“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.“ – Mark Twain
Implicit bias is a hard-wired cognitive shortcut that is the brain’s way of simplifying a very complex world. This mental crutch helps us make snap judgements to quickly assess potential dangers in our environment. But this same unconscious bias can lead to bad decisions that violate an attorneys’ ethical duties of Competence, Communication & Diligence. It can also lead to bad press for law firms, malpractice lawsuits and possibly disbarment. In this CLE, Danny Howell will mainly cover the ABA & state response to combatting implicit bias, the types of unconscious bias that create ethical risks for attorneys, ABA Ethics Opinion 500, bias against persons with disabilities and the fact that a 1 hour implicit bias CLE is not enough. Further topics of discussion: confirmation bias, cultural bias, affinity bias, sunk cost bias, accent bias, the EEOC & mental health conditions, faulty assumptions, the circle of trust, mentoring, expanding your circle and following the leaders. Ethical Rules discussed: Rule 1.1, Rule 3.1, Rule 5.1 & Rule 8.4(d).
Danny Howell has been representing attorneys in professional liability suits, bar investigations and complaints and disbarment actions before the federal courts and the United States Patent & Trademark Office, for over 25 years.