, she resisted. Her first response was the ever-popular child excuse of “Daddy, I am sick.” After I felt her cool forehead, she admitted she felt fine. She then argued that the long “tube” ride to school was too much for such a small girl to handle. Megan then promised to do all of her homework and read all day as opposed to watching television if I let her stay home. Finally, she promised to go to school the following day. However, I did not relent, and she grudgingly crawled out of her nice warm bed to get ready for the day.

When I went downstairs for breakfast, my 13-year-old daughter, Rachel, did not want to eat the oatmeal I had made for her. At first, Rachel said she was not hungry. Her second argument was that she did not like oatmeal. Her third argument was that I was simply a very poor cook. However, Rachel did agree to eat some fruit in lieu of the oatmeal, which seemed like a reasonable compromise to me.

As my oldest ...