In his seminal work, Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman suggests that the common view of human intelligence is far too narrow and that emotions play a much greater role in thought, decision-making and individual success than is commonly acknowledged. The importance of emotion to human experience cannot be denied, yet the relationship between law and emotion is one that has largely been ignored until recent years. However, the last two decades have seen a rapidly expanding interest among scholars of all disciplines into the way in which law and the emotions interact, including the law's response to emotion and the extent to which emotions pervade the practice of the law. In The Emotional Dynamics of Law and Legal Discourse a group of leading scholars from both sides of the Atlantic explore these issues across key areas of private law, public law, criminal justice and dispute resolution, illustrating how emotion infuses all areas of legal thought. The collection argues for a more positive view of the role of emotion in the context of legal discourse and demonstrates ways in which the law could, in the words of Goleman, become more emotionally intelligent.

1. Contextualising Law and Emotion: Past Narratives and Future Directions Heather Conway and John Stannard2. Affective Family Law Clare Huntington3. Where There's a Will ... : Law and Emotion in Sibling Inheritance Disputes Heather Conway4. The Emotional Dynamics of Undue Influence John Stannard5. Discovering Dignity: Unpacking the Emotional Content of 'Killing Narratives' Mary Neal6. Empathy for Victims in Criminal Justice: Revisiting Susan Bandes in Victimology Antony Pemberton7. Re-Emotionalising Regulatory Responses to Child Sex Offenders Anne-Marie McAlinden8. Emotions and the Assessment of CredibilityJane Herlihy and Stuart Turner9. Emotional Transitions in Social Movements: The Case of Immigrant Rights Activism in Arizona Kathryn Abrams10. Mediation and Emotions: Perception and Regulation Charlie Irvine and Laurel Farrington11. Engaging with Emotions in the Legal Profession Eimear Spain and Timothy Ritchie12. Emotion and the Discourse of Judging Terry A Maroney13. Becoming Like Solomon: Towards an Emotionally Intelligent Legal System John Stannard and Heather Conway