The Law Needs Listeners

“Kill the bill, kill the bill!” I could hear the chorus of voices growing louder from down the hall. It was July of 2017 and a muggy afternoon in the Hart Senate Office Building, and everyone watched in anticipation of the Senate Trumpcare vote in two weeks. As lowest rank in the office—the sophomore college intern—I was given the task of locking the office doors to keep the demonstrators out. I was sympathetic to the concerns of those who approached, given my own personal beliefs and the overtly partisan nature of the legislation, yet I wondered what they really hoped to achieve by chanting.

As I met eyes with the protestors from the other side of the locked glass doors, I nervously turned around to ask for instruction. Silence. The front office was completely empty, and only I remained. In a matter of minutes, the Capitol Police came and cleared the hall peacefully. On my subway ride home that evening, I thought back to the hundreds of constituent phone calls I had taken that week for the Senator, imploring considerations and describing personal health concerns. I had submitted detailed notes for each call, but I questioned whether they were actually read. I began to realize that having one’s voice heard necessitates somebody listening, and these people were desperate to be heard.

Years later, as an advocate-in-training, I often find myself focusing on the work that is done through expression—how I might present an argument effectively or what do I need to say to get my point across. Indeed, it seems a lion’s share of law school is devoted to the pursuit of vocalization: cold calls that test your eloquence or exams wherein hasty recitations of every issue in sight are rewarded with big points and sought-after grades. I do not discount that the art of expression is a vital part of lawyering, and that our worthy goals cannot be achieved without it. However, I believe that we often overlook an even more fundamental competence, listening, and listening well. Whatever one’s legal goals may be, whether social change or excellent client service, let us not discount this.

Good listening requires more than just sitting in a room together and hearing words (although some do not even make it that far, as the Senate activists might attest to). I believe that it requires both the growth of personal attributes as well as actions. Law schools may be well served to spend more time developing these skills in their students.

I think that empathy is a significant element to productive listening and thus excellent lawyering. One cannot expect to go about helping to solve the problem of another without a proper understanding of the problem itself, and such an understanding comes in part from an appreciation of the client within their frame of reference. What are one’s motivations for seeking help, and what is it that they really want? I suppose this effort may seem impractical in the corporate world, where clients are largely corporate entities and the personal is far removed. While working as an investment management paralegal at a big law firm, I faced this reality on a daily basis. Yet, the most effective attorneys in my practice group were those who informed their legal decisions at least in part by looking to the human elements of a deal and distilling client problems into personal terms. There is additional value beyond the practical benefits of understanding your clients’ concerns personally. Empathetic listening imbues legal work with meaning. Engaging with the human concerns that motivate the problem that one is tasked with to solve makes solving the problem all the more satisfying. In many instances, good listening extends beyond a single occurrence. It transpires as part of an ongoing relationship where building rapport through listening facilitates the ability to have more candid—better—conversations in the future.

There are several things that can get in the way of good listening. At times, one’s own proficiency may work to drown out the voice of another. In marketing our “expertise” on a topic, we acknowledge the hard time and effort we have put into our craft and perhaps justify the (oftentimes exorbitant) fees we charge for our services. But even as a first-year law student, I have at times felt an inclination to let this go to my head. In my limited experience, ego can turn the process of listening into solely a waiting period, a formality that one must acknowledge before getting their opportunity to speak. Other times, bias and pre-judgement hinder otherwise good-faith efforts to hear objectively. I think that a bit of humility may go a long way in ameliorating the obstructions. As I gain knowledge and skills and grow into my legal career, I hope to maintain this value in my conversations with clients and others.

Better listening will improve relationships, both professional and personal, and can be a powerful tool for social and legal improvement. On July 27, 2017, Trumpcare failed by one vote. Perhaps an unlocked door and an open ear made the difference.