Can Mediation Training Reduce Biases in Lawyers?
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A recent article answers yes. Douglas Frenkel & James Stark, Improving Lawyers’ Judgment: Is Mediation Training De-Biasing?, 15 Harvard Negotiation Law Review 1 (2015). Bias affects the ability of lawyers to perform well and serve their clients:
When they affect lawyers, egocentric, partisan and role biases can hinder the ability to provide objective advice to clients, lead to overly optimistic forecasts about the probability of future events, and promote “we-they” thinking that can exacerbate and prolong conflicts, imposing substantial costs on both clients and society.
Mediation Training teaches lawyers to understand other points of view and think objectively:
That this is so is supported by social science research on two specific strategies for de-biasing judgment — considering alternative scenarios and taking another’s perspective — both core mediator mindsets. Research also shows that active engagement in such de-biasing activity is more effective in achieving objectivity than is mere instruction about the existence of cognitive biases.
You can access the article here and here.
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