Lawyers Are Uniquely Challenging Audience for Anti-Bias Training

This is an interesting article about unconscious bias training and lawyers.

“Cindy-Ann Thomas, co-chair of Littler Mendelson’s employment and diversity practice, has been giving unconscious bias trainings to clients for nearly two decades. This year, she’s training the firm’s own lawyers, and she’s preparing a little bit differently.

That’s because lawyers can be a tough audience, resistant to the idea that they might be behaving unfairly, according to Thomas.

“As attorneys, from 1L, it’s ingrained in us that we are there as advocates of and champions for justice,” Thomas said. “So when we are being taken to task for our biases, which are part of the human condition for everybody, it feels like an attack on who we are and what we stand for.”

“We link bias with being unethical,” she added. Thomas said the only other groups she finds as difficult to teach as lawyers are medical professionals and academics.”

Here at SunShower, we offer a variety of unconscious bias training ~ classroom training, online streaming and elearning courses.

More From Our Blog…

What’s going on in there?

What’s going on in there?

Listen to the Hidden Brain: Revealing Your Unconscious podcast and find outA friend texted me about a podcast he thought I would enjoy. The show notes piqued my interest: “We ask how is it that we can hold negative stereotypes — without being aware of them?” If you’ve...

read more
You can’t see me

You can’t see me

Associated PressExamples of racial double standards in sports abound. Athletes of different races are frequently treated differently based on their race, and the recent NCAA women’s basketball national championship laid this bare. Near the end of a game, LSU’s Angel...

read more
Reclaiming the Water

Reclaiming the Water

Why I’m in awe of the Howard University swimming and diving team By Gina Miller When we follow threads back through history, appalling origins or explanations for certain contemporary social issues / racial matters are often discovered.  This was my experience when I...

read more
Chances are your hiring process is riddled with bias

Chances are your hiring process is riddled with bias

Inclusive hiring is the practice of minimizing bias and creating an equitable recruitment, application, interview, selection and offer process for a diverse set of candidates.  It’s critical for attracting and retaining a diverse, engaged and innovative talent pool....

read more
DEI Leaders are Burning Out

DEI Leaders are Burning Out

A recent article in Human Resources Director highlights something that we’ve been hearing a lot about - diversity fatigue. It’s a term from the 90s, but it’s back now and the reasons require serious consideration.  In the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder, there was...

read more
The Day the National Guard Raided an HBCU Dorm

The Day the National Guard Raided an HBCU Dorm

A portion of the bullet-ridden, exterior wall of Smith Hall still stands in commemoration at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.  Khadejeh Nikouyeh/News & ObserverThis is why Black history needs to be taught By Gina Miller, contributing...

read more
Embodying Ethical Leadership

Embodying Ethical Leadership

In an age when faith in our institutions—academic, corporate and government—is at an all-time low, it behooves leaders to “do the right thing.” Paraphrasing Charlamagne, “Right action is better than knowledge, but in order to do what is right, we must know what is...

read more
Right Where She Belongs

Right Where She Belongs

How Lisette Martinez creates an inclusive culture and a world of opportunity as Jefferson Health’s Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer By Gina Miller The innate desire to belong The year was 1984 in Ypsilanti, Michigan when the world fractured in...

read more