Bench & Bar November/December 2025

EFFECTIVE LEGAL WRITING

HOW TO EFFECTIVELY RECEIVE AND LEARN FROM FEEDBACK ABOUT YOUR WRITING PLEASE PROVIDE FEEDBACK? BY MELISSA N. HENKE

W e have all been there. We submit a draft document to a supervising attorney or valued colleague. And then we wait. Will we receive criticism? Will we receive praise? At some point we just hope to hear something in response. Or do we? Once we get a response, the criticism is hard to receive. We may get angry or upset, we may feel defensive or defeated, or we may just shut down and try to avoid the feedback altogether. Sometimes even feed back framed as praise can leave us feeling uncomfortable or overwhelmed. An aversion to feedback, especially to criti cism, is common. That is because receiving information about our performance hits at the intersection of our need to learn and our need to be accepted. 1 However, we must learn to overcome this natural aversion so we can grow as writers and thus as lawyers. 2 The impact can be profound and far-reach ing, because “[f]eedback-seeking behavior” . . . has been linked to higher job sat isfaction, greater creativity on

reaction and thus more skillfully engage in feedback conversations. 6 For each type of feedback trigger, Professors Stone & Heen offer examples of common reactions, along with advice on how to more effectively respond. First , there are truth triggers , which are set off by the substance of the feedback . • EXAMPLE REACTIONS: “That feedback is wrong,” or “That feedback is not helpful.” • RESPONSE ADVICE: Work to truly understand the feedback, which may require asking for clarification. The authors acknowledge that some feed back may still be wrong, but following their advice will help us realize that some of the information provides insight that can help us grow. 7

The good news is that receiving feedback is a skill that can be cultivated, and there is a book that can help us do just that: Thanks for the Feedback: The Science and Art of Receiving Feedback Well , a New York Times bestseller written by Professors Douglas Stone and Sheila Heen of the Harvard Negotiation Project. The authors explain that feedback can be broadly defined as any information we get about ourselves, but the focus here is on what they refer to as coaching, because it is designed to help the recipient “learn, grow, or change.” 4 But this only works if we, as the feedback receivers, are willing and able to take in the feedback, try to better understand it, and then make thoughtful choices about whether and how to use it. 5 One important aspect of this endeavor will be learning how to manage the three types of feedback triggers, because it is only by understanding these triggers that we can manage the resulting

Second , there are relationship triggers , which are set off by the person who is giving the feedback , meaning that the

the job, faster adaptation in a new organization or role, and lower turnover.” 3

24 november/december 2025