Appendix B

Practical Suggestions for Law Professors and Law Practice Mentors

Although some law classrooms and law offices currently might not facilitate or encourage vulnerability or openness to discussing how to overcome challenging emotions, fears, and doubts about the practice of law,⁴¹⁵ it would take very little to adjust this mindset. To improve our profession, legal educators and attorneys shaping and coaching the next generation of lawyers can teach and train in a spirit of inclusion, recognizing and welcoming individuals who learn, analyze, and communicate legal concepts in a variety of ways. Some suggest this proposition could present an initial challenge; as law professor Alan D. Hornstein points out, “Law professors, after all, are not known for their intellectual humility or the grace with which they accept change.”⁴¹⁶ Indeed, when we use training techniques like the Socratic Method in a manner that foments “an unhealthy need to appear knowledgeable and authoritative,” unfortunately we can actively discourage intellectual curiosity.⁴¹⁷

Max Maxwell, who studies and writes about the Socratic Method, contends that the most important characteristic of a Socratic teacher is to exhibit a Socratic temperament,⁴¹⁸ modeling attitudes of optimism and hope toward learning and self-scrutiny.⁴¹⁹ According to Maxwell, a teacher with a temperament conducive to the development of others exemplifies four traits; she (1) embraces discovery of her own lack of understanding; (2) vulnerably shares instances of her own intellectual boundaries; (3) radiates passion for knowledge-seeking; and (4) conveys excitement for self-evolution.⁴²⁰ This type of educator and mentor shows “humility and grace,” and inclusive respect and empathy for all types of learners.⁴²¹

With subtle adjustments in classrooms, offices, and even courtrooms, we can create an environment conducive to healthy developmental growth without sacrificing intellectual rigor or standards. Indeed, intellectual humility does not connote weakness, or better said, “[b]eing humble does not mean being a doormat.”⁴²² Even in high-stakes legal scenarios driven by the billable hour, a recognition by the profession that quiet lawyers can be some of our most impactful advocates can go a long way. In a profession that requires careful reading, critical thinking, thorough researching, contemplative writing, and thoughtful communicating to solve legal problems efficiently and intelligently, our quiet law students and lawyers can contribute great assets.

EMPATHICALLY IMPACTING QUIET LAW STUDENTS

Here are some suggestions for law professors and law school administrators to cultivate an inclusive educational environment and motivate and enable quiet students to shine:

• Classroom Tone and Philosophy:
  • Establish an educational message and classroom tone that overtly acknowledges and honors the variety of different ways in which individuals learn and process complex legal rules and concepts.
  • Resist the idea that traditional Socratic training (without sufficient and transparent context, empathy, and collaboration between teacher and student) is the only or best way to teach new legal learners to speak about the law.
  • Resist advising nervous or quiet students to “just do it,” “get over it,” or “fake it till you make it.”
  • Explain that, just as students are learning unfamiliar legal rules and concepts and a new legal language, some students also might need to learn more about themselves, how they process complex concepts, and how they can best communicate about the law with the least amount of anxiety.
  • Emphasize that a new law student’s hesitation or anxiety toward public speaking in the law context is absolutely not an indicator of the student’s future success as a lawyer; with the right support and guidance, the student absolutely will find his or her authentic voice.
  • Model empathy for quiet students and avoid making assumptions about their reasons for holding back in the classroom (i.e., refrain from assuming that students who struggle with class participation are unprepared or not tough enough).⁴²³
  • Strive to broaden personal understanding of some introverts’ natural hesitation toward interpersonal engagement, and acknowledge that quiet personality traits (or potentially deeper-seated shame-based triggers that cause shy and socially anxious law students to self-censor) do not in any way indicate that such students cannot become transformational lawyers.
  • Model humility as teachers, and share personal journeys in overcoming personal challenges and becoming authentic advocates and educators.
  • Emphasize that students can continuously reinvent themselves as they develop and establish their professional identity and lawyer personas; however, introverted or naturally quiet students should not feel pressure to feign extroversion, but instead can learn how to capitalize on their quiet strengths and communicate most impactfully in their authentic voices.
• Questionnaire: To set an inclusive tone from the beginning of each new semester, professors can have students complete a confidential questionnaire, asking for students’ names, hometowns, legal interests, and so on, but also posing questions like: “Do you have any concerns about class participation, the Socratic Method, group work, oral arguments …?” “What are your concerns?” “Can I help alleviate those concerns?” Armed with these insights, professors expressly can address these concerns in the classroom, in small groups, or one-on-one with students.
• Socratic Method:
  • Professors can overtly and transparently acknowledge—in syllabi and in class—the stress that on-the-spot intellectual exchange understandably can engender.
  • Professors can start off 1L students’ first exposure to the Socratic Method by stating, out loud, in class:

