About Us
Pactum Factum
Negotiation isn’t just for Business. It’s everybody’s business.
Pactum Factum
Has this ever happened to you?
We can help!
The compartmentalization of art and science is a rather arbitrary one. Ages ago, educated people (think Leonardo da Vinci) were often artists AND scientists and the pursuit of knowledge and fact fed into their desire to understand aesthetic beauty and the creative process.
At Pactum Factum, our mission is to leverage science and law to inform the art of negotiation and dispute resolution resulting in a process that can breed elegant, durable, creative and practical outcomes.
We have the litigation experience to know just how unpleasant a place it is to be for someone who seeks a happy life. Pactum Factum’s mission is to promote preventative practices, negotiation, and dispute resolution before litigation is filed, or in the early stages of litigation (which usually drags on for years).We have practiced in the private sector (for large fortune 100 companies and boutique sole proprietorships), public sector, non-profit sector, and have taught and trained in both the academic and corporate environments in the U.S. and abroad. The breadth of our experience enables us to offer insights and skills that can uniquely serve the needs of individuals and organizations. We do not apply a generic approach to our clients; we have particularized training and keen ability to listen to the circumstances and interests of each situation and to tailor our approach accordingly.
But it’s not about us!
Our most important mission is to empower YOU to make decisions that bring closure and satisfaction. We at Pactum Factum never lose sight of the fact that you, the client, are the one driving the outcome and the meaning of success. Ultimately, in addition to our collective training, skills and experience, what separates us from others is our understanding of the behavioral sciences. We understand the Myth of Rationality and that, instead, human behavior and circumstances are predictably irrational. Although we are experienced attorneys well trained in analytical reasoning, we do not hail reasoned and analytical dialogue as the prevailing mode of conflict management. Rational choice theory is but one approach to negotiation and conflict, and not necessarily the most effective one where emotions, distrust and suspicions simply cannot be suspended even among people of good will and reason. Through our understanding of neuroscience and emotions in the specialized field of Neuroleadership; as well as our extensive training in the detection of micro-expressions (and even lies), we can manage the human experience effectively and without relyingupon faulty and insufficient ideology of how one “should” behave or “should” approach decision-making.
In short, we understand how real people feel and act; and how things unfold in the real world.
Our techniques utilize the State-of-the Art in the psychological dynamics of negotiation and dispute resolution, including correlating negotiation styles with success, research and training in emotion, micro-expression and lie detection, and the integration of neuroscience and decision analysis into every single stage of a negotiation and mediation.
We are a comprehensive negotiation and dispute resolution firm, with extensive experience in preventative services such as harassment and other training, and workplace investigations; as well as pre-litigation processes including witness preparation and mediation, once a dispute has developed.
Most importantly, we truly love what we do (otherwise we wouldn’t do it). “Right here, right now” working alongside with our clients is exactly where we want to be.
pactum factum (Latin): A done deal
“Lucia, Thank you so much for your outstanding work, your creative and cogent insights . . .The City owes you tons of gratitude and more.”
Janie W. – EEO Programs, City and County of San Francisco – Dept. of Human Resources
“Lucia makes you feel that you are her most important client, her only client. She genuinely engages with you, your team, your issues. This trait, in addition to her aptitude and intelligence makes her so effective and sets her apart from many other attorneys we have worked with.”
Lorenza G. – Cartieri di Trevi, Perugia, Italy
“Lucia helped organize the EEOC’s pilot mediation program in 1996 for the San Francisco Regional Office, which today resolves hundreds of cases through mediation each year . . .when I send members of our mediation team to Lucia’s mediation sessions, they comment on how much they learn from her.”
Michelle N. – Mediation Program Supervisor, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, San Francisco Regional Office
“I have co-judged with Lucia at the ICC in Paris and invited her to guest lecture at the University of Aarhus School of Law, Denmark. Lucia is absolutely great – as a person, mediator, negotiator and teacher! She has the ability to immediately capture attention. Lucia has such a high level of professional knowledge, skills and likability that combined make her one of the few that you would deeply trust.”
Mikkel G. – Chief Negotiator and Attorney, DANSK Fashion and Textile, Copenhagen, Denmark.
“Lucia makes you feel that you are her most important client, her only client. She genuinely engages with you, your team, your issues. This trait, in addition to her aptitude and intelligence makes her so effective and sets her apart from many other attorneys we have worked with.”
Adriana P. – Office of the General Counsel, Oracle, Corporation
“Lucia is the consummate professional. She always maintains a balanced viewpoint and is able to see the way to a positive solution for all parties. She clearly understands the processes of negotiation and mediation and consistently points the way to achieving a good outcome. Lucia is able to keep her sense of humor which makes her very effective – she knows how to diffuse tension and bring people back to solution-oriented bargaining.”
Deborah L. – – Partner, Paragon Real Estate Group, San Francisco