Listening and Relational Lawyering

Legal professionals spend considerable time listening, yet lawyers are notoriously poor listeners. Listening traditionally has not been taught as a core subject in law, and where it has been taught, the goals have often been instrumental, consistent with our individualistic and adversarial legal culture. More recently, law schools have begun identifying listening as a core competency, and some legal academics have begun advocating for increased listening pedagogy as part of a broader set of relational perspectives and practices. “Relational Lawyering” starts with the premise that all human beings are interconnected and share the same needs and interests. This chapter discusses the evolution of listening within the legal profession, primarily focused on legal education and training. It discusses how effective listening is being redefined more holistically using a relational approach and outlines relational teaching strategies and tools. The chapter concludes by outlining future directions for listening pedagogy within the legal field.