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Logical Lawyers

The ABA Journal reports (via Ted Frank) that lawyers, suffer from cognitive bias:[1]The group [of lawyers] also suffered from a problem known as ?anchoring,? which is the tendency to be influenced by suggestion when estimating an unknown number such as the value of pain and suffering. A hypothetical described a case involving a school teacher who lost his arm in an accident. Half were told that the plaintiff offered to settle for $100,000, and the other half learned of a $10 million settlement offer. A majority of the $100,000 group said a judge would assess the value of pain and suffering between $500,000 and $2 million. But a majority of the $10 million group went higher, saying the value would be between $1 million and $5 million. The lesson for lawyers, said U...continue to full post

Full post as published by Crime & Federalism on August 12, 2008 (boomark / email).