• Yes, I understand that the Socratic Method can indeed be stressful and likely will be more intimidating for some students than others.
• I acknowledge that it might feel stressful to some of you because it involves spontaneous dialogue in a public setting without a lot of time to think through answers.
• The fact that you are nervous about the Socratic Method is not in any way an indicator that you do not deserve to be here or are not cut out to be a lawyer; if you are willing to work hard, you absolutely deserve to be in law school and can make an impactful lawyer.
• I’m going to try to explain how the Socratic Method works in general, and how I specifically use it, and how you can best prepare for and participate in it (i.e., this is not a secret code you must earn).
• You might not get the Socratic dialogue exactly right the first time, or the first few times, and that is OK. This is new stuff.
• [Explain the pattern of how the Socratic Method works in general, and in particular, how you use it].
• Here is what the Socratic Method is designed to accomplish, and why we use it. [Explain your goals in using the Socratic Method; however, instead of simply suggesting that the classroom mirrors the courtroom (a concept which can further intimidate quiet students, and which isn’t exactly accurate), focus on (1) identifying tangible and practical purposes for Socratic questions (i.e., extracting key information from the reading, such as rules and policies and noticing how they apply to different factual scenarios), and (2) explaining what it means to “think like a lawyer.”].
• Here is some advice on how to prepare for, engage within, and support your classmates during a Socratic classroom exchange. [Explain specifically how students should prepare for your class so that everyone can succeed in your style of Socratic dialogue; also provide advice to students regarding what to do if they invested a lot of effort in preparing for class but still do not know the answer to a Socratic question or do not understand a question.].
• Here is my commitment to you as to how I will endeavor to use the Method to teach you and facilitate idea-sharing, and not accidentally shame or embarrass you. [Describe your commitment to helping students succeed in the Socratic classroom.] I might not always get it right; the law is hard; we are human; our conversations might get emotional; and teachers are not always perfect. But together, we will strive toward increasing rather than squelching our individual and collective knowledge in this room.

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A renowned professor, scholar, and highly respected faculty member once asked me to come to his office to discuss scheduling issues that impacted our shared group of students. While we were talking, he mentioned that he was going to be “stricter this year” about class participation: Students who were unprepared would receive automatic grade deductions. Wincing internally, I described my own experience in law school, confiding that I was always prepared but I became so nervous in class that I routinely faltered during the Socratic Method. Exhibiting an enormous degree of open-mindedness, this professor—who has been teaching law for nearly four decades—invited me to come speak to his 1L classes, share my personal journey tackling public speaking anxiety in law school and during my litigation career, and offer the students strategies to: (1) prepare for a Socratic questioning; (2) show their professors that they are prepared even when nerves creep in; and (3) not only survive, but thrive in, the classroom Q&A experience. My colleague reported back that class participation picked up after the pep talk! And even better, one of his students reached out to me to construct a personal journey to overcome his particular challenge with law-related performance-oriented events. Since then, the student has volunteered in multiple classes. With this kind of collaborative approach, we truly can transform the learning experience for our students.

