These are characteristics which distinguish lawyers from the general population. They may exist prior to law school but have only been documented during law school or thereafter and in some cases they may be intensified in law school. These are:

1. low interest in people, emotional concerns, and interpersonal matters;

2. less humanitarianism;

3. cold and quarrelsome, and less warm and agreeable;

4. extroversion and sociability;

5. masculinity (including argumentativeness, competitiveness, aggression, and dominance);

7. Myers-Briggs dimension of "Thinking" vs. "Feeling" (approach to making decisions);

8. preference for Myers-Briggs dimensions of Introversion, Intuition, Thinking, and Judging;

9. conventional, law and order approach to moral decision-making; and

10. greater than normal incidence of psychological distress (including depression) and substance abuse.

Attributes of Pre-Law Students

Lawyer attributes which appear to be pre-existing before law school are:

1. interest in school, reading, and scholastic achievement;

2. leadership and social skills;

3. need for dominance, leadership, and attention;

4. more authoritarian;
5. less subordinate or deferent;
6. low interest in emotions, interpersonal concerns, and in others' feelings;
7. less humanitarianism;
8. normal levels of psychological problems;
9. initiative-taking, active approach to life (rather than passive); and
10. higher socioeconomic level than the general population.

Motives For Selecting the Law

Law students report the following motives for choosing the law (these may suggest something about pre-existing, pre-law school characteristics):

1. interest in the subject matter;

2. desire for intellectual stimulation; and

3. money and prestige.

Gender differences: men more likely to admit materialism; women more likely to cite altruistic motives.

Effects of Law School

Characteristics which appear to be developed or amplified in law school are:

1. greater than normal emphasis on logic, thinking, rationality, justice, fairness, and rights (a "rights" orientation as opposed to an "ethic of care");

2. preference for Myers-Briggs "Thinking" vs. "Feeling" personality dimension;

3. authoritarianism;

4. the experience of feeling internally insecure, awkward, defensive;

5. a decrease in dominance, confidence, and sociability;

6. if tense and anxious, then an increase in ambitiousness and aggressiveness;

7. greater than normal incidence of psychological distress;*

8. a decrease in altruism and an increased interest in private practice with a firm (coupled with a decrease in interest in public service);

9. an increase in cynicism about the legal profession, but at the same time an increased protectiveness of the profession;

10. becoming less intellectual, less philosophical and introspective, less interested in abstractions, ideas, and the scientific method (perhaps becoming more realistic and pragmatic).

*This distress seems to be associated with interpersonal concerns, a failure to use social systems as support, overuse of thinking as a coping strategy, overuse of compensatory increases in aggression and ambition, pressure to professionalize and compete in relationships with peers, alienation, and substance abuse. It may also be associated with subtle pressure to adopt a "rights" orientation in making moral decisions if one comes to law school with an "ethic of care."

Attributes Associated With Career Satisfaction

Career satisfaction among lawyers has been correlated with:

1. Myers-Briggs Extraversion, Thinking, and Judging personality dimensions:

2. absence of neuroses;

3. broad range of interests; and

4. pragmatic, realistic motives for going to law school.

NOTE: Please see Professor Daicoff for proper citations to authority for each of the assertions above. All of the foregoing is based on empirical studies of lawyers and law students. I can be reached at (614) 236-6273 or by e-mail to sdaicoff@law.capital.edu.

(C) Susan Daicoff, 1999.

Asking Leopards to Change Their Spots: Can Lawyers Change?

(An outline of a talk based on an article in Geo. J. Legal Ethics)

The Tripartite Crisis

1. Decline in Professionalism

Number of disciplinary cases and malpractice claims against attorneys

Lawyer advertising

Scorched earth, "Rambo"-style litigation

Lack of civility

"Bottom-line" emphasis on money, business, and commercialism

2. Low Public Opinion

Peter D. Hart Survey, 1993

Gallup Poll, 1992

U.S. News & World Report Poll, 1996

Decline in applications to law school, 1993-97

3. Lawyer Distress

Career cissatisfaction — ABA/YLD Surveys, 1984 & 1990; California Poll, 1992

Benjamin, et al.’spsychological distress studies, 1986, 1990, & 1995

Substance abuse twice that of general population, 1988

Relationship of lawyer distress to discipline and malpractice, 1986, 1988, 1991, & 1994.

Causes of the Tripartite Crisis

Hypothesized External Causes:

1. Litigiousness
2. Competition among lawyers for clients
3. Win-at-all-costs mentality
4. Uncivil and/or unethical lawyer behavior
5. Poor treatment of clients
6. Lack of lawyer discipline
7. Materialistic or business orientation
8. Law firm changes
9. Lawyer advertising
10. Media
11. Legal education

Hypothesized Internal Causes:

12. Conflicts inherent in the practice of law
13. The hired-gun approach (amoral professional role)
14. Decline or shift in values

Popular Solutions to the Tripartite Crisis

External, Behavioral Solutions:

1. Work less and diversify activities
2. Make less money
3. Manage stress more effectively
4. Provide more legal services to the community
5. Provide more pro bono work
6. Charge for services differently
7. Mentor new lawyers and provide peer support
8. Regulate lawyer misbehavior

Internal, Psychological Solutions:

9. Discard the "hired-gun" approach and adopt "moral lawyering"
10. Adopt "caring lawyering" (ethic of care, open lawyer/client dialogue, renegotiate lawyer’s role with client, focus on solving problems instead of creating conflict)
11. Shift values

Dissenters’ Solutions:

12. Do nothing; redefine professionalism and celebrate diversity

1. Competitiveness

b. Desire to make money/materialism

3. Need for achievement

2. Attributes Related to Interpersonal Relating Style

a. Interpersonal insensitivity

2. Preference for "Thinking"
3. "Rights" orientation
4. Aggressive and ambitious coping styles
5. Preference for dominance

The following are unlikely to be effective in changing the lawyer personality as outlined above:

1. Mandating change through rules

2. Limiting lawyers’ income

3. Increasing negative consequences of the current situation
4. Providing leadership from within the legal profession
5. Relying on legal education
6. Redefining professionalism to encompass the lawyer attributes

Should Lawyers Change?

Here, I argue that perhaps lawyers should not change their personalities:

1. Lawyer attributes may be adaptive to the practice of law
2. Lawyer attributes may facilitate equal access to justice
3. Lawyer attributes may allow lawyers to escape painful moral conflicts
4. Long-standing, ingrained personality characteristics present long before law school