4 Characteristics of A Good Lawyer

A career of any kind requires a particular set of skills that naturally does not develop overnight. To do so, it requires constant practise, learning, knowledge and time.

Similarly, in a career that has the responsibility of serving your people right, a good lawyer requires some skills that are necessary to fulfil the said purpose. In fact, there are particular skills that you need to have because a good lawyer will be expected to face all kinds of challenges in all types of cases thrown at them from different areas. 

For instance, if you wish to top the list when someone searches for ‘best tax lawyer UK ’, you ought to have it in you, the qualities that make you the best tax solicitor in the industry. 

Of course, with different personalities comes a customised set of skills; but in a generic sense, here are some of the absolutely necessary skills that make you a good lawyer. 

1. Good Judgement 

By far, the most important skill that is required for you to become a successful lawyer is the ability to judge correctly. This means that you should be able to draw prompt, reasonable and logical conclusions out of limited information that is given to you, to essentially become an ideal lawyer. 

While at it, you must also be able to look at these judgements critically to anticipate potential areas of weaknesses in your concluded argument. That way, you’ll be able to overcome any hindrances that you might face in the court of law. 

You should also be able to spot these weaknesses in your opposition’s arguments and decide to deliver your part accordingly. 

That said, decisiveness is also a crucial part of the judgement. It isn’t the regular decision-making skill that any human being possesses; it is something that you need to do right and in a limited time frame during the court proceedings. 

2. Communication Skills 

Communication has to do with speaking, listening and writing one at a time or all at once. Naturally, a good lawyer needs to ace all three - by being orally articulate, having amazing writing skills and being a fantastic listener. 

If you wish to be a successful lawyer, you have to have good communication skills. These skills, however, wouldn’t come to you overnight. You really need to work towards acing them one day at a time. You can do exercises like public speaking or mooting to boost your speaking skills over time. 

Lawyers also need to write concisely, clearly and persuasively, for they will be expedited to create plenty of legal documents. 

Having said that, projection is one thing and being able to analyse the testimony is another. When a client tells you his side of the story, you should be able to analyse it properly and for that, you will require good listening skills. 

3. Perseverance 

Perseverance is required in the tiniest work you do; so when it comes to becoming a successful lawyer, it takes a great deal of perseverance and commitment long before you even think about becoming one. 

It isn’t a long race that you can win by finishing first; being perseverant means dealing with short challenges, one after the other, on your journey to becoming a successful solicitor. Put simply, when you decide to commit to the process of becoming a lawyer, you have to be committed to the education that it asks for. 

Once that is done, you qualify for undertaking cases on the field, and during those proceedings, you need to have the quality of perseverance handy in order to finish it successfully. 

4. Creativity 

Yes, you read it right! 

Lawyers aren’t just about theory books, memorising logic and remembering them while delivering. Typically, the most successful lawyers have a great deal of creativity in them. 

This is because, while in the process of problem-solving, only logic and analysis are not enough. You need to display a great deal of creativity too. 

By doing this, you are procuring the best solution to the challenge by relying on the “think-outside-the-box” approach. 

The Bottom Line… 

To outshine other colleagues, you have to work towards tweaking yourself. 

Begin this by getting on a train of self-inspection and coming up with challenging yet comfortable solutions for your development. Curate a personalised list of skills, including the absolutely necessary ones mentioned above to know yourself better. 

Once you are aware of your strengths and weaknesses, you will flourish and become the best solicitor for every case out there!