The Psychology of Settlement: Negotiation, Persuasion, Architecture, and the Appellate Advocacy Crossover for Litigators

Dr. Abbie Maroño, Behavioral Scientist | Dr Abbie

Dr. Abbie Maroño is a keynote speaker, behavioral scientist, and author specializing in trust, influence, and nonverbal communication. She is known for challenging conventional thinking and translating complex behavioral science into practical insights that audiences can immediately understand and apply. She is the creator of The Upper Hand, a proprietary framework focused on trust, influence, communication, and decision-making. In addition to her speaking and research work, she provides expert witness services in matters involving behavioral analysis, nonverbal communication, and human behavior, including high-profile civil and criminal cases.

• Education & Credentials

Dr. Maroño earned her PhD in Psychology and became a Professor of Psychology at the age of 23.

• Recognition & Leadership

Dr. Maroño was recognized by the U.S. Department of State for extraordinary ability in behavioral science and was named one of Central Florida’s 40 Under 40 by the Orlando Business Journal. The U.S. Secret Service recognized her contributions with an award for outstanding contribution to their forensic services. She is also a bestselling author and TEDx speaker.

• Professional Involvement

Dr. Maroño has trained representatives from 29 U.S. federal agencies, including the U.S. Secret Service, FBI, and Department of Homeland Security, as well as senior leadership at INTERPOL. As a Forbes contributor, Court TV contributor, and media commentator, her work has been featured on BBC News, Fox News, WIRED, Reuters, Forbes Breaking News, Apple News, and many more outlets.

• Experience

Dr. Maroño serves as an expert witness specializing in nonverbal communication and behavioral analysis, providing expert opinions and testimony in cases ranging from attempted homicide to high-profile civil matters, including cases involving A-list celebrities. Her expertise includes analyzing body language, assessing behavioral consistency, and evaluating post-trauma responses to provide clear, evidence-based insights in both federal and civil court cases. Through her work, she addresses conference audiences, develops leaders, and strengthens organizational performance with science-backed insights on communication, leadership, and trust.

Rachel Adcox, Founder | Adcox Strategies

Rachel Adcox founded Adcox Strategies to provide independent antitrust advice to industry-leading companies and their counsel, drawing on 15 years building and leading a world-class antitrust litigation practice at an elite law firm. Although best known for guiding Fortune 100 clients through high-risk civil litigations and regulatory investigations, she is also a trusted advisor on a full range of criminal and civil antitrust matters. Clients rely on her pragmatic and business-minded approach to risk management, her well-honed strategic instincts, and her clear, reasoned, and confident advice.

• Education & Credentials

Rachel earned her Juris Doctor with Honors from The George Washington University Law School in 2007, where she was a member of the Public Contract Law Journal. She received her Bachelor of Science in Urban and Regional Planning with High Honors from Michigan State University in 1996. She is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and Maryland, as well as before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Seventh and Eleventh Circuits, the U.S. District Courts for the District of Columbia, the Northern District of Illinois, and the District of Maryland, and the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation.

• Recognition & Leadership

Rachel’s legal accolades include being ranked by Chambers USA as an Antitrust Litigation Specialist, by Legal 500 as a DC Elite Practitioner and Leading Lawyer, and by the National Law Journal as a Litigation Trailblazer.

• Professional Involvement

Rachel is a sought-after speaker, trainer, and coach, helping law firms and lawyers accelerate their career and business development success across three key competencies: skill building, relationship building, and team building.

• Experience

Rachel spent 15 years building and leading a world-class antitrust litigation practice at an elite law firm before founding Adcox Strategies, where she provides independent antitrust advice to industry-leading companies and their counsel. Her work spans a full range of criminal and civil antitrust matters, including information sharing practices and algorithmic pricing, internal investigation management, contracting practices, pricing and distribution policies, and corporate compliance, and she is best known for guiding Fortune 100 clients through high-risk civil litigations and regulatory investigations. Prior to entering private practice, she served as a Trial Attorney at the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

