Law People

Law People

Better Law Practice Through Better People Management

Category Archives: Conflict

Subscribe to Conflict RSS Feed

The Emotionally Intelligent CEO in Training

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Conflict, Culture, Decision-Making, Emotional Intelligence, Leadership, Management, Recruitment, Teamwork
If you are thinking of applying to the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College, you will now have to demonstrate you have some emotional intelligence skills. Last month, the Tuck School announced that it would henceforth look for applicants who, in addition to being smart and accomplished, possess two other qualities: nice and aware. Or, as… Continue Reading

The Largest Discount Yet on Best Seller Beyond Smart: Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Announcements, Assessments, Books, Business Development, Client Service, Compensation, Conflict, Decision-Making, Diversity, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics, Law Departments, Law Education, Leadership, Mentoring, Productivity, Professional Development, Profitability, Recruitment, Retention, Risk Management, Uncategorized
Don’t let your summer go by without getting the ABA’s best seller Beyond Smart: Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence. To make it even less painful for you to brush up on your EI skills, you can now get Beyond Smart in either paperback or e-book at a 25% discount using Discount Code ABASUM25. Let the wisdom begin!  … Continue Reading

Overcoming the Crowd and Fear

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Conflict, Decision-Making, Emotional Intelligence, Professional Development, Risk Management, Uncategorized
Given the recent post about the power of crowdsourcing in predicting judicial decisions, for those who go against the group, there is another intriguing result: their brains light up in the amygdala, the emotional center of the brain. In “Why Do People Follow the Crowd?” a recent groundbreaking experiment found that when people “go along… Continue Reading

Muir to Speak at ARK Group’s Annual Business Intelligence and Analytics Conference

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Announcements, Client Service, Communication, Conflict, Culture, Decision-Making, Emotional Intelligence, Management, Productivity, Professional Development, Profitability, Risk Management, Teamwork, Uncategorized
Ark Group’s 7th Annual Conference on Business Intelligence and Analytics in the Legal Profession will be held April 26th, 2018 at the SUNY Global Center, New York, NY. The conference topic is how analytics are being used to accelerate productivity across key firm dimensions – driving the development of standards, metrics and processes reflective of… Continue Reading

The Physics of Emotion

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Communication, Conflict, Culture, Decision-Making, Emotional Intelligence, Leadership, Management, Productivity, Professional Development, Profitability, Teamwork, Uncategorized
Dr. Candace Pert was, among many other posts, the chief of brain biochemistry at the National Institutes of Health before going into private research. She passed away suddenly a few years ago, but her research has made notable contributions to the study of emotional intelligence. In an interview, The Physics of Emotion, Pert explains that neurotransmitters called peptides… Continue Reading

NYU Law School Program: Using Emotional Intelligence for Successful and Satisfying Legal Careers

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Announcements, Assessments, Books, Business Development, Client Service, Communication, Conflict, Culture, Decision-Making, Diversity, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics, Innovation, Leadership, Management, Mentoring, Productivity, Professional Development, Profitability, Recruitment, Retention, Risk Management, Teamwork, Uncategorized, Wellness, Work Satisfaction
Join us at 12:45 pm on Wednesday, February 28, when Ronda Muir will be making a lunchtime presentation at NYU Law School on Using Emotional Intelligence for Successful and Satisfying Legal Careers and signing copies of her book Beyond Smart: Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence. For more information and to register, go here. See you there!  … Continue Reading

February Discount on Beyond Smart: Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence!

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Announcements, Assessments, Books, Business Development, Client Service, Coaching, Communication, Compensation, Conflict, Culture, Decision-Making, Diversity, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics, Innovation, Law Departments, Law Education, Leadership, Management, Mentoring, Productivity, Professional Development, Profitability, Recruitment, Retention, Risk Management, Teamwork, Uncategorized
  Beyond Smart: Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence has been chosen as one of the ABA’s  Top 2017 Legal Titles.  For those who haven’t yet gotten this comprehensive guide to understanding and using emotional intelligence in the unique context of practicing law, you can buy it here for yourself and others in paperback or as an E-book at a… Continue Reading

CLE on Ethics and EI

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Announcements, Books, Client Service, Communication, Conflict, Culture, Decision-Making, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics, Law Education, Leadership, Management, Professional Development, Profitability, Risk Management, Teamwork
Just a reminder that you have only two days to sign up for the CLE offered by the ABA’s Center for Professional Development on The Ethical Advantage of Emotional Intelligence at 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET on December 12, 2017. Panelists are Dr. David Shor of Northwestern University and Ronda Muir, Esq., Founder and Principal of Law People Management,… Continue Reading

