Sometimes we encounter clients who cannot see their own part in a conflict, cannot "put themselves in the other’s shoes", escalate to fury when challenged, or cannot see past their own emotions in order to develop options for negotiation or resolution.
This session provides an overview of working with clients with high conflict or difficult personalities. It will provide a guide to understanding them, and importantly, yourself, so that you can avoid them triggering you and throwing you off your game.
In this session, we will cover:
1. Identifying difficult personalities early in legal processes (or, how to be alert to the behavioural traits of personality disorders). What to do and what NOT to do!
2. What neuroscience can teach us about how conflict and high emotions can jeopardise decision-making and interrupt legal processes.
3. Understanding the cycle of high-conflict thinking and learning interventions to break the cycle.
4. Developing a ‘toolbox’ of strategies to shift clients towards solution-focused thinking.
This is an entertaining but relevant session that will have you thinking about your clients, your colleagues and how you manage the many personalities that you encounter every day in your legal practice.