Improv(ed) Legal Skills

• Picture this. A group of twenty lawyers standing in a circle and singing, “Big Booty, Big Booty, Big Booty, Oh Yeah!”

• Now imagine the group patting their thighs while beat-boxing to the rhythm of, “Ch – oo – mba, ch – oo – mba.” While this ritual is going on, one brave sole chants the words, “Bunny, Bunny, Bunny, Bunny” while pointing to his eyes with his right and left index fingers.

Improv(ed) Legal Skills

• How about one lawyer standing in the middle of a circle – i.e., in the “hot spot” – belting out the notes to Aretha Franklin’s hit single, “I Will Survive,” while the rest of the group sings along?

Improv(ed) Legal Skills

• Why on earth would a group of lawyers engage in such childish behavior?

• The answer might surprise you. They did it to catapult their legal skills to the stratosphere; to recognize and rethink old habits; to break through self-imposed barriers; and to achieve an unprecedented level of success.

Improv(ed) Legal Skills

• Lawyers can learn a lot from improvisation – much more than just thinking fast on their feet, being in the moment, and being spontaneous.

• There are certain aspects of improvisation that are strikingly similar to trying a case. In both disciplines, the key concept is the creation of a “new, temporary reality.”

Improv(ed) Legal Skills• Improv:

– Enhances “active” listening;– Improves communication and creative problem-

solving skills;– Helps lawyers to quickly adapt and adjust to as

unpredictable and unstable an environment as the courtroom (query, “How many times have you walked into court and things went exactly the way you had planned?”);

– Helps to overcome fear and stumbling blocks;

Improv(ed) Legal Skills

– Helps to “get out of your head”;– Increases authenticity by making the lawyer more

comfortable in “[his] own skin”;– Nurtures innovation;– Reduces negativity; and– Increases cooperation.