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THE VALUE OF INTERPERSONAL SKILLS FOR THE LAWYER: AN ANALOGUE STUDY AND A FIELD STUDY
Abstract
Two studies, an experimental analogue study and a correlational field study, were conducted to investigate the effects of an attorney's (1) relational skill, (2) legal competence, and (3) the effects of sex of subject on the formation of perceptions and attitudes held by clients about attorneys. The analogue study employed a 2 x 2 x 2 factorial design. One hundred and twenty-two subjects viewed a simulated, video-taped attorney-client interview in which the attorney possessed either: (a) high relational skill and high legal competence, or (b) high relational skill and low legal competence, or (c) low relational skill and high legal competence, or (d) low relational skill and low legal competence. Analysis of questionnaires completed by the subjects after viewing the tapes revealed the attorney having high relational skill and high legal competence to be viewed as most expert, attractive, trustworthy, likely to satisfy the client, and being recommended and used in the future. The attorney having high relational skill and low legal competence was rated second on fourteen of the seventeen measures employed, indicating that relational skill may contribute more to the formation of a client's perception of his or her attorney than does the level of legal competence. The attorney in the analogue study was female. The results reflect similar findings observed in an earlier parallel study wherein the stimulus sample was a male attorney, indicating that attorney gender is not as influential a factor in the formation of client attitudes as the manipulated attorney behaviors. In the field study a Pearson product-moment correlation was performed on the data derived from the Legal Services Clinic of the University Law School. Forty-seven clients of certified student-attorneys were surveyed following their initial legal interview. Significant correlations were found for every combination between the dependent variables of Expertness, Attractiveness, Trustworthiness and Client Satisfaction. Other significant correlations between specific student-attorney behaviors and positive evaluations by clients are noted. Implications for the structure of legal education for law students and the practicing bar are discussed.
Subject Area
Social psychology
Recommended Citation
FELDMAN, STEPHEN ROBERT, "THE VALUE OF INTERPERSONAL SKILLS FOR THE LAWYER: AN ANALOGUE STUDY AND A FIELD STUDY" (1982). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI8217527.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI8217527