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opinion EDITOR ' S DESK BY GAIL J. COHEN You're more biased than you think sional ethics and the appointment of judges to the International Criminal Court. There was a little of something for everyone with points of view from across the globe. One of the first sessions I attended was called "the art and science of persuasion," L which was part of the dispute-resolution track. The panel featured some of the world's top litigators, arbitrators, and judges. And the general sense I got from the discussion was that everyone is biased, no matter how objective they may think they are. It's under- standing these biases that will help lawyers win their arguments. So I thought I'd just share a few quick points from some of the presentations. Firstly, as José Astigarraga from Miami noted in his opening remarks, once you have an opin- ion about something, people naturally filter out what doesn't support that point of view. Thus it's not always rational reasoning that leads to decisions. Manuel Conthe of Bird & Bird LLP in Madrid, Spain, spoke about "hindsight" bias and noted the future is uncertain and has many alternatives. But in the past — wrongly — uncertainties tend to disappear and we overestimate the probability of the outcome. He gave the example of a patent, saying once something has been discovered or invented, its uniqueness is often underestimated. Another much-discussed bias is "anchoring" bias, wherein providing numbers will have an effect on decisions, par- ticularly in areas such as damages. British Columbia Supreme Court Justice Robert Bauman admitted anchoring affects him every day. In B.C., he noted, jury awards for non-pecuniary damages are much lower than from those of judges alone who are informed with all the anchoring bias of past judgments. Cultural, gender, geographic, and cognitive biases were also addressed by vari- ous panellists in the fascinating discussion. At the end of the day, how do profes- sionals on both sides of the bench and/or table overcome them: know the law and the facts better than your opponent, plan your case taking into account that there are always biases, and debunk those biases as you go along. ast month, I attended the International Bar Association's conference in Vancouver. About 5,000 lawyers from around the world descended on the city to discuss issues from law firm management to emerging M&A trends to dawn raids to profes- Law Library Reviews of books — and more — of a legal nature from Damian Penny. November 22 The Immigration Line Jennifer Nees lets us know what's on the minds of the im- migration bar. November 29 Human Rights . . . Here & There The Human Rights Research and Education Centre at the Univer- sity of Ottawa's Sonya Nigam's column on human rights and international law. December 13 Trials & Tribulations Antonin Pribetic opines on rulings, decisions, and issues of interest to litigators. December 13 Group Publisher: Karen Lorimer Editorial Director: Gail J. Cohen staff writer: Robert Todd Copy Editor: Heather Gardiner Art Director: Bill Hunter Account Co-ordinator: Catherine Giles EPs: Derek Welford Contributors: Jean Sorensen, donalee Moulton, Diane Cook, Andi Balla, Kathryn Leger, Michael McKiernan Canadian Lawyer is published 11 times a year by Thomson Reuters Canada Ltd., 240 Edward St., Aurora, Ont. L4G 3S9 (905) 841-6480 Fax: (905) 727-0017. All rights reserved. Contents may not be reprinted without written permission. The opinions expressed in articles are not necessarily those of the publisher. Information pre- sented is compiled from sources believed to be accurate, however, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions. 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C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com NO VEMBER / DECEMBER 2010 3 Letter from Law Law Land Wit and wisdom from Vancouver's Tony Wilson. December 27 David Paul's Field Notes David Paul offers practice tips for the small-firm and solo practitioner. December 27 WEB VIDEO Making Rain Executive coach Debra Forman's video column on career and business deveopment. November 29, December 27 C ANADIAN Law ye rmag.com EXCLUSIVE ONLINE COLUMNS Defi nitely Mabey Stephen Mabey examines the thorny issues facing law firm management. November 22, December 20 The IT Girl Sarah Dale-Harris takes a wry look at the intersection of technology and the law. November 22, December 20