Module 4
Reactions and what comes next: shock, anger, tears, denial, blame and staying steady
The news is given. What happens next is not in your control, and it is where many lawyers feel least prepared. People react to bad news in many ways, often several in a few minutes: shock and silence, tears, anger, disbelief, bargaining, blame, withdrawal, sudden practical questions, laughter that is not amusement. None of these is a sign that the news was given badly. They are how people take in a blow. Your job is not to stop the reaction or to fix it. It is to stay steady, to let it happen, to keep the person safe, to answer what you can honestly and to leave them with a next step. This module looks at the common reactions and what helps with each, at anger that is aimed at you, at questions that you cannot answer and demands that you cannot meet, at when to pause or end a conversation, at safety and at what to do afterwards for the listener and for yourself. All the people are invented.
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See what is included in All-Access →General education on giving bad news and handling difficult conversations, using invented people, firms and matters. It is not legal advice, and it does not state the professional rules, employment law or insurance requirements of any country. Those differ and change: check the rules that apply to you and take advice.
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