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• Empathy: Professors should endeavor to model empathy toward students who are hesitant toward and within classroom exchange. As educators, we should strive for patience in navigating students through a bumpy Socratic dialogue so they learn better how to stay within the experience instead of opting out physically or emotionally, swallowing toxic anxiety, or resenting the teacher or classmates.
• Seeking Help: Professors can seek expert assistance (such as pedagogy workshops) in learning how to better handle heated classroom exchanges and student or professor missteps without dismissing the impact these classroom conflicts can have on students who already self-censor.
• Class Participation Grade: Although it certainly makes sense for professors to incorporate some aspect of class participation into students’ grades, professors who teach first-year law students might consider alternate ways for quiet students to satisfy these criteria while they strengthen their “sea legs” in law school and learn how to speak about the law. For example, instead of cold-calling in class, professors could consider assigning self-identified anxious students certain days to be on-call, so they can prepare to handle their attendant apprehension on a scheduled date rather than worrying in every class session whether they will be the center of attention—which can detrimentally impact learning throughout an entire semester. For the first month or two of a new semester, professors also might assign on-call teams so students can help one another participate in class. For extreme cases of anxiety, professors could experiment with having students participate through writing rather than speaking (at least at first), and encourage such students to seek out school-provided resources for conquering trepidation. For example, professors could pose a series of Socratic questions on a PowerPoint slide, and require self-identified hesitant students to respond to the questions in writing by a same-day deadline.
• Group-Based and Team-Based Classroom Work: Although interactive and collaborative work inside and outside the classroom can be a wonderfully effective vehicle for student learning, professors should be mindful of potential extrovert-introvert dynamics within forced student groups. Dominant extroverts might naturally (unconsciously) take charge in these scenarios. Professors who like to assign group work can expressly address this situation: instead of just telling quiet students to speak up, and mandating participation as part of a grade, convey your recognition that group work can spark initial anxiety in some students. Encourage quieter students or those who prefer working independently to experiment with different roles within groups (for example, through writing: agenda-setting, note-taking, and post-meeting summarizing). Always motivate all students to be respectful to all voices within a group or team.
• Oral Arguments and Class Presentations: Many introverted, shy, and socially anxious first-year law students are hesitant toward public speaking, especially in the Socratic context, which requires extemporaneous reaction without a lot of reflection time, and can feel judgment-based. These same students strongly want to share their budding ideas about the law and do not want special treatment, but struggle with how to confront this anxiety without appearing weak. Professors who require oral arguments or class presentations should be mindful about student concerns, and rather than pushing students to simply perform before their peers without enough advance context, guidance, or training, first can expressly acknowledge in class that these experiences might be more stressful for some students than others. Professors can meet with these students individually or in small groups to discuss how best to prepare—not only substantively—but more importantly, mentally and physically for an oral argument or presentation. For professors who do not feel equipped to address the psychological aspects of preparing for oral arguments or class presentations, schools should provide small-group workshops and/or one-on-one mentors to directly address public speaking anxiety. Oral argument workshops devoted to advocacy skills and techniques are great, but they are not enough to support students battling the emotional and physical reactions associated with public speaking anxiety. Professors also should be mindful that requiring nervous students to perform mock arguments or presentations to a peer audience before the actual event also might exacerbate rather than alleviate their anxiety; such students often perform better rehearsing privately or one-on-one with a peer, professor, or teaching assistant rather than in front of the entire class. Professors who require oral arguments or class presentations should: (1) provide advance explanation and guidance about the details and logistics of the event (these matters may seem obvious or inconsequential to a teacher who has required these types of assignments regularly, but taking the time to describe the setup or layout of the room, the sequence and timing of the argument or presentation, the composition of the audience, and so on, can go a long way toward helping a nervous speaker better visualize the reality of the event instead of imagining a much more stressful—and inaccurate—scenario); (2) demonstrate understanding that the experience might spark more anxiety in some students than in others; (3) emphasize that such apprehension is not in any way an indicator of a student’s future success as a lawyer; and (4) refer students to tangible resources (small group workshops or one-on-one mentoring) to strategically tackle the mental and physical aspects of this challenge. When a professor is judging or