Law and Psychology Commons^™

Unarresting School Safety, Maryam Ahranjani

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Transparency In Forensic Exams, Dorothy Sims, Chris Dove, Richard Frederick

Nevada Law Journal

Medical examination of injured plaintiffs by doctors hired by defendants is a staple of modern tort litigation. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 35 and its state counterparts authorize such examinations when the plaintiff’s physical or mental condition is at issue. Although typically dubbed “independent” medical examinations or IMEs, their use often appears to be anything but independent in that defense-retained medical professionals have a strong financial incentive to dispute or diminish injury claims in order to obtain or retain a steady stream of lucrative work from defendants and their insurers.

Although often tainted, defense-driven medical examinations rema33330p[in necessary as a …

Secret Shoals Of The Shadow Docket, Andrew J. Wistrich

Nevada Law Journal

The Supreme Court has recently been utilizing the informal procedures of its shadow docket more extensively than before. Many have criticized this trend, arguing that it diminishes transparency and undercuts the Supreme Court’s legitimacy. This Article asks whether by expanding its use of the shadow docket, the Supreme Court is squandering some of its institutional advantages, thereby compromising the quality of its rulings. Research in the fields of cognitive psychology and behavioral economics suggest that it is. The informality and pace of the shadow docket risks enabling intuition, cognitive illusions, and biases to secretly play a larger role than they …

Political Polarization: Psychological Explanations And Potential Solutions, Jennifer K. Robbennolt

Nevada Law Journal

Deep disagreement can characterize public and private discussions of controversial policy issues. Differences in approach, understanding of the facts, and perceptions of each other can lead to contentious and unproductive debate, entrenched animosity, and the escalation of conflict. The psychological roots of these patterns are deep. But psychology also offers some lessons about how we might foster more constructive engagement across difference.

Preventing A (Replication) Crisis In The Courtroom, Kaitlin Mccormick-Huhn

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

In-Person Or Via Technology?: Drawing On Psychology To Choose And Design Dispute Resolution Processes, Jean R. Sternlight, Jennifer K. Robbennolt

Scholarly Works

Covid-19 fostered a remote technology boom in the world of dispute resolution. Pre-pandemic, adoption of technical innovation in dispute resolution was slow moving. Some attorneys, courts, arbitrators, mediators and others did use technology, including telephone, e-mail, text, or videoconferences, or more ambitious online dispute resolution (ODR). But, to the chagrin of technology advocates, many conducted most dispute resolution largely in-person. The pandemic effectively put the emerging technological efforts on steroids. Even the most technologically challenged quickly began to replace in-person dispute resolution with videoconferencing, texting, and other technology. Courts throughout the world canceled all or most in-person trials, hearings, conferences, …

Talking Back In Court, M. Eve Hanan

Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Pouring A Little Psychological Cold Water On Online Dispute Resolution, Jean R. Sternlight

Scholarly Works

This Article examines the strengths and weaknesses of ODR (online dispute resolution) from a psychological perspective. It makes five main points:

(1) The phrase ODR is too broad to be useful. This phrase encompasses many different kinds of technology (computer, phone, video, mechanical pencil), many different kinds of dispute resolution (litigation, negotiation, arbitration, mediation), disputes arising in many different contexts (consumer, family, property, tax, employment, etc.), and many different roles (technology as neutral, technology as aide to neutral, technology as aide to disputant, etc.). In order to consider whether and when ODR can be most useful we will need to …

Mediator Burnout, Lydia Nussbaum

Scholarly Works

Being a mediator is hard work Mediators must make meaningful connections with individuals without over-stepping bounds of impartiality, manage emotions without becoming emotionally invested, and empower decision-making without undermining self-determination. Decades of research into occupational stress, also known as "burnout," indicates that mediators not only are susceptible to burnout, but also that the symptoms of burnout undermine fundamental principles of quality mediation. For example, a burned-out mediator may exhibit narrow and uncreative thinking, diminished capacity to regulate emotions, compromised decision-making, and deficits in attention and memory.

The prospect of mediator burnout not only threatens the quality of mediation, but it …

Lemmings Or Lions: Empirical Measure Of Juror Independence In The Face Of Belief Mirroring, John Campbell

Nevada Law Journal

Required by the Sixth and Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution, jury trials underpin the justice system. Whether a criminal defendant walks free or spends the rest of his life in jail turns on a jury vote. And so does whether a hundred-billion dollar, multinational corporation pays damages for alleged environmental contamination. But are jurors up to the task? Competing images in popular culture, in scholarly literature, and among practicing lawyers and judges paint jurors in diametrically different ways, as either lemmings or lions. These depictions are honest disputes created by literature and anecdotes that could support either narrative. …

Not From A Wicked Heart: Testing The Assumptions Of The Provocation Doctrine, Carlton J. Patrick, Debra Lieberman

Nevada Law Journal

The normative logic of the provocation doctrine rests on the long-held, yet untested, assumption that anger can motivate people to act in ways which they believe are morally wrong. Here we provide a frontline inquiry into this premise in the context of the quintessential provocation scenario: a man witnessing or learning of his partner’s infidelity. Among men who had discovered a partner’s affair, anger was more strongly correlated with motivation to retaliate than with judgments as to whether such retaliation was morally acceptable. Moreover, anger explained increases in motivation beyond what could be accounted for by increases in moral judgments. …

