The State Bar of California, of which I am a member, has an MCLE requirement. California attorneys are required to take minimum continuing legal education on the topic of "overcoming bias." But "overcoming bias" is a misnomer.
What's a misnomer? Merriam-Webster defines misnomer as "a use of a wrong or inappropriate name."
What about "overcoming bias" is inappropriately named? The word "overcoming" which means to surmount or get the better of, as defined by Merriam-Webster.
Bias is not necessarily an evil thing. Previously, I suggested that bias is a leaning or a preference to one particular point of view or ideology. Bias tells us that birds of a feather flock together. Bias tells us which way we lean in politics, society, religion, economics, and so on. Bias shows us where we stand and with whom. For instance, I prefer sail boats over power boats, and the company of beekeepers over ballplayers.
And it is unllikely that we are going to get the better of bias.
Where bias becomes problematic is when it becomes distorted as prejudice and acts to discriminate on the basis of that corrupted leaning.
Prejudice is the evil step-sister of bias. Prejudice is a kind of deformed emotional leaning that begins early in life and acts to discriminate based on that deformity. Prejudice creates damage, adverse opinions, hostility and acts of exclusion based on irrational and ill-informed attitudes. Prejudice is what we need to overcome. We begin by looking at our own situations first.
One small way bias becomes prejudice in our profession occurs when we act on the belief that practitioners of civil law are better than criminal lawyers. Large firms are better than mid-size. Mid-size firms are better than small shops. And everybody is better than a sole practitioner. Men are better than women. But single women are better than married women. And certainly married women are better than mothers. Whites are better than anybody of color. Transactional attorneys are better than litigators. And everybody is better than a public defender. Full-time law students are better than night students. Law Review is better than Moot Court. Attorneys are better than judges. Judges are better than mediators. And everybody is better than jurors.
Where do we begin to overcome a prejudice? The best shot we got is making an effort to be aware of our own stuff so we can better accommodate differences, encourage human decency, and create the freedom to be who each is in our humanity. Those efforts must take place in courtrooms, in classrooms, in the workplace, and on the playground, formally and informally in all the everyday places where tolerance is made and unmade. What America is about is people from all countries and religions coming together to build a nation of tolerance, hope and unity. 
How do we begin to overcome a prejudice?
TIP: “We are lonesome animals. We spend all of our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the Listener to say - and to feel - ‘Yes! that is the way it is, or at least that is the way I feel it. You are not as alone as you thought.’” [John Steinbeck] By engaging our natural abilities to hear and tell stories we begin to understand the Other. Understanding develops compassion. Compassion invites a relationship.
TIP: The story is the relationship. When you listen to another’s story as if this was the only conversation you would have all day, you invite someone to ask you your story as well. Then you trade stories and listen.
TIP: What are we listening for? Where we fit in another’s story. “No man listens long to a story that isn’t about himself.” [John Steinbeck] There is more that unites us than divides us.
TIP: Stories involve us in the life of the Other. Stories are inclusive rather than exclusive.
TIP: If we travel back to understanding that what shapes the story is not just the facts but the personal, emotional and conflicting aspects we see how those aspects create different stories from the same set of facts.
What are your thoughts? What have you learned by listening to someone else's story? What has worked to help overcome a prejudice in your neighborhood?