grading an oral argument or presentation, if a student is visibly struggling, the professor should model empathy and inspire strength. Do not let the student abandon the assignment (unless it appears to be severely traumatizing), but prompt the student with questions and encouragement to keep going, to stay engaged throughout the experience, and to talk about what he or she does know. The nerves probably will block the student’s clarity of thought, so it is important to guide the student back to what he or she does know. Let the student refer to notes. It is important for nervous students to try to complete the entire exercise, processing the rise and fall of mental and physical anxiety manifestations, so that they know they can survive the experience. Be supportive and encourage such students to understand that, with the right support, they will be impactful, authentic advocates because they care so much about doing it well.
• Office Hours: If a student visits a law professor or school administrator during office hours and admits trepidation toward public speaking in law school, we must acknowledge that this student wants to succeed in law school and is bravely and vulnerably asking for help. The best response is one that respects the student’s courage in coming forward, recognizes and validates the student’s fear or anxiety, and offers the student tangible and practical resources to work on exploring his or her strengths and weaknesses in a threat-reduced environment to amplify his or her authentic voice. We definitely should not advise the student to “just do it more and you’ll get over it,” or “fake it till you make it.” Instead, professors can start by walking the student through the context, background, purpose, pattern, and logistics of the performance-oriented event (or point the student to someone who can do so effectively), and then provide additional resources (such as workshops and one-on-one mentoring) for building strength to strategically address this challenge. This is an opportunity for educators to further model empathy and show students that we do not need to be perfect; we just need to exhibit genuine effort and care.
• Reaching Out to Students Who Do Not Come Forward: As we consciously observe our classroom dynamics and notice quiet students or those who struggle in Socratic exchanges, we must not mistakenly or accidentally discount these individuals as disengaged, unprepared, or unassertive. Instead, we can reach out to students in person or in email and invite conversation: “How is law school going for you so far?” “I’d love to hear your thoughts in class about X.” “Do you have concerns about class participation?” “Do you feel comfortable sharing your concerns?” “Can I help alleviate any concerns?”
• Encouraging Legal Writing as a Vehicle for Amplifying the Quiet Law Student’s Voice: Law professors who observe quiet students struggling to find their place in law school should encourage legal writing as a medium for expressing thoughts and theories about the law. Quiet law students often are profoundly impactful advocates through the written word. Legal writing courses, short written assignments in lecture classes, seminar courses, and writing workshops offer tremendous opportunities for quiet students to test their legal theories, experiment with their lawyer voices, and demonstrate their depth of legal analysis.
• Workshops: Just like we offer law school workshops on outlining, test-taking, reading comprehension, legal research skills, oral arguments, time management, and career planning, we should offer workshops on tackling public speaking anxiety. These workshops should be distinct from oral advocacy workshops (customarily devoted to style and techniques) and rather should focus on understanding the mental and physical drivers of anxiety toward performance-oriented scenarios. These workshops can be scheduled throughout the year to address classroom participation (starting early in the fall semester) but also help students mentally and physically prepare for particularly stressful interactive events during the law school experience, such as oral argument assignments, moot court or trial team tryouts, negotiation and client counseling simulations, job interviews, etc. The arc of ongoing workshops could be structured around (1) mental and physical reflection; (2) mental and physical action; and (3) pre-game and game-day planning.
• One-on-One Mentors: Law schools can provide student and faculty mentors for students working through reticence toward interpersonal interaction in the law context. Faculty, administrators, and 2L/3L students who overcame similar struggles should vocalize and share their stories.
• Career Planning and Job Interviews: Many law schools’ career development offices already are doing a wonderful job linking students with professional opportunities that fit their substantive legal interests. Pushing these efforts even further, career services departments can encourage students to study their skill sets and personality traits, through assessments such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator personality inventory,⁴²⁴ to identify introversion and then study and understand personal strengths and particular challenges that might arise in job interviews and professional environments. Career counselors might consider providing interview workshops specifically devoted to introverted, shy, and socially anxious students, to develop pre-game and game-day strategies for preparing for and participating in job interviews. These workshops can focus on substantive, physical, and mental preparation, and techniques for staying calm, reducing anxiety, maintaining eye contact, breathing, answering difficult questions, and appropriately volunteering information about personal achievements and accomplishments.

