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An essential guide for the 21st century lawyer, By
This review is from: High Conflict People in Legal Disputes (Paperback)
Over the last 30+ years the development of Alternative Dispute Resolution methods has provided means for reasonable people to resolve their legal matters relatively quickly and without trial. An unforseen byproduct provides us a fascinating insight into what drives conflict.It turns out that when the people who do resolve their disputes are taken out of the legal system relatively quickly, many of the people left are easily quantifiable: they are people with a High Conflict Personality (HCP). These are the people who drive excessive conflict, ethical complaints and even violence. Recognizing and understanding at least the general nature of the personality issues involved leads to practical solutions.
This is the premise of William Eddy's book High Conflict People in Legal Disputes, Janis Publications, Inc. 2006. Unlike other researchers who are all coming up with the same conclusion, Eddy offers an in depth and easy understanding of the problem, and more importantly, he is the only author to date to offer comprehensive and practical solutions for dealing with High Conflict People. His book is a lighthouse
to what may be the most significant new issue for the legal profession: recognizing people with High Conflict Personalities, and finding solutions to limit the conflict they want to drive.
The 4 personality characteristics/disorders of the DSM IV Cluster B, is at the center of problem: narcissists, borderlines, anti-socials and histrionics. What distinguishes people in this group as HCP's, the touchstone perhaps, is a persistent pattern of avoiding responsibility and placing blame on others, driven by their fears and unhealthy perceptions of reality. Because of what drives them, successful HCP's have developed a relatively sophisticated ability to manipulate others, including spouses, children, lawyers and judges. Eddy describes in understandable terms the personality types, and identifies a bevy of HCP behaviors that drive conflict.
For example, Eddy identifies how an HCP is skilled at making persuasive emotional arguments on thin facts, and how these behaviors are so well suited for duping courts and gaining success in hearings on initial or temporary orders. These successes embolden their actions and back their targets into corners where they take flight, or fight. Eddy details how defending against an HCP is frequently turned against the relatively innocent party. He further describes how this ability enhances the potential that lawyers and judges will buy into an early but incorrect view of the parties and the real issues, thereby helping to perpetuate the conflict.
Eddy's solutions are practical and assume the legal professional is not able to make a psychiatric diagnosis. For example, one response is to listen with a healthy skepticism, and validate the emotion, not the position. HCP's need to vent and listening helps them feel their fears have been heard, but the danger of being hooked into their false perception of reality is real. Eddy teaches us to take a second look at the basis of the allegations, and offers examples to show that often this is all it takes to recognize that there is actually more fear than substance.
Eddy's HCP management proposal is no doubt imperfect and will benefit from future feedback and development. California and other states are now implementing specific programs, beyond Eddy's more personal solutions, to directly deal with the HCP problem. But Eddy's response appears to be the most comprehensive formulation to date, breaking his 20 suggestions down into 4 Key Steps, with 5 Specific Skills for each step. Eddy's real world examples help his ideas sink in quickly.
In 20 years of practicing law, this is one of the most useful books I have ever read.
Mark Baumann J.D.
