This summer I did a fair amount of lawyering and some thinking about lawyering. Specifically, how can the latest in cognitive theory help corporate counsel get their jobs done and make the mission?
Let’s talk litigation first. Quick, what are the first three digits of your cell number? Now, when did Genghis Khan die? Cognitive studies show that most people guess it was the first millennium, which has three digits. In fact, he died in 1227, the second millennium. Why are people so off? Because the first question primed their minds to give a three-digit answer.
