Table of Contents

Understanding Emotional and Cultural Intelligence in the Law

Understanding Cultural Intelligence and Competency (CQ)

Emotional Intelligence and the Law

Why We Need Emotional Intelligence in the Law

Thinking Like an Emotionally Intelligent Lawyer

Resources for Emotionally Intelligent Lawyering

Check For Understanding

Cultural Intelligence or CQ and the Law

Why We Need Cultural Intelligence in the Law

For decades, law students have been taught to “think like a lawyer”. Students are assessed on their ability to think analytically, research and write, and solve problems. Institutions have felt that standardized tests and exams have been the most efficient way to train students to “think like a lawyer”.  However, the dominance of features associated with the “think like a lawyer” model has been linked with problems of psychological distress in both law students and practitioners. People who are emotionally intelligent can identify and understand their emotions and those of others, regulate emotions in others and themselves, and effectively use emotions to make sound decisions.

Lawyers need to be able to build and maintain working relationships with their clients, colleagues, and other professionals with skills that extend beyond pure legal reasoning and the traditional adversarial approach to conflict. Emotional skills may be just as important as substantive skills – if not more important – to a lawyer’s success in practice. The focus in modern-day lawyering has started to shift from “think like a lawyer” to “think like an emotionally intelligent lawyer”.

The factors in the development of emotionally intelligent lawyers are three-fold. First, lawyers must realize that emotion is part of the human experience. Emotion is a central competency in some areas of legal practice, such as alternative dispute resolution and restorative justice. Second, lawyers would be well-served to demonstrate empathy and social skills when navigating client interactions. Third, lawyers need to understand that emotions need not be associated with weakness nor represent an obstacle to rational thinking. Understanding and controlling emotions are among the key competencies for today’s legal professional

Understanding Cultural Intelligence and Competency (CQ)

Cultural intelligence is related to emotional intelligence. As with emotional intelligence, there is an increasing need for cultural intelligence among legal professionals.

Most people view culture as relating specifically to ethnicity. However, culture can be defined more broadly, with reference to aspects of a person’s values and behaviour connected to personal identity characteristics. Such characteristics may include gender, sexual orientation, age, religious beliefs, physical and intellectual abilities, and others. Increased mobility and globalization have allowed for more cultural identities.

The world is diverse. Contemporary organizations have started to recognize the value of bridging cultures; both for personal and organizational success. Globalization has rendered many geographic boundaries almost insignificant, and therefore, there is a growing need for cultural intelligence development.

While firms can encourage lawyers to increase their levels of cultural intelligence, success will depend on each lawyer’s ability to exercise initiative in increasing their own level of cultural awareness.

Insensitivities in lawyer-client interactions often stem from substantial gaps in education. There is an increasing need for more culturally-aware lawyers as our environment becomes more diverse. Many Canadians have been taught to ignore cultural differences and to “treat everyone the same”; yet, this “minimization” approach has been found to be less effective than those approaches which embrace acceptance of cultural diversity.

A culturally intelligent professional does not jump to conclusions about others from available stereotypes. They will suspend their judgements until enough information to inform their decision-making becomes available, beyond assumptions made based on the ethnicity of others.

Emotional Intelligence and the Law

It is important to remember that emotional intelligence or EQ not only effects the way we perceive the emotions of others, but it reflects our ability to reason and take control over our own emotions. Law students learn equally from both what is said and what is left unsaid. Hope, optimism, and trust are often set aside. Instead, the curriculum forces students to treat litigants as instruments of principle and precedent, rather than how to empathize with them. A recent study found that law students experienced higher levels of emotional distress compared with medical students, and practicing lawyers had levels of distress that almost double the general population.

It is well documented that the current legal education teaches the core skills to practice law. However, the fundamental skills of EQ seem to be missing. Although law schools have begun to implement behavioural-skill courses, they are seldomly integrated throughout the curriculum. However, whether or not there is a class explicitly devoted to emotional literacy may matter far less than how these lessons are taught.

It may now be more obvious that training future lawyers to “think like a lawyer” should no longer be the sole focus of legal education. Emotional skills are just as important – if not more important – to a lawyer’s success in practice. Firms are beginning to prioritize behaviours such as an ability to work in teams, empathy, and leadership when hiring recent graduates. However, if students are not being taught these skills, how can you expect them to succeed? Since this recognition, the focus has started to shift from “think like a lawyer” to “how to be a lawyer”, or “think like an emotionally intelligent lawyer”.

One helpful resource for law students and legal practitioners is Ronda Muir’s “Beyond Smart Beyond Smart: Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence”

The Muir framework/definition of emotional intelligence has four components:

• emotional perception,
• emotional empathy,
• emotional understanding and
• emotional regulation

Muir writes that “the emotionally intelligent have an accurate awareness of emotions in themselves and others, can tap into how those emotions feel and are able to understand and manage emotions so as to produce the desired results.” This last piece is really the hook for legal professionals. Understand these skills as both useful and in some cases necessary.

