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Emotional Intelligence in the Legal Profession

Thinking Like an Emotionally Intelligent Lawyer: Significance of Cultivating Emotional Intelligence in Legal Profession

By Kartikay Singh & Shreya Tripathi

The term “intelligence” has been defined by various psychologists and theorists over a period of time, however the general notion prevalent among people is that they associate it with Intelligence Quotient (I.Q.) in its most narrow interpretation. This is the most traditional or basic understanding of intelligence, often employed in schools and colleges to assess performance in terms of academic excellence.[1] An important type, one can say, of intelligence is Emotional Intelligence (E.I.).

Origins of Emotional Intelligence

The concept of emotional intelligence (EI) traces its origin to “social intelligence”, coined by E. L. Thorndike (1920)[2] to refer to “the ability to understand and manage people and to act wisely in human relations.” Its earliest origins can be found in Howard Gardner's research on multiple intelligences, notably in his conceptions of intra-personal and interpersonal intelligence. In his seminal 1983 book “Frames of Mind”[3], the psychologist and educator established seven intelligences, which included interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligence. According to Gardner, they are as follows:

Interpersonal intelligence is the ability to understand other people, what motivated them, how they work, how to cooperate with them. Intrapersonal intelligence, a seventh kind of intelligence, is a correlative ability, tuned inward. It is the capacity to form an accurate model to be able to use that model effectively in one’s life.[4]

Why Lawyers Need More Than “Thinking Like a Lawyer”

It is evidently clear that a lawyer requires more than simply “thinking like a lawyer.” For instance, take one illustration:

You may feel frustrated when a judge rules against you or when opposing counsel needlessly objects and you lose your temper. Slamming your brief on counsel’s table will not help you in any way; indeed, it will cast a negative impression of you. Also, screaming at opposing counsel would be a futile exercise. What is the recourse to be adopted in such situations? It is in such situations that a law student is propelled to inculcate emotional regulation and self-regulation. Control over such situations can be gained through regulating and monitoring emotions.

Clients, like patients, share the most intimate confidence and fiduciary relationship with their lawyer. The interaction between client and lawyer is profoundly personal and not merely a cognitive exercise. This personal nature requires attorneys to realize that despite being preoccupied with technical understanding of legal points, there are soft skills needed, like empathy and emotional understanding, to better relate with the case.

The immense importance of E.I. in the legal field is gauged from the fact that this skill plays a very useful role in client consultation, client counselling and negotiation sessions to cull out fundamental facts of a case. By employing emotions and empathy, a lawyer can better cater to the needs of his client in sensitive cases of child custody, divorce proceedings, maintenance, etc. The paramount significance of such skill in lawyering is illustrated below:

Emotional Intelligence and Client Counselling

The foundation of legal practice is client counselling. It is at the core of the lawyer-client professional relationship. It necessitates that the attorney establish a rapport with the client, ask insightful questions, listen attentively, communicate clearly, and use sound legal analysis and judgment in order to help the client clarify her goals and assist her in selecting the best strategy for achieving them, attending to both her emotional and intellectual needs.[5] All of this may result in more extensive legal analysis, enhance the reputation of the legal profession, and meet client expectations. Empathy, which includes reflecting on one's own life experiences and emotional responses, can help lawyers communicate with their clients authentically by highlighting their shared humanity.[6]

To illustrate, suppose Jane works at a law firm as a junior associate. She is representing a pro bono client on numerous drug-related allegations. Her client was raised in an impoverished inner-city area. He left school at the age of sixteen and has spent a lot of time behind bars for drug-related offences. Jane was raised in a secure, affluent neighbourhood. She went to a prestigious university and law school, and she has never used drugs or been to jail. It may be challenging for Jane to establish rapport and trust with her client in this situation because of the (intentionally) sharp contrasts between her experiences and the client's. However, she can benefit from empathy. Despite their differences, Jane and her client probably have concerns about the same things, such as the need to be treated properly and with dignity, or the wish to spend time with their families. Jane can connect with her client on a personal level by using empathy.

Emotional Intelligence and Advocacy

Advocacy, or influencing others to accept a given opinion, makes up a large part of the practice of law. Writing trial documents, making an oral argument in court, and negotiating are just a few legal duties that rely heavily on advocacy. Not unexpectedly, empathy plays a large role in oral advocacy. There are three primary ways in which empathy helps lawyers be better advocates:

Emotional Intelligence and Negotiation

E.I. plays a pivotal role in the negotiation process. Negotiation is an essential skill for lawyers and a significant out-of-court dispute resolution method under Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) processes. By building E.I., law students can apply analytical wisdom coupled with E.I. in the ADR process, which is increasingly relied upon in our justice system.

To illustrate, the importance of E.I. in negotiation can be seen in cases involving sensitive issues such as divorce, child custody and maintenance relief, in which the parties themselves are in a vulnerable position due to heavy emotional turmoil and breakdown. Such cases call for lawyers to tackle the issues with empathy, to better understand the client’s case and satisfy them by fulfilling their desired goals or securing the relief claimed. By empathizing with the parties in divorce matters, lawyers establish an emotional connect with them, which results in full and frank disclosure of facts that would otherwise have been difficult to obtain, and ultimately assists the lawyer in rendering justice to their clients.

Conclusion

The foregoing analysis of various reports, surveys and empirical data clearly suggests that law students in law schools are devoid of the emotional aspect of lawyering. They are made to think like lawyers, but they fail to act like emotionally sensitive lawyers, which has negative ramifications on their personal life (stress, substance abuse, depression, as highlighted in the above section) as well as their professional life (difficulty in dealing with emotionally sensitive cases and cases with cross-cultural variations). Though, unfortunately, this issue is not given much attention in the legal education curriculum, it has nonetheless become a very challenging issue in legal education that needs to be addressed.

References

  1. Howard Gardner & Thomas Hatch, “Multiple Intelligence go to School”, EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHER, 4, 5, 1989, p.18.
  2. Thorndike, E. L., “Intelligence and its uses”, HARPER’S MAGAZINE, 112, 98, 1920, p.100.
  3. Howard Gardner, FRAMES OF MIND, (1983).
  4. Howard Gardner, “Multiple Intelligence: The Theory in Practice”, 1993.
  5. Paul Brest, “The Responsibility of Law Schools: Educating Lawyers as Counselors and Problem Solvers”, 58 L. & CONTEMP. PROBS. 5, 8 (1995) p.10.
  6. Lauren A. Newell, “Rebooting Empathy for the Digital Generation Lawyer”, OHIO STATE JOURNAL ON DISPUTE RESOLUTION, Vol 34:1, 2019, p.25.
  7. Ibid.
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