Many law firms and other recruiters spend a good amount of time for searching a talented lawyer. If you also wish to pursue a career in law, the following post shares a list of attributes needed to become one of the most sought after lawyer in 2014. Read on to get some useful information.
Career as a lawyer involves handling a wide range of legal responsibilities for their clients. At one time, they may represent a client accused of some crime, while at the other point of time he may fight a case for a corporate client facing a civil lawsuit. One may choose to pursue a law career in any one of the different specializations available such as criminal law, Business Law, Environmental Law, Labor Law, Civil law and Family law.
Whichever specialization of law you may choose, a successful career in law demands certain skills.
Top Skills Required
Image credit: Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (Source: Flickr)
Law is a rewarding, but challenging career. One can complete the educational requirements from any one of the top law colleges, but the candidate needs to possess more than just a degree. Hence, in order to ensure that you become a successful professional in the field, it is vital to possess certain skills. A large number of law chambers and firms employ legal professionals possessing a specific portfolio of skills required in legal practice.
Here we discuss several important skills that every leading law firm looks for every time and in the year 2014. These include:
1) Analytical Skills
Law is a profession where a lawyer needs to absorb and remember huge information for preparing their cases. Hence, analytical skill plays a crucial role to analyze, organize and retain a wide range of information in a proper and logical manner. Analytical thinking is also required to evaluate the arguments presented in any legal proceedings.
2) Communication Skills
Law career is a right career choice for those who possess excellent verbal communication skills. These professionals are required to fight cases for their clients in the courtroom, where they need an ability to present their case and convince the judge with their facts. Also, the aspiring candidate should be a good listener as he needs to be active in listening to what the client or prosecutor has to say about a particular legal case.
3) Critical Thinking
Career as a lawyer demands a person with critical thinking, which is required for making judgments, arguments and identify expected areas of trouble. Most of the times lawyers need to exercise their judgment for deciding a suitable course of action in any legal case.
4) Interpersonal Skills
Interpersonal skill is inevitable to all the aspiring lawyers. This trait is required to convince the opposition party for negotiation with his client or to persuade clients to understand and follow their suggestion. Interpersonal skill helps a lawyer to understand others, which is important to know if any witness is biased or not.
5) Perseverance
Becoming a successful lawyer demands commitment towards the profession. Right from pursuing a law degree from a top law college to passing the state bar exam and then practicing law is full of perseverance. Hence, any person who aims at pursuing a career in law, he should be ready to spend a great amount of time in conducting research, interviewing witnesses, preparing legal documents and arriving at a conclusion.
Law firms are always in search of the real potential and projected abilities. So, the candidates who can demonstrate the required skills at all the levels of the profession are the one who find the doors of success always open for them!
*About the Author:
Swati Srivastava
Swati Srivastava is an avid writer who loves to present the different ideas and dimensions of educational topics posted on various reputed websites. Her posts cover various interesting topics such as career as a lawyer, hot degree courses and management courses.