Why We Need Emotional Intelligence in the Law

As previously discussed, EQ is recognized as a set of learned skills that can be incorporated into educational programs. Also, research has strongly suggested that EQ is positively correlated with academic and professional success. Students need to prepare for the emotional effects practicing law can have on themselves and their clients, and that EQ can equip them with the tools to identify and manage these effects. At the same time, lawyers need to be able to build and maintain working relationships with their clients, colleagues, and other professionals with skills that extend beyond “pure legal reasoning and an adversarial approach to conflict. A study found that lawyers with higher levels of EQ reported higher levels of satisfaction at work. This study invites further research on the usefulness of courses for law students which are designed to improve EQ.

Thinking Like an Emotionally Intelligent Lawyer

Rather than being taught to “think like a lawyer” legal education should focus on how to “think like an emotionally intelligent lawyer”, or “how to be a lawyer”. According to Douglas, an emotionally intelligent lawyer will embody three key abilities: (1) centralize emotion; (2) conceptualize personal and social dimensions of emotional experience; and (3) exemplify reflective practice. First, a lawyer must realize that emotion is part of the human experience in order to transfer EQ into their practice. Emotion is a central competency in areas of legal practice such as alternative dispute resolution and restorative justice. A common example in Canada is the Gladue principles where the courts are asked to consider the unique experiences and considerations of Indigenous peoples. A judge would not be able to properly interpret a Gladue report without profound EQ abilities. Second, lawyers need to be aware of the relevance of emotion in the lawyer-client relationship. The stories and narratives presented by clients will inevitably have an emotional dimension. The practitioner needs to have the ability to work with feelings and demonstrate empathy and social skills to work through problems. Third, lawyers need to rid themselves of the idea that emotion is often associated with weakness or an obstacle to rational thinking. Emotions are necessary for cognitive processes and making good decisions. Together, these three abilities should be the key focus of EQ programs for developing emotionally competent legal professionals.

Resources for Emotionally Intelligent Lawyering

Check For Understanding

What do you think? Why is emotional intelligence important to lawyers? Let’s check your understanding so far.

Cultural Intelligence or CQ and the Law

Cultural intelligence (“CQ”) is related to emotional intelligence, but it picks up where EQ leaves off^[2]. CQ is similar to EQ as both intelligences refer to a set of capabilities, rather than a preferred way of behaving^[3]. As is with EQ, there is an increasing need for cultural intelligence (“CQ”) amongst lawyers^[4]. Most people view culture as one’s ethnicity. However, in terms of CQ, culture is more broadly defined as aspects of a person’s values and behaviour that are connected to their personal identity characteristics^[5]. These characteristics may include gender, sexual orientation, age, religious beliefs, physical and intellectual abilities, and other characteristics^[6]. Many Canadians have been taught to ignore cultural differences and to “treat everyone the same”. Yet, this “minimization” approach is far less effective than those which strive for acceptance of cultural diversity and active adaptation^[7].

A research report on law firm diversity found that many participants saw the need for the profession to “acknowledge white privilege and understand how power operates to produce advantages for some and deny advantages to others”. Many participants were in favour of requiring members of the bar to participate in professional development courses on cultural competence and unconscious bias. While a firm can encourage lawyers to increase their cultural competence, success will depend on each lawyer increasing his or her own cultural awareness^[8].

Why We Need Cultural Intelligence in the Law

Increased mobility and globalization have allowed for more cultural identities. Shifts in the labour force and movement across national borders called for diversity management. Historically, a culturally diverse workforce has been criticized for hampering communication and preventing a common approach. However, studies have now suggested the opposite. Namely, individuals who have lived or work in multicultural environments have shown more resourcefulness, originality, and empathy than monocultural individuals. Those with diverse backgrounds seem to possess a greater ability to integrate ideas in potentially novel or creative ways. In a stagnant environment, one might even suggest that diversity can improve overall workplace performance. When people from different cultures and backgrounds interact, the differences and similarities must be reconciled to develop good working relationships.

Insensitivities in lawyer-client interactions stem from substantial gaps in education. There is an increasing need for CQ amongst lawyers as our environment becomes more diverse. Many Canadians have been taught to ignore cultural differences and to “treat everyone the same”. Yet, this “minimization” approach is far less effective than those which strive for acceptance of cultural diversity and active adaptation.

CQ is the capability to function and manage effectively in culturally diverse settings. A culturally intelligent individual does not jump to conclusions about others from available stereotypes. Rather, they gather biographical information before making a judgement about another person. A culturally intelligent person will suspend their judgements until enough information becomes available, beyond that of the ethnicity of the other person.

The “minimization” approach or being “culturally-blind” does not foster diversity and inclusion. A research report on law firm diversity found that many participants saw the need for the profession to “acknowledge white privilege and understand how power operates to produce advantages for some and deny advantages to others”. There is a strong demand for leaders who are capable of leading culturally diverse teams in contemporary organizations. Leaders with high CQ abilities are able to contribute to increase performance outcomes in a diverse group setting.