Basic requirements to become a perfect lawyer (P2)
In the previous article, I have presented the compulsory requirements to become a lawyer. When meeting these requirements, we should also notice the necessary skills. Skills that I want to refer to here consist of both soft skills and hard skills.
You can train your hard skills from the time you’re at school. These skills can be knowledge of the law major. Most of all, these skills are also cultivated through the lawyer training courses
In fact, I have observed the situation that law school students may often consider knowledge at school to be theoretical and impractical so they tend to ignore it. However, you should remember that knowledge is the fundamental base for future careers.No foundation means an unstable stump, which can fall down any time. Hard skills need to be cultivated regularly as well as knowledge need to be accumulated over time. Therefore, you should accumulate knowledge from the early stage – at university.
What about soft skills? Some soft skills can be named, as follows:
- Listening skill
Listening to many things such as: clients, their matters, their needs. This is the first skill that a lawyer should obtain. Listening to understand the problem, to gather information and to understand the bottom lines of things specifically and accurately. In other words, listening is the initial solution to all problems. - Speaking skill
How to convey difficult legal terms well? How can clients understand plans that lawyers propose? Speaking skills need accuracy, clarity, specific evidence and flexibility in different situations. - Reading skill
One of the skills that every lawyer needs to train themselves is the reading skill. This includes reading out loud and reading with eyes. The legal profession requires high precision, specific terms and no errors.- For eye-reading skills, the lawyer needs to read quickly in order to clearly outline the important issues in his head then understand them and give reasonable solutions to clients..
- For reading out loud, make sure you read it correctly, fluently and clearly to convey the message well to the listener.
- Writing skillLaw is a specific profession. When writing, a lawyer needs to ensure that the right audience is identified. Moreover, the legal content is correct at the same time, the presentation format is ensured. A basic writing includes: Determine clients’ requirements and legal regulations; Analyze the pros and cons to propose some solutions to the client’s legal problems; Assess what other parties might do; Identify possible consequences and come up with a solution to deal with them.
- Reasoning and critical skills
In addition to 4 forementioned skills, a lawyer certainly cannot help but practice the reasoning and critical skills. Arguments are to present a point of view, convey a message and prove to clarify or disprove something. This verbal activity will require legal language as the lawyer will give arguments, determine the correct and transparent supporting points and present them in a coherent manner.
In my profession, lawyers have to argue as according to the law, when defending clients in court, lawyers must participate in formal debates prescribed by procedural law. In terms of practice, lawyers sometimes also have informal debates, outside of proceedings to protect their views, legitimate rights and interests of their clients.
If you haven’t had these soft skills or you find yourself lacking some of them, you can absolutely participate in additional classes. These classes can be found online or directly at the centers. They have curricula and classes tailored to your desired requirements. Additionally, you can read books, watch videos on the media. Popular books or watching experience videos are also a great way to learn.
It’s extremely important for penultimates and seniors that you are eligible for an internship. At law firms, you will be able to cultivate practical knowledge, to listen to learn from the experience of your predecessors and combine them with the knowledge you have learned at law school. When you do the above factors correctly and fully, you may not only be respected at the law firm but also become a part of the company.
This article is purely my personal opinion and my experience. What do you think about it? Please let me know your opinion.