Your voice. Strength in Silence

• Author: James H. Fierberg
• Pages: 28-29

YOUR VOICE

Strength

in Silence

A retired legal professor offers

a lesson on the artful pause

BY JAMES H. FIERBERG

“Nothing strengthens authority so

much as silence.” —Leonardo da Vinci

I

have spent 40 years in practice

and nearly as long serving as an

ofcial and unofcial mentor

for young lawyers, as well as

more than a decade as an educator at

many levels, including law school. All

these experiences have informed me

of the important skills lawyers need to

master for success, most of which are

not taught in law school. These are the

so-called tricks of the trade or psy-

chological game theories that a lawyer

learns along the way, whether through

committed, mindful mentoring or by

trial and error.

Three of the most essential tools that

should be in every lawyer’s toolbox

are silence, active listening and critical

thinking. And they are connected.

Learn to squirm

About two months into every semes-

ter that I taught law school, I would

purposely show up for class about ve

minutes late to be sure that all the stu-

dents were seated when I arrived.

I then commenced an exercise in

which I would place my class materials

on the lectern, lean back against the

whiteboard, and without any facial

expression, proceed to do and say abso-

lutely nothing.

This exercise usually lasted about

ve minutes. For the class, and fre-

quently me, it seemed like ve hours.

edited by

BLAIR CHAVIS

blair.chavis@americanbar.org

Practice Matters

Three of the most essential tools that should be in every lawyer’s

toolbox are silence, active listening and critical thinking.

—JAMES H. FIERBERG

Photo by Beth Fierberg

ABA JOURNAL | JUNE–JULY 2021

28

ABAJ J E-J Y Pr c c M rs PM