Cross-Cultural Law Service: A Framework for a Lawyer's Professional Skill

Serving diverse clients effectively requires more than compassion. It also requires skill. Having a good heart encourages you to serve. Having strong cross-cultural skills will make you effective in service.

Effective cross-cultural service requires something other than knowledge of other cultures. Cultures are too numerous and vary too widely for lawyers to learn enough about each of them to be consistently effective in cross-cultural service. Even if you know a lot about the character of a certain culture, you may nonetheless mis-attribute those cultural characteristics to a client who does not have them.

The key to effective cross-cultural service is to have a framework within which to recognize distinct characteristics of each individual client. Individual clients display attributes and hold preferences that, while influenced by culture, are unique to the client's own experience and commitments. A cross-cultural framework helps a professional quickly identify client attributes and preferences to which to fit the professional service.

This book explores the sociological theory behind intercultural interaction including how professionals must first recognize advantages and disadvantages of their own professional culture before discerning client affinities. The book then offers a framework for cross-cultural service that considers the client's communication style, cognitive practice, reference system, available resources, and preferred relationship.

Improve your cross-cultural skills. Discern your own unique perspective and how it may affect your interaction with others. Learn how to recognize how others differ and how to draw on those differences in professional consultations.