Online CLE — When Good Intentions Go Awry: An Introduction to Behavioral Ethics in a Legal Context

If you are in need of continuing legal education credit (or are otherwise interested), I will be co-presenting an upcoming seminar on Behavioral Legal Ethics on November 10, 2105, with Professor Catherine Gage O’Grady of the James E. Rogers College of Law at the University of Arizona.  The program provider, Practising Law Institute, is a leader in the field of CLE education.

Here is the link and description for anyone who might be interested:

Description:

Ethics discussions often focus narrowly on the “bad apples” who deliberately choose to evade the rules of the profession. But as decades of empirical research demonstrate, unethical behavior frequently results from a broader set of variables that can cause even well-intentioned lawyers to act contrary to their own principles. Recently dubbed “Behavioral Legal Ethics,” this area of study draws lessons from behavioral science – including social psychology, behavioral economics and neuroscience – to explore the many subtle, often unconscious, factors that influence ethical decision-making. These include, for example:

• The power of conformity and obedience to authority
• The role of framing in ethical deliberation
• The slippery slope toward misbehavior
• The pernicious influence of overconfidence and self-serving biases

Please join Professor Catherine Gage O’Grady from the University of Arizona’s James E. Roger College of Law and Professor Tigran W. Eldred from New England Law | Boston for a one-hour briefing on Behavioral Legal Ethics. Topics to be explored will include how behavioral science challenges standard conceptions of legal ethics, as well as how a behavioral approach can address misconduct in diverse practice settings. This session will be of particular interest to newly admitted lawyers, who are uniquely vulnerable to the behavioral factors that contribute to unethical behavior and, conversely, are well-suited to overcome them.

(full disclosure: the program fee is $299, which is the tuition charged by PLI for the event)

Update,  11/20/15: I thoroughly enjoyed teaching this material with Professor Catherine Gage O’Grady.  The recording of the PLI session is available at a reduced rate here.

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