If you are training or aspiring to be a lawyer, then you may want to know what it takes to not only get into the industry but to also be successful in that line of work.
Commercial Awareness
Being aware of current developments in business law that affect your law firm or clients, this should be on a local, national and global level to help ensure that any changes to law can be acknowledged and changes can be made to practices if necessary. Keeping on top of these changes will help you build and gain trust between you and your clients.
Communication
Possessing both strong oral and written communication skills are essential when it comes to being a lawyer. Depending on what sort of position you have will depend on the type of people that you need to communicate with on a daily basis. You will have to communicate with many different people, including;
- Clients
- Judges
- Members of the jury
You need to be confident in your communication skills in order to be assertive and fight for your client. Your communication must be clear, persuasive and coherent to be able to win your cases.
Attention to Detail
Another quality that is essential when it comes to being a lawyer is having a keen eye for detail. Grammatical mistakes in emails and documents can look highly unprofessional and one word out of place can change the entire meaning of a clause or contract. This makes it essential to be able to scrutinise everything to pick out flaws and correct them. Depending on what type of lawyer you are will also affect what you do so being able to apply this skill over many areas of your life both in and out of work can be a good idea if you want to become a successful lawyer.
Time Management
Ensuring you are on time for meetings, hearings and other matters is important. You can’t just walk into a courtroom whenever suits you and your clients may see you as being unreliable or unprofessional if you are constantly late.
Resilience and Self-Confidence
The legal industry is highly competitive; you may get turned down for 20 jobs before you finally get offered one. That is why it is essential to not only be resilient but to be confident in yourself as well. Resilience will allow you to keep motivated, even if you are getting knocked back. Self-confidence will also help give you the strength to keep going, as well as helping you to give off a good impression when going for interviews and speaking to people in the field.
Research and Analysis
You need to be able to research and analyse information and present it back in a way that is easy to understand is an important skill to have if you want to be a lawyer. You need to be able to present the information you find to a number of different people and need to be able to communicate it clearly.
