Gender and Attorney Negotiation Ethics

Hinshaw, Art; Alberts, Jess K.

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2097972

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…With regard to potential gender differences (Hinshaw and Alberts 2012; Schneider 2019), female lawyers reported higher levels of moral character than did male lawyers ( r = 0.19, p = 0.006), which replicates existing research documenting gender differences in moral character (e.g., Cohen et al 2014b). Female lawyers did not, however, significantly differ from male lawyers in their willingness to disclose honest information in any of the three vignettes ( p s > 0.15).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 78%

Honesty Among Lawyers: Moral Character, Game Framing, and Honest Disclosures in Negotiations

Cohen¹,

Helzer²,

Creo³

2022

Negotiation Journal

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Lawyers have broad discretion in deciding how honestly to behave when negotiating. We propose that lawyers’ choices about whether to disclose information to correct misimpressions by opposing counsel are guided by their moral character and their cognitive framing of negotiation. To investigate this possibility, we surveyed 215 lawyers from across the United States, examining the degree to which honest disclosure is associated with lawyers’ moral character and their tendency to frame negotiation in game‐like terms—a construal of negotiation that we label game framing. We hypothesize that the more that lawyers view negotiation through a game frame—that is, the more they view negotiation as an adversarial context with arbitrary and artificial rules—the less honest they will be in situations in which honest disclosure is not mandated by professional rules of conduct. We further hypothesize that lawyers with higher levels of moral character will apply a game frame to negotiation to a lesser degree than will lawyers with lower levels of moral character, and that honesty when negotiating will be higher when lawyers have higher versus lower levels of moral character. Our study results support these hypotheses. This work suggests that focusing on game‐like aspects of negotiation can induce a less moral and ethical mindset. To the extent that teaching law students to “think like a lawyer” encourages them to adopt a game frame of negotiation, we can expect such training to reduce the likelihood of honest disclosure.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 78%

Honesty Among Lawyers: Moral Character, Game Framing, and Honest Disclosures in Negotiations

Cohen¹,

Helzer²,

Creo³

2022

Negotiation Journal

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“…85 Emphasis should be placed on areas where practicing lawyers are particularly weak: identifying material facts in context, understanding the law of misrepresentation, and applying Rule 4.1, especially in conjunction with other competing ethical rules and values. 86 But focusing on whether negotiation behavior is legal or illegal (that is, ethical or unethical under the Rules) is not enough. The emphasis on rules, laws and procedures causes students to come to believe that the law is the only yardstick by which they need to measure themselves.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In fact, when asked whether they would agree with a client's request to engage in blatantly fraudulent negotiation conduct, only half of the attorneys in a recent survey said they would refuse the request. 92 Moving legal culture to a place where such behavior is unquestionably unacceptable is critical to the profession, and it begins with us, in the classroom, where we teach negotiation ethics to the next generation of lawyers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching Negotiation Ethics

Hinshaw

2011

SSRN Journal

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“…231 Yet the study suggested that many lawyers are uncertain about how this disclosure requirement relates to client confidentiality principles. 232 By underscoring disclosure obligations, honesty contracts could reduce the likelihood that lawyers would interpret such arguable legal ambiguities in ways that privilege duty to client over pro-social…”

Section: Spring 2020]mentioning

confidence: 99%