Practising lawyers in Nova Scotia: cognitive style and preferences for practice

Abstract

The Cognitive Style Index and a demographic survey were administered to 524 practising lawyers in Nova Scotia. Results indicate that lawyers, as a group, have a more analytical than intuitive cognitive style. Differences between men and women and between partners and associates were nonsignificant statistically. This finding suggests lawyers are a more homogeneous group in terms of cognitive style than other groups such as law students and various groups of business managers. However, lawyers differed significantly in cognitive style across various preferred areas of practice. For example, those preferring criminal law scored statistically significantly lower on the Cognitive Style Index than those who preferred Real Estate and Construction law. Organizational behavior implications are discussed.