DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION COMMITTEE Braving the Dialogue

By Jasmine R. England-Caesar, Co-Chair

On Wednesday March 22, 2023, the MSBA YLS Diversity and Inclusion Committee held the group discussion, Dialogue Over Debate: Building Community Through Difficult Conversations. The discussion was hosted by Miles & Stockbridge’s Baltimore Office, and was led by Christa Schmidt, PhD and Danice Brown, PhD from the Towson University Psychology Department.

If attorneys are known for anything, it is for argument, debate, and zealously advocating for a particular position. However, while effective in the courtroom, these traits are seldom helpful in non-adversarial discourse or interactions with others. In those situations, it is better to heed the sage advice of our trial advocacy and mediation professors, to learn the other side’s position, with one caveat: learning the other side’s position should be done to build a bridge for further dialogue, not to load an arsenal for debate.