Sign Up for CLE on Ethics and Emotional Intelligence

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Announcements, Books, Business Development, Client Service, Communication, Compensation, Conflict, Culture, Decision-Making, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics, Innovation, Leadership, Mentoring, Productivity, Professional Development, Profitability, Risk Management, Succession, Teamwork, Wellness
Sign up for the CLE offered by the ABA’s Center for Professional Development on The Ethical Advantage of Emotional Intelligence at 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM ET on December 12, 2017 and receive two significant discounts. Panelists are Dr. David Shor of Northwestern University and Ronda Muir, Esq., Founder and Principal of Law People Management, LLC. Registrants receive 1.50 Ethics/Professionalism CLE Credit… Continue Reading

Beyond Smart: Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence Now Available as an EBook

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Books, Business Development, Client Service, Coaching, Communication, Compensation, Conflict, Culture, Decision-Making, Diversity, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics, Innovation, Law Departments, Law Education, Leadership, Management, Mentoring, Productivity, Professional Development, Profitability, Recruitment, Retention, Risk Management, Succession, Teamwork, Work Satisfaction
Beyond Smart: Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence is now available as an eBook and at a significant discount from the paperback price. Take it along on the plane or vacation. For a discount, use Code RMUIR10.… Continue Reading

Scandals at the Gate

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Client Service, Communication, Conflict, Culture, Decision-Making, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics, Risk Management, Uncategorized
The implications of the Harvey Weinstein scandal justifiably shake workplaces across the country. Women in nearly all industries can cry “Me Too.” So what about law? Legal workplaces have long been one big high-intensity, smart person’s social mixer with the attendant fallout, and  there is no shortage in our profession of Me Too tales. The… Continue Reading

The Key to Greater Profitability in the 21st Century

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Announcements, Assessments, Books, Business Development, Client Service, Communication, Conflict, Culture, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics, Innovation, Law Departments, Law Education, Leadership, Management, Productivity, Professional Development, Profitability, Recruitment, Retention, Risk Management, Succession, Teamwork, Uncategorized, Wellness
Muir’s article published this month in Law Practice Today, entitled “The Key to More Profitable Practices in the 21st Century,” reviews some of the important reasons that raising emotional intelligence can improve the productivity and profitability of our legal workplaces.   The Key to More Profitable Practices in the 21st Century… Continue Reading

Sneak Peak at Beyond Smart: Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Announcements, Books, Business Development, Client Service, Communication, Compensation, Conflict, Culture, Decision-Making, Diversity, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics, Innovation, Law Departments, Law Education, Leadership, Management, Productivity, Professional Development, Profitability, Recruitment, Retention, Risk Management, Teamwork, Wellness
YourABA published a Q&A with author Ronda Muir today about her new book, Beyond Smart: Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence.  Check it out HERE.… Continue Reading

Beyond Smart: Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Announcements, Books, Business Development, Client Service, Coaching, Communication, Compensation, Conflict, Culture, Decision-Making, Diversity, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics, Innovation, Law Departments, Law Education, Leadership, Management, Mentoring, Pro Bono and Community Service, Productivity, Professional Development, Profitability, Recruitment, Retention, Risk Management, Succession, Teamwork, Uncategorized, Wellness, Work Satisfaction, Work/Life Balance
I am pleased to announce that (along with the eclipse) Beyond Smart: Lawyering with Emotional Intelligence is available as of yesterday here on the ABA Shop website. For a discount, use Code RMUIR10 through December 31, 2017. This is the first comprehensive guide to understanding, using and raising emotional intelligence in the unique context of law practice. It… Continue Reading

The Equine Approach to Emotional intelligence

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Client Service, Coaching, Communication, Conflict, Emotional Intelligence, Leadership, Professional Development, Teamwork, Uncategorized, Wellness
Linda Kohanov is one of the pioneers in the area of building emotional intelligence skills through human/equine interaction. Based on the theories she discusses in her numerous bestsellers, her organization Eponaquest offers programs in Arizona to artists, educators, and business leaders that “employ horses in teaching people leadership, assertiveness, personal empowerment, relationship, intuition, and emotional fitness skills.” I had… Continue Reading

