Mastering the Art of Legal Craftsmanship: Essential Skills for Lawyers

About Law and Lawyers

Law is a professional course. So, the person practicing law is a professional. Lawyers are considered as one of the most knowledged professional. As a lawyer needs to have knowledge about all topics and the information must be up to date. Whereas in other professions the person should have knowledge about the field in which he is a professional in. For example, a Doctor needs to know about the medical treatments, a Charted Accountant must have knowledge about all the financial reforms. Whereas a lawyer must have knowledge about all fields because he has clients which are of different fields and need to be represented in the court.

In order to represent a client in court, a lawyer should have all the knowledge about the field in which his client is. If he does not have the information needed then that is one of the biggest disadvantages as he will not be aware about the basic technicalities related to the field. Resulting in chances of losing the case in court of law.

Options in the field of Law for Lawyers

Corporate Lawyer

Being a corporate lawyer is one the most chosen option by lawyers. In this field the lawyers have to work for a firm and complete the given tasks and meet up with the targets. They have to carry out various tasks like making contracts, handling mergers, and make regulatory compliance.

Litigator

Litigation is also one of the most chosen career options along with corporate law. Lawyers have to represent their clients in the court of law. The case might be civil, commercial or criminal. A lawyer has to prepare for his hearing in the court. In this process, lawyer has to do intense research and make his side as much strong as possible.

Administrative Law Officer

In this career option the lawyer has to work for a company which has a law department. It mainly includes companies like insurance companies, baking institutions, etc. They have to make sure all work carried out is legal and legal guidelines are followed as mentioned in law.

Legal Journalist

Legal journalism is a career option which is blooming day by day. Providing various career opportunities to lawyers. In such cases lawyers have to study the legal framework and the judgements of court and write blogs and writeups for the audience to understand the same easily.There are various other career options. Which help a lawyer to have a successful career.

Skills required in order to succeed in the profession

Analytical and Research Skills:

Analytical and Research skills can be considered as the most important in the field of law. A lawyer must possess this skill right from the law school. This skill is required in every kind of career options. And it must be up to date. It is required skill in the law school too because it helps the student in academics as well as in the internships. As legal research field offers the most internships. Research is very important in the field of law because it helps gain the information and write it down in a simplified language for the law field people along with people who don’t have a law background. In all the above-mentioned career options and other legal career options there is a need to have the research skill as it helps in all kind of works. Right from the corporate sector to the litigation sector. In litigation it is considered as the most important skill as the lawyer has to do all the research in order to represent the client in court. If the research and analytical skills are good then it increases the chances of winning the case in court of law.

Attention to Detail:

Attention to detail is a skill which can be considered a sub-skill. Because in all skills having detailed attention is the primary thing and needs to be done as it helps to gain some critical information which might have been missed if not paid attention on details. It is most required in the litigation field and for all kind of research work. If a person has mastered in detailing, then he has more chances of winning any case and having a more detailed and critical research. Detailing may also be time consuming so the lawyer has to practice it and consume as much less time as possible. It helps to have critical information in less time, which saves time and therefore the saved time can be utilised to carry out other research. Details are so important that it can be the only reason for a lawyer to win a case. When the research is done in detail and with full attention then the person has all minute details which help in critical situations. A person willing to be analyst or a litigator must have this skill.

Organizational Skills:

When in corporate sector or in any company or even in litigation, a lawyer needs to have organizational skills in order to have a good systematic record of things. Organizational skills help to maintain all client records and all sort of important documents. If these basic things are taken care of by the professional then it reduces more than half of the urgency resulting in better and efficient functioning of the individual. Generally, the organizational part of the work is computerised which help in automation and overall efficiency in day-to-day work. Use of computerized application to stay organized costs a sum of amount but it is worth it as it helps in efficient working.

Time Management:

Law is a field where time matters a lot. When litigating the main objective is to do research on all possible topics before the hearing. In order to complete the research in time a lawyer should know Time Management. This skill is currently the one which has the most significance in every sector. In order to make all employees great efficient, companies take various courses on time management. It helps the employees to understand which work is more important and classify the work as per the importance and urgency. Currently many law schools are also providing courses to students so that they get fully efficient when they pass out from the college. As a lawyer charges fees on hourly basis, he should be efficient enough to complete the work in reasonable time. It helps the client and therefore it increases the trust with the client. Further resulting in customer publicity and better goodwill. It can also be said that in corporate sector if a lawyer is not good in time management, then his chances of promoting are less as the firm seeks for more efficient employees on higher positions.

