Multiple Intelligences

   Based upon the work of Howard Gardner, the study of multiple intelligences in the legal profession is being researched by at least two people:  Angela Burton, Assistant Professor and Director of Children's Rights and Family Law Clinic at Syracuse University College of Law and Joyce Martin, a lecturer at the Australian Catholic University, Sydney Australia, and author of Profiting from Multiple Intelligences in the Workplace.

   The core of Gardner's work is that each of us has not one "I.Q." but at least seven different types of intelligences.  All of us have some level of intelligence in each area but different strengths.   Since his initial work, two other areas have been identified.  Briefly these are the areas:

linguistic intelligence-the ability to process and use oral and written language

mathematical intelligence-this encompasses understanding mathematical concepts but also logic, rationality, and technical understanding.

visual intelligence-allows the processing of visual representations of life such as pictures, graphs, charts, diagrams, maps, etc.

auditory intelligence-allows derivation of meaningful patterns while listening

kinesthetic motor intelligence-uses information through touch, muscles, skin, balance, etc. to learn about the world.

interpersonal intelligence-allows us to understand and respond appropriately to others.

intrapersonal intelligence-provides us with an understanding of our own needs and the capacity to satisfy those needs.

naturalistic intelligence-allows us to relate to and make meaning of the physical world and environment.

philosophical intelligence-prompts us to ask why some alternatives are better than others and then to search for and weigh the evidence.

How can multiple intelligences research be helpful for lawyers?

Self knowledge:  Martin asserts that lawyers come into the profession with hopes of actualizing themselves and serving justice. Their self actualization dreams include financial remuneration, social status, and the power to make a difference using their knowledge and skills. She says that part of the dissatisfaction in the profession may be that lawyers accept a "mechanistic view" of themselves, seeing themselves "as machines hired out to run for so many hours a day. During these billable hours they rely almost exclusively on the power of logic and language to move them through their tasks. Their other intelligences remain untapped resources that might not only make them more efficient at what they do but also provide them with opportunities for replenishment."

In the office:  Lawyers typically have strong linguistic skills. Many, especially those in more technical fields, have strong mathematical reasoning skills.  Knowing your strengths, you will also know where you are less skilled. All the skills are important to a fully functioning office.  (When the copy machine breaks down, you want someone with kinetic intelligence around to fix it or everything else halts.) Hiring co-workers with complementary skills will balance your office and make sure that all the work gets done.

In the profession:  As lawyers, we think we should know it all.  After all, aren't we all smart?  As individual lawyers begin to own an awareness of our strengths and weaknesses, we will be able to compensate for the weaknesses and concentrate on our strengths. We will have a whole menu of compensation tools: complementary staffs, liaisons with those more skilled, and beginning to educate ourselves in areas where we don't have that natural talent.  Our lives and our practices will be more balanced. We won't feel as threatened by the skills of others as we recognize our own strengths.

Application: The Collaborative Divorce (TM) model is a team model for resolving divorce.  Using collaborative lawyers, therapist-divorce coaches, financial advisors, and child advocate, this model brings in many skills of other professionals while recognizing the lawyers' ability to problem-solve and deal with language.

See:  www.abanet.org/lpm
June, 2001 Law Practice Management Quarterly
Multiple Intelligences and the Practice of Law, A New Framework, by Joyce Martin. An extensive reading list is included in the article.