By: Robin A. Boyle
As a lawyer, you are part of a complex web of relationships when
servicing clients, and you can maximize your potential by thinking
in terms of interacting with others as part of the same team.
Furthermore, as an employee, you can pay attention to your
learning-style strengths so that you can work productively and
efficiently. Alternatively, as a manager, you can
communicate in ways that assist employees in terms of their
diversity of learning styles.
How can you, as a lawyer, make use of theories concerning team
approaches, emotional intelligence, and learning styles? How
can you, as a manager of a law practice, improve your firm’s
performance? By understanding two premises: (1) that
lawyers, regardless of the size of their practice, work in tandem
with others and would benefit from team approaches; and (2) that
law firms are composed of individuals with unique learning styles
who do not always work well in teams or pairs.
Part I of this Article explains how the individual benefits from
effective use of a complex web of business relationships. In
Part II, the Dunn and Dunn Learning Style Model is
summarized. Part III applies the Dunn and Dunn Model to a law
practice from the perspectives of both the associate and the
manager.