Skills that Future Lawyers Need

1. Adaptability: The ability to adjust to changes in the environment. Being

adaptable at work can mean you can respond quickly to changing ideas,
responsibilities, expectations, trends, strategies and other processes.
2. Accuracy and attention to detail: The ability to keep focus, to spot key pieces
of information and ensure that there are no errors in the documents that you
draft.
3. Business acumen: The ability to appreciate the client’s business, commercial
objectives and the sectors and business environments in which they operate, and
an understanding of the law firm as a business. You must have an interest and
understanding of the context in which your clients operate so that you can best
serve their interests.
4. Collaboration: Recognising and respecting the contribution of others with
different skill sets and expertise, creating a positive team environment, and
delegating where appropriate. As future lawyers, you will need to show respect
and empathy to those you will work with, taking on board different views and
opinions.
5. Communication: The ability to convey ideas, advice, and information clearly and
effectively through a variety of different media, adapting the tone and content
according to the individual recipient and the purpose of your communication.
6. Creativity: The capacity to be open to new ideas and ways of thinking, to think
creatively in order to challenge the norm and find innovative ways of working and
solving client problems
7. Digital literacy: The ability to use digital tools and technology to drive
efficiencies in the workplace. You will use a range of digital tools to communicate,
collaborate, prepare documents, and compile information for your future clients.
The rapid development of technology will enable you to be more efficient in how
you work and add value for your clients.
8. Emotional intelligence: To be able to recognise your own emotional reactions
and how that can impact on those with whom you interact, self-awareness and
the ability to empathise with others. High levels of self-awareness and an ability
to put yourself in the shoes of others will help boost your ability to persuade,
influence and lead, all of which are attributes of a great lawyer.
9. Legal Skills: Graduates of law schools must be able to demonstrate core
knowledge and understanding of the law, and apply these in practice.
10. Organization and planning: To be able to organize your own workload and to
plan and manage transactions and cases from start to finish. As a lawyer you
will be constantly juggling different tasks and having to manage a varied
 workload to meet court and client deadlines. You will need to organise your own
time, list tasks and make decisions about how to prioritize.
11. Problem-Solving: It is the ability to use an analytic methodology that
focuses on the process of how to identify objectives and ways for
accomplishing them. It also involves the use of decision-making skills and
the exercise of sound practical judgment.
12. Reflective and lifelong learning: To become successful lawyers in the future,
law students must be able to reflect on their learning process, identify the causes
of their success and failures, and use that knowledge to create goals and plan for
future improvement. The practice of law can demand a lot from your time. But if
you want to succeed, you must set aside time regularly to learn, grow, and
improve yourself.
13. Resilience: It is the capacity to recover quickly from challenges or difficulties,
remain calm and positive under pressure, and be able to deal with and, most
importantly, learn from setbacks.

Sources:
bpp.com’s Skills Needed by Future Layers, International Bar Association’s Practice of Law in the New
Normal; and cleaweb.org’s Best Practices for Legal Education