Abstract
<p>This paper considers the relevance of emotional intelligence for the cognitively dominated law school. I describe the crisis in the American legal profession and suggest how those problems are likely to be replicated in Australia. I examine what little we know about the impact of law schools on students and find the extant research is not encouraging. The paper considers how clinical legal education provides the best opportunities to engage with students on levels that could make a difference to their inner wellbeing in practice. I then look briefly at our developing understanding of emotional intelligence and its relevance in clinical legal education. The last part considers specific opportunities already in many clinical programs for encouraging students to develop their emotional capacities.</p>
Highlights
We do not see things as they are, we see things as we are.[1]Is there room for happiness in legal practice? Should lawyers expect to be reasonably satisfied in their work? If we want to answer yes to these questions can we as clinical legal educators help law students to develop the personal skills, not just the legal skills they will need in practice? Some research shows that lawyers tend to be thinkers rather than feelers, and those lawyers who are thinkers are more satisfied in their work than those who are feelers.[2]
The paper considers how clinical legal education provides the best opportunities to engage with students on levels that could make a difference to their inner wellbeing in practice
After more than a decade of teaching clinical legal education using student reflective journals J P Ogilvy proposed what he called an ‘idiosyncratic and tentative’ list of goals for his students’ journal assignments: q To encourage the exploitation of the demonstrated connection between writing and learning q To nurture a lifetime of self-directed learning q To improve problem-solving skills q To promote reflective behaviour q To foster self-awareness q To allow for the release of stress q To provide periodic student feedback to the teacher.[124]
Summary
Is there room for happiness in legal practice? Should lawyers expect to be reasonably satisfied in their work? If we want to answer yes to these questions can we as clinical legal educators help law students to develop the personal skills, not just the legal skills they will need in practice? Some research shows that lawyers tend to be thinkers rather than feelers, and those lawyers who are thinkers are more satisfied in their work than those who are feelers.[2]. If we want to answer yes to these questions can we as clinical legal educators help law students to develop the personal skills, not just the legal skills they will need in practice? Emotional intelligence is no longer a new concept. Few are aware of how much their emotions inform their ‘rational’ decisions, not just their ‘irrational’ behaviour. Becoming aware of the inevitable emotional influences helps us to understand ourselves and others, to anticipate and to interpret behaviour and attitudes in ourselves and others. Developing our emotional intelligence primarily involves improving our self-awareness in ways that will benefit our interactions with clients, judges, juries, colleagues, senior partners, friends and family. It is not too grand to suggest that encouraging law students to improving their emotional intelligence will help them both to be better lawyers and to enjoy their practice
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