What Skills Do You Need To Become a Lawyer?

Being a lawyer is a highly desirable job that brings with it a great deal of respect, honour and can command a very handsome salary. Lawyers earn their respect because they play an important role in the fabric of society, representing people to ensure that they are given a fair and legal trial. In order to become a lawyer, there are a certain amount of core skills which you are going to require, many of which you will ideally have been born with. We spoke to Jon Bunge law professional to find out what are the skills which all lawyers must possess in order to get started in the profession.

Persuasiveness

Whilst being a lawyer is not exactly like you see in the movies, there will always be arguments that the lawyer will need to win throughout their case. In order to win these arguments either with the judge or the jury, a lawyer must have a naturally persuasive manner. Being persuasive is about the way in which you say things, the way that you move your body when you speak and your ability to perceive the other side of the argument, and register a counter before it arrives. If you want to be a lawyer, you must be able to persuade.

Ability to Process and Remember

Lawyers must be able to consume large amounts of data, pick out important pieces and be able to call them to memory when the time is right. Much of law is about using past cases which can help you to win the argument and for this reason you will need to have a very strong memory.

Hard Working

Becoming a lawyer requires a hell of a lot of hard work and throughout school, college and law school you will need to have an excellent work ethic if you wish to do well. The work doesn’t stop once the education does however and once you have passed the bar you will be looking at some very long hours each day, especially when you have a case.

Team Player

When you start working as a lawyer you will be constantly working as part of a team when there is a case on. During this time you must be able to play any role within that team that is required of you and you must be able to play it well. No case is won by a single lawyer, it always comes as the result of a team effort and if you want to be a good lawyer, you must be a good team player.

Empathetic

Working on cases is about working on people’s lives and you need to be empathetic to all of the clients that come through your door so that you can best represent them. You do not always need to be sympathetic to your clients but offering empathy creates trust between lawyer and client and ensures that the relationship remains strong, something which law firms place great value on.