Why Emotional Intelligence Drives Influence in Legal Teams
The Challenge for Legal
Influencing Skills for Legal Teams
Studies in organisational psychology show that emotional intelligence (EQ) is a stronger predictor of influence than technical skill alone. And that matters for the legal function.
Legal professionals often have to advise the business when the stakes are high and colleagues are under pressure. Their counsel might be spot-on, but if they misread the room, mistime the message, or ignore emotional context, it may be sidelined or resisted. For this reason, emotional intelligence is emerging as the one of the most vital attributes in the lawyers toolkit.
Building greater emotional intelligence
At Threshold, we help Legal teams build greater emotional intelligence (EQ) as a core professional capability. As organizations become more complex, more-driven by matrix-structures, and more fast-paced, this is becoming increasingly important.
The issue sis not that lawyers particularly lack EQ. They don’t. What matters is that EQ can be intentionally cultivated. And when we work with lawyers to do this, their professional effectiveness increases significantly.
We frequently see situations where relatively junior lawyers need to raise issues with relatively senior ‘rain-makers’ in their organization. When these come late in the day and everyone is under pressure to get a deal across the line, this is the last thing that anyone want to hear. Legal is seen as the handbrake, disconnected from the commercial reality of the business.
Recently a client of ours – a large professional services firm – had agreed to relocate its team of software developers from India, to a client’s HQ within the EU. However, one of the client’s legal team had spotted an issue with immigration law, that had been overlooked. It could have resulted in a fine – a percentage of global turnover that would have been an astronomical sum. In this case, legal were able to work with the business to brainstorm a solution that would mitigate the risk. In this instance the situation was resolved without relationships becoming frayed, but only due to the emotional intelligence of the lawyer assigned to the project.
Why Emotional Intelligence Drives Influence in Legal Teams
We humans are significantly more likely to act on advice is the source of that advice is someone who is capable of seeing the situation from our perspective and empathising with how it feels to be in our shoes. That is emotional intelligence. If we are to influence others to act, the relationship is as important as the logic of the argument. Traditionally the legal profession has focused on the latter, and under-invests in former.
Business decisions are often made under pressure. In these moments, people don’t just evaluate arguments – they evaluate emotional tone, empathy, and intent.
Legal advice that lacks emotional intelligence risks sounding detached – no matter how accurate it is.
Threshold helps Legal teams engage with emotional undercurrents, time their input effectively, and respond in ways that keep influence open.
There’s a myth that EQ is something you either have or you don’t. That’s not what we’ve seen.
EQ skills for Legal Teams
At Threshold, we help Lawyers and para-legals build emotional intelligence the same way we’d build any other skill: through practice, reflection, and feedback.
Our approach is immersive and grounded in the reality of daily work:
- Immersive theatre, where participants observe and deconstruct those moments of real tension – like being challenged in a leadership meeting or handling a passive-aggressive colleague.
- Live simulations, in simulated conditions people practice what it’s like to have high-pressure conversations with the business. Working with a professional role-player, they are put under gentle pressure and receive feedback, coaching and guidance in real time.
- Coaching and reflection, helping people notice what they miss, adjust their tone, and experiment with new ways of showing up.
We integrate:
- Behavioural rehearsal, with emotionally loaded scenarios based on real Legal tensions.
- Neuroscience-informed coaching, showing how emotional cues affect decision-making.
- Practical EQ tools, that Legal professionals can use under time and pressure.
The Opportunity
Legal professionals with EQ have more impact – not because they say less, but because they say it better.
They hold the room, carry credibility, and influence decisions that matter.
Threshold gives Legal teams the emotional fluency to match their intellectual clarity. Because in today’s world, expertise alone isn’t enough – influence requires EQ.
At Threshold, we are helping our clients to ensure that their human workforce is committed, engaged and ready for the technology revolution. We do this by bringing about small shifts in line manager behaviour that make a big difference. To find out more visit www.threshold.co.uk
