Habits of CrossCultural Lawyering Jean Koh Peters Fall

Habits of Cross-Cultural Lawyering Jean Koh Peters Fall 2010

The Four Threes

I. The Three Steps A. Identify assumptions in our daily practice. B. Challenge assumptions with fact. C. Lawyer based on fact.

II. The Three Ghosts of Diversity Trainings Past A. Fear of being judged, by self or others B. Focus on teaching about nonwhite culture to white people C. Unfair burdens on people of color

III. The Three Dynamics of the Habits 1. NONJUDGMENT—the central theme of the day 2. ISOMORPHIC ATTRIBUTION 3. DAILY HABIT AND LEARNABLE SKILL

IV. The Three Principles A. All Lawyering is Cross. Cultural B. Remain Present with This Client Ever Respecting Her Dignity, Voice, and Story C. Know Oneself as a Cultural Being

Habit III: Parallel Universe Thinking: Generate multiple “Entering the cultural imagination of the other” --Raymonde Carroll “Down the rabbit hole” --Lewis Carroll explanations for the same facts • Suspending conclusions & judgments • Enlarging & refracting understandings of how the world works • Suggesting inquiries for future understanding • The Paradigmatic Habit

Habit One--Exercise • Pick a client who looms large in your current consciousness • Two Habit One experiences: –Impressionistic

Habit One: Degrees of Separation and Connection 1. Identifying Differences & Similarities – effect on relationship – what questions get asked 2. Hot button Issues—accrue over time

Habit Four: Pitfalls, Red Flags And Correctives • The Client Communication Habit • Pay careful attention to: --scripts, especially those describing the legal process, --introductory rituals, --culturally specific information about the client’s problem • Default Corrective: Seek a Narrative

Habit Two: The Three Rings – Connections and Separations between Law & Legal System and Client – Connections and Separations between Community, Agencies, other Problem – The Problem-solving Habit—perhaps the most Important one

Habit Five: The Camel’s Back • Jean’s Story—How it began —Downstairs Ladies’ Room in Ruttenberg Hall • Nonjudgment begins at home • The Redemptive Habit

Bibliography—Habits of Cross-Cultural Lawyering (all available from Jean: jean. peters@yale. edu) • Susan Bryant, The Five Habits: Building Cross-Cultural Competence in Lawyers, 8 Clin. L. Rev. 33 (2001) • Jean Koh Peters, “Representing the Child-in-Context: Five Habits of Cross-Cultural Lawyering” in REPRESENTING CHILDREN IN CHILD PROTECTIVE PROCEEDINGS: ETHICAL AND PRACTICAL DIMENSIONS, 3 d Ed. (2007) • Jean Koh Peters, Habit, Story, Delight: Essential Tools for the Public Service Advocate, 7 Wash. U. J. L. & Pol'y 17 (2001) • Bryant and Peters, Six Practices for Connecting with Clients Across Culture: Habit Four, Working with Interpreters and other Approaches in Marjorie Silver, THE AFFECTIVE ASSISTANCE OF COUNSEL (2007) • Bryant and Peters, Five Habits for Cross-Cultural Lawyering, in RACE, CULTURE, PSy. CHOLOGY & LAW (2005). • website, available at