Juvenile False Confessions: Juvenile Psychology, Police Interrogation Tactics, And Prosecutorial Discretion, Marco Luna

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Telling Stories In The Supreme Court: Voices Briefs And The Role Of Democracy In Constitutional Deliberation, Linda H. Edwards

Scholarly Works

On January 4, 2016, over 112 women lawyers, law professors, and former judges told the world that they had had an abortion. In a daring amicus brief that captured national media attention, the women “came out” to their clients; to the lawyers with or against whom they practice; to the judges before whom they appear; and to the Justices of the Supreme Court.

The past three years have seen an explosion of such “voices briefs,” 16 in Obergefell and 17 in Whole Woman’s Health. The briefs can be powerful, but their use is controversial. They tell the stories of non-parties—strangers …

The Oral History Of Carol O'Hare, Executive Director Of The Nevada Council On Problem Gambling, Carol O'Hare

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Problem Gambling: How Japan Could Actually Become The Next Las Vegas, Jennifer Roberts, Ted Johnson

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Public Policy Framework For Minimizing Problem Gambling-Related Harm: The Peterrr Model, Keith S. Whyte, Andrew P. Dunning

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Shuffling The Deck: The Role Of The Courts In Problem Gambling Cases, Cheryl B. Moss

UNLV Gaming Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Danger Zone: How The Dangerousness Standard In Civil Commitment Proceedings Harms People With Serious Mental Illness, Sara Gordon

Scholarly Works

Almost every American state allows civil commitment upon a finding that a person, as a result of mental illness, is gravely disabled and unable to meet their basic needs for food and shelter. Yet in spite of these statutes, most psychiatrists and courts will not commit an individual until they are found to pose a danger to themselves or others. All people have certain rights to be free from unwanted medical treatment, but for people with serious mental illness, those civil liberties are an abstraction, safeguarded for them by a system that is not otherwise ensuring access to shelter and …

Inattentional Blindness: Psychological Barriers Between Legal Mandates And Progress Toward Workplace Gender Equality, Rachel J. Anderson

Scholarly Works

This Article uses a law and psychology approach to identify ways to strengthen the administration of justice in the corporate workplace. Essentially, a better understanding of human behavior provides insights that are useful in crafting effective laws and improving the implementation of existing laws. The analysis of perception gaps due to inattentional blindness uncovers an under-theorized factor contributing to an enduring problem. Part I sets out the workforce crisis at the individual, company, national, and international levels and the role of gender inequality in this crisis and the pace of change. Part II discusses perception gaps among demographic groups as …

Psychology And Lawyering: Coalescing The Field, Jean R. Sternlight

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Emotionally Attentive Lawyer: Balancing The Rule Of Law With The Realities Of Human Behavior, Randall Kiser

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Teaching Emotional Intelligence To Law Students: Three Keys To Mastery, William S. Blatt

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Using A Communication Perspective To Teach Relational Lawyering, Susan L. Brooks

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Silencing Our Elders, Debra Lyn Bassett

Nevada Law Journal

Lawyers, and the practice of law generally, tend to focus on words and speech. As wordsmiths, lawyers take great pains to choose the precise word that reflects the specific meaning they wish to convey, and they pride themselves on their ability to persuade, especially in the contexts of oral advocacy in the courtroom and negotiation. Lawyers, correctly, view words and speech as powerful. But there is another powerful tool in a lawyer’s arsenal that receives virtually no recognition or attention: silence. As a general matter, Americans tend to be uncomfortable with silences, and thus rush to fill them. This general …

Addressing Barriers To Cultural Sensibility Learning: Lessons From Social Cognition Theory, Andrea A. Curcio

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Evaluating The Evaluation: Reliance Upon Mental Health Assessments In Cases Of Alleged Child Sexual Abuse, Sarah F. Shelton

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Using Principles From Cognitive Behavioral Therapy To Reduce Nervousness In Oral Argument Or Moot Court, Larry Cunningham

Nevada Law Journal

Sarah, a new attorney at a public defender’s office, is assigned to the appeals bureau. Ordinarily, Sarah spends her days researching and writing briefs, talking with clients, and brainstorming legal issues with colleagues. Today, however, she opened the mail to find a notice from the court setting a date for her first oral argument. She suffers the first of several anxiety attacks: rapid heart rate, racing thoughts, shortness of breath, sweaty palms, nausea, and feelings of panic and tension. As she reads the form letter, her hands tremble. This is the day she has dreaded. She loves to write and …

Of Reptiles And Velcro: The Brain's Negativity Bias And Persuasion, Kenneth D. Chestek

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Hiding The Elephant: How The Psychological Techniques Of Magicians Can Be Used To Manipulate Witnesses At Trial, Sydney A. Beckman

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Behavioral Legal Ethics, Decision Making, And The New Attorney's Unique Professional Perspective, Catherine Gage O'Grady

Nevada Law Journal

No abstract provided.