Have any of you read The New Lawyer: How Settlement is Transforming the Practice of Law? I have checked it out from the library twice and both times returned it unread. (How does one find time to do all the reading she wants to do?) I read an article this morning which prompted me to request the book from the library once more. I want to read more about the author's concept of "advocacy of conflict resolution" mentioned below.
Excerpt from "Vanishing trials: Out-of-court settlements on the rise" (The Lawyers Weekly):
The courts are not alone in their support of settlement.
“I think that academics and legal practitioners have developed a more elaborate understanding of settlement techniques,” said [Philip] Bryden. “And lawyers are educating themselves about a range of approaches to solving their client’s problems that may be more cost effective, or effective in addressing the client’s real concerns, than recourse to traditional litigation.”
Clients are also pro-settlement, and not just because it reduces cost and risk.
“My experience is that clients are all demanding a problem-solving approach,” said Elliott.
This demand is linked to the demise of professional deference. “We’re a more questioning generation generally. People want to be part of the discussion,” [Dr. Julie] Macfarlane said.
That means their lawyers need a new way of thinking and a new way of practising law, Macfarlane emphasizes in her book.
“The new lawyer will conceive of her advocacy role more deeply and broadly than simply fighting on her clients’ behalf,” she stated.
“This role comprehends both a different relationship with the client ... and a different orientation toward conflict,” noted Macfarlane, who calls this new role “advocacy as conflict resolution.”
...
Of course, it’s not a question of throwing the old lawyer out with the bathwater. Many of the
same skills are required whether the goal is settlement or trial, but there may be a shift in perception, approach or attitude. In her book, Macfarlane noted that advocacy as conflict resolution “challenges the automatic and ‘obvious’ primacy of rights-based dispute resolution, preferring a more nuanced, multi-pronged strategic approach to both fighting and settling.”
For many lawyers, that new approach is a natural fit with the way they practise their profession.
“Successful lawyers (and law firms) are developing broader sets of dispute resolution skills in order to meet the needs of their clients,” noted Bryden. “Lawyers who have a more sophisticated understanding of the range of options that might be helpful to their clients in addressing their problems will offer better service, generally speaking, than lawyers whose approach is narrower or more limited.
I think the 21st century does call for a new breed of lawyer, don't you? What does that new lawyer look like to you? Know any old dogs that don't seem able to learn new tricks?
Note (added at 7:52 PM Mountain): Here's an excerpt from a description of a workshop The New Lawyer : Moving from Warrior to Conflict Resolver taught by Dr. Julie Macfarlane):
This [workshop] explores the many indices of change in the skills and practices of lawyers – including the development of a new model of client “advocacy”, a closer working partnership between lawyer/client and the importance of negotiation skills as well as technical legal knowledge – and proposes a model of a “New Lawyer” that embraces consensus-building and practical problem-solving as a central advocacy role. This discussion will also address the wider implications for legal services in the 21st century, including changes in the education and training of lawyers, the role of judges in dispute resolution and the development of relationships with other conflict professionals. Finally this session will ask: can lawyers really be advocates for conflict resolution rather than conflict warriors? What is different about the client service values and practices of the “New Lawyer”, and how does this model evolve from and build on traditional lawyering practices? What are the traditional norms and values that hold lawyers back from this goal, and how far are these being overcome by the confluence of changes in both the profession and the dispute resolution landscape?
Note (added October 14, 2008, 12:43 PM Mountain): Looks as if fine minds think alike or perhaps this book is floating in the international thought ethers. Not long after I blogged about The New Lawyer, Geoff Sharp down in New Zealand blogged about the book, too. And he added a link not only to the above article but also to a book review (Osgoode Hall Law Journal) [pdf]. Thanks, Geoff.
Image credit: FreeFoto.com.
Comments