Whistleblowers United

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Client Service, Communication, Conflict, Culture, Decision-Making, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics, Leadership, Management, Professional Development, Risk Management, Uncategorized
Speaking of ethical decisions, those who would be whistleblowers are usually caught by emotional crosswinds, often mentioning the difficulty they have in dealing with their own mixed emotions. As researchers concluded in “The Role of Emotional Intelligence in Ethical Decision Making at Work,” “Whistleblowing involves an intrapersonal conflict—an internal struggle of conflicting emotions that need… Continue Reading

Reducing the Liability Coming to Low EI Law Firms and Law Departments

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Coaching, Communication, Conflict, Culture, Decision-Making, Diversity, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics, Leadership, Management, Mentoring, Professional Development, Recruitment, Retention, Risk Management, Uncategorized, Work Satisfaction
An amendment to Rule 8.4(g) to the ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct, first circulated in December 2015 and then adopted on August 3, 2016, prohibits lawyers while practicing law from engaging in conduct they “know or reasonably should know” constitutes harassment or discrimination based on “race, sex, religion, national origin, ethnicity, disability, age, sexual orientation, gender… Continue Reading

Happiest of Holidays!

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Announcements, Books, Business Development, Client Service, Coaching, Communication, Compensation, Conflict, Culture, Decision-Making, Diversity, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics, Innovation, Law Departments, Law Education, Leadership, Management, Mentoring, Pro Bono and Community Service, Productivity, Professional Development, Profitability, Recruitment, Retention, Risk Management, Succession, Teamwork, Wellness, Work Satisfaction, Work/Life Balance
From Law People Management to you and yours, we wish you peace, prosperity and good health during the holidays and throughout the New Year. To that end, we are pleased to announce the publication by the American Bar Association of our book The Emotional Intelligence Edge for 21st Century Lawyers currently scheduled for summer of… Continue Reading

Studies on the Currency of Influence: Trump vs. Clinton?

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Client Service, Conflict, Culture, Emotional Intelligence, Leadership, Management, Productivity, Teamwork
Here’s a thought that will hopefully make us all more likable around the Thanksgiving turkey: “A growing body of research suggests that the way to influence—and to lead—is to begin with expressing emotional warmth.”  That is the conclusion–probably surprising to the legal crowd–of an interesting research study looking at what gives leaders the power of… Continue Reading

Lawyers in Conflict

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Client Service, Coaching, Communication, Compensation, Conflict, Culture, Decision-Making, Emotional Intelligence, Law Education, Leadership, Management, Mentoring, Productivity, Professional Development, Profitability, Retention, Risk Management, Teamwork, Uncategorized, Work Satisfaction
Having just finished an interesting assignment helping a firm resolve conflict among its ranks, I am freshly reminded of what it is that puts lawyers into conflict and then keeps them there.  So please indulge me in this seat-of-the-pants riff (for the record, none of which, of course, applies to any of my clients). Lawyers are on… Continue Reading

Mamas, Don’t Let Your Daughters Grow Up to be Lawyers: A Preview

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Client Service, Compensation, Conflict, Culture, Diversity, Emotional Intelligence, Innovation, Law Departments, Law Education, Leadership, Management, Professional Development, Profitability, Recruitment, Retention, Risk Management, Uncategorized, Work Satisfaction, Work/Life Balance
In anticipation of a white paper on the persistent question of why there isn’t greater gender diversity in the practice of law, here’s a look at a few of the salient points: Women have comprised roughly half of law graduates for a number of decades, and have been consistently over-represented at the top of their… Continue Reading

Building Your Emotional Vocabulary

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Assessments, Client Service, Coaching, Communication, Conflict, Culture, Decision-Making, Emotional Intelligence, Leadership, Management, Mentoring, Retention, Wellness
One of the ways to improve our emotional intelligence, and therefore improve our decision-making, our productivity. our personal interactions and our well-being, is to expand our vocabulary with respect to emotions. We experience hundreds of shades of emotion every day. While five to seven emotions are considered basic, combinations of those emotions blend together to… Continue Reading

Moral Disengagement and the Law

By Ronda Muir on Posted in Client Service, Conflict, Decision-Making, Emotional Intelligence, Ethics, Law Education, Leadership, Management, Professional Development, Risk Management
Commentators have remarked for years on the decline in ethical standards among lawyers, leading to increasing charges of fraud, theft, breach of fiduciary duties, among other crimes, and also pure incivility. Even lawyers have long thought that lawyers are behaving inappropriately and should be more closely monitored: in one survey, 62% of the lawyers surveyed believed… Continue Reading