Communication Skills:

Communication skills are the need of the hour. Not only for the legal profession but also in all other professions. Professions are purely depended on the consumer base. In order to have better relation with clients, a lawyer must posses good communication skill. Not only verbal communication but also written communication. As the court proceedings are dependent on the written communication too. Communication is the most basic thing in every profession. It is the mean to get the work done and convey what work is to be done. If a person is not good in communication skill, then there are consequences as communication is the only thing which is important in any case. Communication must be done precisely and confidently so that the judges understand the case better. In corporate sector too communication is the most essential element. As majority of the communication in corporate world done by the means of mail. A lawyer must have knowledge about the communication through the mail as it needs to me precise and factual in nature.

Problem-Solving Abilities:

Every lawyer faces various issues. The problem might be small or big. The problem needs to be addressed carefully. As even a small problem can lead to huge consequences. Corporate sector is now upgrading itself and the most eligible candidates are the ones who can solve any issue, small or big with intelligence and sharpness. In order to have this skill, an individual must train himself to be sharp as it helps in having creative ideas as a solution. Being a creative person is also what matters. Creativeness in the sense of unique problem-solving approach. Creativity helps to have a solution which is easy to apply and regulate. Once a person trains himself to get creative and sharp then he will be able to solve various issues without any difficulty. And when the problem is related to legal background then the individual must have great focus and attention towards detailing as it is the only way to get rid of a legal problem by doing good research and finding a way out.

Technical Savviness:

Tech savviness is not only the need of social life but also the need of professional life. Nowadays professional life is also dependent upon technology. One with better technological knowledge is preferred over others. All lawyers must have basic knowledge about simple applications like word processor and spreadsheet. Majority of the work is carried out these applications to save the paperwork and time. Being tech savvy is what helps in saving time as majority of the things get automated resulting in more efficient working. Various things can be automated like, reports generation, communication within the organization, etc. At the same time tech savviness can lead to procrastination and delay in work. Technology can be time saving as well as time consuming. It depends on the person who will be using it. If the professional is mature enough to understand ethics, then he will choose using technology to complete work fast and with more accuracy whereas if a person is not much mature about the profession, then he might choose using technology for things other than work resulting in more time consumption and less accuracy.

Professionalism

It comprises of majority of the skills required in a profession. It includes everything right from the dressing sense to the personal grooming and body gestures and movements. It is the skill which is not much visible but it helps to understand someone better. It helps to understand the personality of the person in front. In interviews, majority of the selectors look for professionalism as it is considered as the key to have a well scheduled and efficient work life. It is the skill which is becoming very important nowadays. Various lectures and seminars are arranged to help professionals develop and improve professionalism. Even law schools have added this in their syllabus of various courses as it is considered as basic ethics. Personal grooming is also included in this because it is the thing which is visible to everyone and gives the first impression. If the grooming is done properly then the professionalism can be seen and hence the are better chances of getting the job or having a good impression in front of the judges.

Conclusions

As a lawyer is a professional, he needs various skills to help him in the legal profession. Legal professional is majorly dependent upon the basic skills of the lawyers. The basic skills include: time management, research and analytical skill, technologically up to date, problem solving ability and communication skills. But the skill which can be considered as the most important is professionalism. It is the one which has the biggest impact on the image. A lawyer must master in all these skills to have better success chances. These skills can be gained through academics, various courses or professional exposure.

Author is Atharva Jintikar 1st Year law student of ILS Law Collage Pune.

Tags

 General Legal Hashtags
- #PhenixBayLegal
- #LegalAdviceIndia
- #IndianLawUpdates
- #LegalServicesIndia
- #LegalBlogsIndia

 Regional Hashtags (Geographical Coverage)
- #NorthIndiaLegalUpdates
- #SouthIndiaLegalAdvice
- #EastIndiaLawServices
- #WestIndiaLegalResources
- #NortheastIndiaLaw

 City-Specific Hashtags
- #DelhiLegalServices
- #MumbaiLawUpdates
- #BangaloreLawAdvice
- #ChennaiLegalHelp
- #KolkataLegalConsultation
- #HyderabadLawyers
- #PuneLegalTips
- #AhmedabadLegalServices
- #LucknowLawConsultation
- #ChandigarhLegalAdvice

 Broader Indian Legal System Hashtags
- #IndianLegalSystem
- #IndianCourtUpdates
- #LegalAwarenessIndia
- #LawInIndia
- #LegalRightsIndia

- #LawFirmIndia
- #LegalSupportIndia
- #LegalUpdatesIndia
- #LegalAwarenessCampaign