Timothy Kowal, Founder | Kowal Law Group

Timothy M. Kowal is the Founder of the Kowal Law Group, a Certified Appellate Specialist whose practice focuses on both trials and appeals. In his litigation practice, he represents clients in cases involving lender disputes, real estate development disputes, trespass and easement disputes, fraud and fraudulent transfers, breaches of fiduciary duty, promissory notes, trade secrets and unfair business practices, conversion, and most types of business and financial disputes. In his appellate practice, he works directly with trial attorneys throughout litigation, including dispositive motions, evidentiary hearings, trial, post-trial motions, writs, and appealing state and federal courts, with substantial experience obtaining stays of judgment enforcement during appeal. Using both trial and appellate court remedies, Tim specializes in developing unique legal strategies for his clients, and his trial and appellate victories total over $60 million.

• Education & Credentials

Tim earned his J.D., cum laude, from the Fowler School of Law at Chapman University, and he holds a B.A. in philosophy from the University of California, Irvine. He is a Certified Appellate Specialist, certified by the State Bar of California through the California Board of Legal Specialization. His bar admissions include the Supreme Court of California, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

• Recognition & Leadership

While in law school, Tim served as Editor-in-Chief of the Chapman Law Review. His article Rethinking Eminent Domain: The Restitutionary Approach to Just Compensation won First Prize in the Pacific Legal Foundation’s Seventh Annual Judicial Awareness Writing Competition (2006). His notable trial and appellate results include a $40 million judgment in C&C Properties v. Shell Pipeline Co. (recognized as the #1 Verdict in California for Trespass and a Top 20 Verdict for All Categories), a $10 million verdict in Yang v. Sui (#1 Verdict in California for Fraud, Breach of Fiduciary Duty, and Conversion), and a complete defense of $25 million in claims in Dohr v. Lintz.

• Professional Involvement

Tim is a member of the OCBA Appellate Law Section (2018–Present) and co-host of the California Appellate Law Podcast (2020–Present). He served as an Adjunct Professor at the Fowler School of Law at Chapman University from 2015 to 2017, teaching civil procedure. He is a Commissioner on the Orange County Human Relations Commission (2012–Present), a Board Member of the Orange County Federalist Society (2007–Present), and a Board Member of Huntington Beach Tomorrow (2013–Present). He is also a frequent author and presenter, with numerous articles published by CEB DailyNews and California Litigation, and speaking engagements for organizations including LawPracticeCLE, MyLawCLE, NALA, and various bar associations.

• Experience

As Founder of the Kowal Law Group, Tim maintains a practice spanning litigation, appellate/writs and appeals, transactional, and advisory services. He works directly with trial attorneys throughout the litigation process in both state and federal courts and has handled numerous high-profile matters, including Stevens v. Elhaj (reversing dismissal of a complaint involving a Disneyland-adjacent IHOP option valued at an estimated $30 million), Choi v. Orange County Great Park Corp., and Casey v. Ferrante (invalidating a QPRT trust in a first-of-its-kind ruling for a Chapter 7 trustee). Before practicing law, Tim helped run a successful IT sales and consulting firm in Orange County that continues to serve small businesses and individual customers in the region.

SESSION 1 – Principled Negotiation: From Positions to Interests | 1:00pm – 1:30pm

This session moves litigators beyond positional bargaining to interest-based negotiation. You’ll manage emotion through appreciation, autonomy, and status, counteract anchoring and loss aversion, and apply ethical influence tools reciprocity, commitment, and social proof to uncover interests and improve settlement outcomes.

SESSION 2 – Negotiation Psychology: Building Trust and Reading the Room | 1:30pm – 2:40pm

You’ll learn how fast judgments form around trust and capability, how nonverbal signals shape perceived credibility, and how stress leaks through body and voice. Using the Observe, Assess, adjust framework, you’ll read engagement, resistance, and emotional shifts with greater accuracy.

BREAK | 2:00pm – 2:10pm

SESSION 3 – Persuasion as Decision Architecture | 2:40pm – 3:10pm

This session shows how loss aversion, frame dominance, and choice architecture operate identically in negotiation and appellate work. You’ll apply Tversky-Kahneman framing, Garner’s 90-second deep-issue test, and the signal-versus-threat distinction across mediations, settlement conferences, and briefs to design inevitability.