Canadian Lawyer InHouse

49 cANAdIANlAwyermAg.com/INhouse DECEmBEr 2014 L aw D e p a r t m e n t M a n a g e m e n t relationships with their business colleagues, argues Ste- phen Roth, vice president and general counsel at Jewelry Television, also a panelist at the EI roundtable. "In my experience a lot of the ability to be effective depends on building relationships," says Roth. "You can be much more persuasive and effective if you have a relationship." As a member of a legal team that works as part of a larger organization, "your job is to come up with ways to move the business forward." Roth says fostering respect for emotional intelligence can be a challenge in the corporate world, especially with lawyers where, traditionally, so much attention has been paid to cognitive ability and technical prowess. "Part of it is they really don't believe there's a need to develop any of these skills put under the EI umbrella. They're focused on technical competence; knowing their fi eld and knowing it thoroughly — and that's important. But with in-house lawyers, these are not one-off clients; these are people you'll be working with for years." In some companies, legal departments are viewed as the adversaries or gatekeepers, and that perception can ham- string both their relationships with other business units and their effectiveness in serving the corporate agenda, according to LaKeisha Marsh, associate vice president and counsel of TCS Education System in Chicago. "If you want to minimize risk upfront, you need open dialogue with the other business units otherwise you'll never be able to be proactive," says Marsh, who also participated in the EI discussion at the ACC meeting. "You have to understand the business units — what their tasks are and what they're trying to accomplish. You have to fi gure out how to make what they want happen — as opposed to being a hindrance." Kerry O'Reilly believes emotional intelligence is the foundation for all human interaction, and when she's adding to her legal team at Vale, it weighs heavily in her hiring decisions. In a fi eld fi lled with highly intelligent people, cognitive ability and "book smarts" are a given, says O'Reilly, but she wants lawyers who can convey complex ideas in non-technical jargon and effectively navigate through a maze of personalities. "You have to establish that they're a good substantive lawyer, but that's not hard to do," argues O'Reilly, head of legal, corporate, and marketing for Vale's Base Metals business. "The diffi cult thing is fi nding a good personality fi t. There's no shortage of bright lawyers who surpass all the academic bars. What differentiates one from another is all the soft skills they bring to the table." In the highly competitive legal fi eld, those who are ad- ept at reading and responding to the legal needs of their fellow business units will have an edge, O'Reilly says. "We all know the legal fi eld is extremely competitive and it's important to get a step ahead. Emotional intel- ligence is a super step ahead if you can master it." IH getting schooled in emotional intelligence By PatrICIa MaCInnIs t here's a lot of evidence to suggest that students who graduate at the top of their law schools don't always make the best lawyers, according to richard Devlin. as a law professor at the schulich school of Law at Dalhousie university in halifax, Devlin has seen his share of academically gifted students whose "prickly personalities" and lack of emotional attunement to others may present stumbling blocks to their career progressions. "to some extent that might backfi re on those people," says Devlin. "Cognitive intelligence isn't everything. there's a lot of evidence to suggest the best lawyers don't always get the as." But Devlin isn't sure Canada's "resource challenged" law schools are in a position to help students become more emotionally sensitive to themselves and others. "there's a debate about it. there's a need to respond to the challenges and practices of the legal professional. some folks in the country think this isn't the responsibility of law schools. It's an important question around the allocation of resources." several law schools in the u.s. offer credited courses on emotional intelligence, and while schulich does not, this year it launched a non-credit course: "Mindfulness and the Law" in an attempt to "reframe the culture of law school, and make it less about surviving and more about thriving," says sarah Kirby, assistant dean of student services at schulich. Mindfulness training and other wellness initiatives are valuable skills that can foster a more centred mindset, and allow people to respond in a more disciplined manner — especially important for in-house lawyers who serve both as legal advisers to their companies and as key infl uencers in business decision, says Kirby. "they often have to respond in short turn-around times; they need to be able to be decisive and very responsive. When your client is a repeat client, relationships are very important." traditionally, law schools have focused on rational thinking at the expense of emotional processing, writes Colin James, a professor at the university of newcastle Law school in australia, in an article titled "Law student wellbeing: Benefi ts of promoting psychological literacy and self-awareness using mindfulness, strengths theory and emotional intelligence." "Law schools . . . have rationalized this approach on the presumption that lawyers need to be able to 'put their emotions aside' in order to develop the clear thinking and high-level analytical skill needed for successful legal practice." In legal practice, James adds, some research indicates that knowing about and using emotional intelligence makes better interviewers and negotiators, and may well also improve advocacy skills. Law students who receive training in emotional intelligence are at an advantage, argues, Bill Blatt, because it allows them to recognize their stressors and respond to the people around them in a less reactive way. "relating to people requires an immediate intervention of your own stress," says Blatt, a professor of law at the university of Miami where he teaches a course titled "emotional Intelligence: Life skills for Lawyers." "If you're in a state of overwhelm, you won't be able to relate well to others." the core concepts involved in being a successful lawyer in private practice may be the same ones that impede lawyers in corporate counsel roles where there's more focus on collaboration, Blatt argues. "your Ceo isn't necessarily looking for a well-developed argument," he says. "they're looking for things that move the enterprise forward." IH here's a lot of evidence to suggest that students who graduate at the top of L aw D e p a r t m e n t M a n a g e m e n t getting schooled in emotional intelligence

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