Big Law’s Intractable Problem: Implicit Bias

Editor’s Note: The author of this post is a legal ethics and legal profession scholar.

By Eli Wald, Charles W. Delaney Jr. Professor of Law, University of Denver Sturm College of Law

Should Big Law lawyers (and all lawyers) be held accountable for conduct based on implicit bias — that is, for conduct based on biases they’re unaware of?

Intuitively, some may respond with “Of course not! How can anyone be responsible for conduct he or she is unaware of?” But what if one is aware of harboring a bias — even if one is unaware of acting on it in particular ...