Introversion and Mediation

This week, John Lande, a professor emeritus at the University of Missouri School of Law, published an article entitled “Introversion, the Legal Profession, and Dispute Resolution” which take a good look at how the legal profession is full of introverts. This is a concept that is not widely perceived because there tends to be a presumption that most lawyers — particularly litigators — are extroverts. Standing up and yelling “Objection!” in the middle of a trial, like Al Pacino in And Justice for All, has to be something to extroverts, right?

Maybe not so much.

After reading Lande’s piece, it led to me wonder about the role of introversion in mediation. As a mediator, how do you get a feel for an attorney’s sense of introversion or extroversion? How do you get a feel for the parties’ sense? It is important to get a gauge for where someone is coming from. Yes, emotions can run high at times, but what may be more important is how those emotions manifest themselves, how they are processed and how they are perceived by others.

If a party or attorney dislikes conflict, prefers solitude, eschews group activities, then it is incumbent upon the mediator to be aware of this and work with it, rather than against it.