Posted by on Oct 28, 2017 in Finance & Insurance | 0 questions

While you may think that being a lawyer is all about being able to stand up in court, make an awe-inspiring speech, and learn how to point your finger in an accusatory manner, in actual fact there’s a lot more substance to being a lawyer. So, what are the key personality traits that you need to be a very successful one?

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Communication Skills

Of course, you need to be very articulate and learn to say what you mean. In addition to this, you need to be great at listening, because if you are to argue your client’s case in a courtroom setting, as well as in front of intimidating figures like judges, juries, as well as your clients families and loved ones, communication needs to be the fundamental bedrock of your skills as a lawyer. Lots of lawyers have the gift of the gab, like Jonnie Cochran did, but look at a contemporary attorney like Benedict Morelli, the skills these types of attorneys have in handling intense media pressure is something that every modern attorney has to deal with. So, as far as communicating is concerned, it’s not just within one setting, it’s a lot about dealing with the press, dealing with the courtroom, as well as the client themselves, and this means that you have to learn numerous ways of communicating with each type of person.

The Skill Of Analysis

If you have thought about embarking on a career as a lawyer, or you have just done your degree in law, you need to be aware that studying law involves absorbing reams of information, but then condensing it into something logical and something that everybody can understand. Analytical skills come in various shapes and sizes, and it’s something you develop as you work more, but the trick of using these skills to research case law that is hundreds of years old, and preparing legal strategies to state your case, and condensing it into the least amount of words possible, is a skill that any great author would be envious of.

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Using Your Judgement

This is something that, arguably, cannot be taught. You need to draw logical conclusions from limited information. To get to this point, you need to be able to pinpoint salient items of information within limited testimonies. In in addition to this, you need to be able to spot weaknesses in an argument by the opposition. Something that may have been mentioned off-the-cuff, that barely lasted a second, if useful enough, you could pick apart, and use to your advantage. You also need to be decisive, there is little time for being amiable and sitting on the fence.

Perseverance

In every sense of the word, persevering with your career, persevering with long, drawn out cases, and, in many cases, working under the shadow of a lawyer is par for the course before you even start practicing. This means a lot of hard work and dedication on your part. You cannot climb the lawyer career ladder as quickly as other organisations, because the importance of learning and honing your craft is the one thing that will get you ahead. And to do this, with hundreds of years of case law, this will take some time. But once you get there, it becomes a very lucrative career, which will make all the hard work worth it.