EMPATHICALLY IMPACTING QUIET LAWYERS

• To empathically impact quiet lawyers and foster an environment where they can authentically amplify their lawyer voices, law offices, bar associations, supervising attorneys, and mentors can:
  • Establish a tone of inclusion, and while reinforcing intellectual rigor, professional standards, and expectations of excellence, expressly acknowledge that not all lawyers are, or should be, the same.
  • Demonstrate appreciation for careful reading, critical thinking, thorough researching, contemplative writing, and thoughtful communicating to solve legal problems efficiently and intelligently—recognizing that these are strengths of many quiet lawyers.
  • Resist the idea that, because all lawyers ultimately need to be able to speak about the law, pushing junior attorneys into depositions, negotiations, and trial work, etc.—without effective mentoring, training, and support—is a necessary rite of passage.
  • Emphasize that a junior lawyer’s hesitation or anxiety toward depositions, negotiations, trial work, etc., is not an indicator of the attorney’s future success—because, with the right context, training, self-awareness, and guidance, the junior lawyer will establish (and amplify) his or her authentic advocacy voice.
  • Acknowledge that depositions, negotiations, trial work, etc., can be stressful, but with the right context, training, self-awareness, and guidance, junior lawyers can conquer anxiety toward these lawyering activities.
  • Explain that, just as junior attorneys continue to learn new legal rules, concepts, and procedures as they develop and grow within an area of practice, some also might need to learn more about themselves and how they can best communicate about the law with the least amount of anxiety.
  • Resist making negative assumptions about quiet junior attorneys.
  • Enhance personal understanding of the different ways extroverts and introverts work, process legal concepts, produce their best written work product, and communicate about the law.
  • Cultivate an environment in which extroverted and introverted attorneys both can produce their best work product most efficiently; recognize that introverts might need to close their office doors to concentrate.
  • Strive to broaden personal understanding of introverts’ natural hesitation toward certain contexts of spontaneous interpersonal engagement, and acknowledge that such quiet personality traits (or potentially deeper-seated shame-based triggers that fuel self-censorship in shy and socially anxious people) do not in any way indicate that such individuals cannot become transformational lawyers.
  • Acknowledge that quiet junior attorneys have a pivotal role to play in client representation (i.e., active listeners, thorough fact-gatherers and researchers, strategic thinkers, contemplative writers, creative problem-solvers, and so on).
  • Model humility as a leadership strength, and share professional journeys in overcoming personal challenges and becoming authentically powerful advocates.
  • Emphasize that introverted junior attorneys should not feel pressure to feign extroversion or aggressiveness, but instead should capitalize on their strengths and focus on communicating most impactfully about the law in their authentic voices.
• Workload Management, Mentoring, and Training: When we assign junior attorneys interactive and performance-driven tasks such as depositions, negotiations, trial work, etc., we can openly express that these tasks might indeed be stressful and intimidating. Quiet lawyers might experience more anxiety than their peers toward these activities, but with the right background context, training, and guidance, they certainly can master them. Law offices and bar associations can provide mentors to help junior attorneys prepare to handle these legal activities, to focus not only on the technical procedures, techniques, and intellectual strategy, but even more importantly, to learn how to step into each scenario with the greatest amount of mental and physical strength and least amount of anxiety. Training and mentoring programs can focus on helping junior attorneys understand why these tasks ignite anxiety, and (instead of glossing over that reality and prodding them to tough it out or push through it) provide resources to help junior attorneys adopt mental and physical strategies to reduce anxiety and develop their authentic advocacy personas.
• Job Interviews: Law students navigate countless job interviews, for internships, summer associate positions, clerkships, and full-time law office employment. Interviews can be a stressful experience for any law student or lawyer but often much more so for introverted, shy, and socially anxious job candidates. Interviewers in the legal market can alleviate some of this angst and pave the way for quiet applicants to showcase their strengths simply by being mindful of the differences between introverts and extroverts in interviewing, and by resisting making immediate assumptions about a quiet candidate’s aptitude or ability to contribute to the law office environment. The more reserved applicants might be excellent legal writers, inquisitive thinkers, and deep analysts. Of course, legal interviewers are busy, they must plow through numerous applications, and they conduct an abundant number of interviews—so, speedy assessments indeed are often a reality. Nonetheless, with increased awareness of the possibility that quiet applicants just might be “diamonds in the rough,” legal employers can increase the likelihood of finding outstanding candidates who will enhance the office environment, serve clients well, and contribute mightily to our profession.
• Workshops: Law offices and bar associations can offer workshops and accredited Continuing Legal Education (CLE) programs devoted to topics like: (1) understanding introversion, shyness, and social anxiety in the legal profession; (2) conquering public speaking anxiety in the legal profession; (3) enhancing the role of empathy in the legal profession; and (4) facilitating healthy, authentic expression in law-related interactions. Not only can we provide CLEs for interactive attorney tasks like depositions, negotiations, oral arguments, and trial work, we can incorporate a mental health aspect into this practical training, focusing on mental and physical manifestations of reticence or anxiety toward adversarial exchange. These workshops and programs should be designed to satisfy various states’ mandatory requirements for CLE hours focused on mental health issues, professionalism, and advocacy skills.

