Communication skills are indispensable for lawyers in their professional life. However, communication is not limited to just speaking and writing. One of the most essential skills of communication is actually listening; specifically, active listening.
According to an article published in the Santa Clara Law Review, “Teaching and Assessing Active Listening as a Foundational Skill for Lawyers as Leaders, Counselors, Negotiators, and Advocates”:
“Active listening is a core professional skill for lawyers. In their traditional roles as advocates, negotiators, and counselors, lawyers are most effective when they form relationships of trust with their clients and understand the world from their perspectives. Doing so without effective listening skills is nearly impossible. In addition, clients identify good communication skills and particularly attentive listening skills as the two most important skills lawyers can have.”
The actor Marlon Brando once said: “An actor’s a guy who, if you ain’t talking about him, ain’t listening.” The same thing can be said about most lawyers. If you aren’t talking about them, they aren’t really listening. Instead, they are thinking how they are going to respond. Not only that, but too often they don’t wait until the person speaking has finished to interrupt with a solution. Lawyers are people who often don’t fully listen to clients and others—even though active listening is supposed to be an essential part of their professional skills.
An important component of listening involves pausing before responding. The Edutopia article “The Value of Active Listening” notes the importance of always waiting a reasonable pause before responding. While interrupting is poor communication, the article suggests, failure to pause is an equally a communication failure.
Immediately responding with solutions or observation without pausing discourages further exchange of information. A simple pause shows that you’re focused on what the speaker is saying.
Motivational speaker Brian Tracy has written about “the power of pausing.”
Tracy suggests that “all excellent listeners are masters of knowing how to pause.” He says excellent speakers are generally comfortable with silences. He points out that good listeners wait until the other person finishes speaking. They take a breath, relax, and smile before saying anything. They know that the pause is a key part of good communication. Tracy says good listeners first pause and ask if the speaker would like their input.
He argues that there are three major benefits of pausing before responding.
- You avoid the risk of interrupting the speaker when they stop to gather their thoughts. In fact, when you pause for a few seconds, you often find the speaker will continue speaking. That may result in giving you more information, allowing you to make a better response.
- Your silence signals that you are giving careful consideration to what was just said. By carefully considering the other person’s words, you are paying them a compliment. You are implicitly saying that you consider what they said to be important and worthy of reflection.
- You will have a better understanding by taking a moment to reflect on what they are saying. It gives you a moment to reflect and respond.
Together with appropriate pausing, active listening requires nonverbal feedback. Nonverbal actions include such things as a nod, a smile, or other sign of recognition. Part of nonverbal communication involves body posture—position your body to allow safe space for the other person to speak openly. Other rules of active listening involve showing an attitude of empathy, understanding, and a nonjudgmental attitude. Nonverbal listening also includes communicating attention through eye contact, erect posture, nodding, and other positive body language. By maintaining good eye contact, we demonstrate we are fully engaged in what the speaker is saying. We show we are really engaged by eye contact.
When responding, summarize what was said, using the speaker’s words or your own. This confirms an understanding about what was said. Build trust in the speaker by providing more opportunities for the speaker to clarify. After establishing an understanding of the speaker’s meaning, ask the speaker for their ideas for a solution. Don’t reject outright any ideas or suggestions the speaker makes while they’re providing their feedback.
The skill of good communication is a professional requirement for lawyers in general and especially for trial lawyers. Practice using the power of the pause in your communication, as well as appropriate nonverbal communication. Learn the basics of active listening as part of your professional abilities—you and your practice will be rewarded.
Paul Luvera. Paul is retired founder of the Luvera Law Firm, and he tried over 280 cases to juries in 55 years of practice. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, the American Board of Trial Advocates, and the International Barristers Society, and has taught at the Spence Trial College. He is the only Washington lawyer inducted into the National Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame. He is the author of five books on law and the contributing author to seven other legal books. He can be reached at Paul@Luvera.org.
