As the popular saying goes “There are no shortcuts to succeed in life,” there are no shortcuts or alternate ways to become a good lawyer. However, you can posses or acquire some traits and skills that might give you an edge among your competition to become a good lawyer. You might think that you already have the primary skills like, attention to detail, writing ability, sound judgement, and others, but there alone are not sufficient.
There are many other skill sets and trait that you need to develop to achieve the ideal career in law. You can work on acquiring these skills and get them developed over time to be a good lawyer. As the other popular saying goes “practice makes perfect,” here are a few traits that you should consider developing to become a successful lawyer:
Excellent communication and command over language
It’s mandatory for a lawyer to be orally eloquent, possess good writing skills and also be good at listening. This is why it’s important for all the aspiring lawyers to have a great command over the language and have good communication skills. Lawyers need to constantly argue in the courtroom in front of the jury and the judges and are also required to speak in public which makes it even more important.
You can develop your communication skills by taking part in various literary activities, like public speaking. Reading different books can also help you gain a great command over the language.
Attitude, aptitude and analytics
These traits are very important for lawyers; these traits enable a lawyer to analyze the problems and derive calculated conclusions from them. You must be able to draw logical conclusions and assumptions from the limited information that is provided to you. For that you need good analytical skills, which will help you evaluate the cases at hand.
Research
Lawyers need to indulge themselves in extensive research on topics related to the cases they are handling. They need to do it quickly and effectively, keeping in mind the needs of their clients to prepare legal strategies. This is why you should be ready to research deeply and absorb and comprehend a large amount of information, to find things that are relevant to the case.
Develop people skills
No matter how well one does academically, at the end of the day what matter is lawyers work for the people and with the people and the decisions that are made affect people’s lives. This is why it’s important for the lawyers to be able to read the minds of their clients, which can allow them to judge the honesty of the people.
You should be very observant and should be able to read the minds of people and clients. To develop these skills you need to watch people closely and observe the subtle changes that can define their thinking.
Be creative
The best lawyers not only are analytical and think logically, but they are also very creative. You might come across some cases where the best solution is not always the most obvious and in order to get ahead of your challenger you need to think and act out of the box. This trait will also help you in the long run and ensure you become a very good lawyer.