EMPATHICALLY IMPACTING NERVOUS ADVOCATES IN THE COURTROOM

Judges can be some of the most influential figures in shaping a quiet junior lawyer’s career path. Many introverted, shy, and socially anxious law school graduates find themselves in litigation careers either (1) intentionally, because they love legal research, writing, and problem-solving, and hope they can overcome anxiety toward performance-oriented activities like depositions, negotiations, and trial work, or (2) because of job market constraints or a lack of familiarity with other types of practice. Accordingly, many introverted, shy, and socially anxious lawyers will end up presenting oral arguments or conducting trials in courtrooms before judges. And they will be exceedingly nervous, although most likely overprepared.

I have never been a judge, and I have the utmost respect for the pressure judges are under to review myriad briefs, adjudicate countless cases in crowded dockets, and render reasoned decisions efficiently and fairly. I understand that judges need lawyers to not only follow procedural rules and submit quality briefs to facilitate efficient and just decision-making, but also to get to the point quickly in court proceedings and to know what they are doing. Judges can profoundly affect a quiet lawyer’s career trajectory through even the most fleeting moments of understanding and empathy in courtroom scenarios. The quiet lawyer might have been the primary author of the party’s pleadings and briefs. If so, she likely knows the facts, rules, and arguments inside and out. She cares deeply about the issues before the court. She probably has prepared and rehearsed her oral argument, opening statement, or witness examination numerous times. The authoritative, adversarial, and spontaneous nature of the courtroom experience likely will rattle her in the moment. She wants to communicate clearly and confidently. She might not do so. She has everything written down and is going to need to use her notes a lot. She’s probably scared. She respects the judge and the process and wants to do a great job for her client. She wants to be better at this. She doesn’t want to fake her way.

A federal district court judge exhibited great empathy to me when I was a very junior associate terrified of examining my first witness in my first trial. In the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, I needed to be sworn into the court before I could examine my first witness, and I was a sweaty, nervous, blushing wreck. The judge first took a few seconds to acknowledge the moment of my swearing in, smiled, openly acknowledged the significance of this moment in my new career, and patiently encouraged me to proceed with my short line of questioning of the witness. I wasn’t eloquent, but I got through it, thanks to that empathetic judge. I wish I had willingly stepped into many more of those courtrooms, as my authentically empowered, quiet self, and learned from more judges like that one.

Quiet people have the loudest minds.

Stephen Hawking