A good lawyer must be composed to face whatever challenge that is before him in the law courts. He/she must not be a violent person but must learn to apply a well-understood aggressiveness. Every lawyer must be ready to work with agility to face and overcome any obstacles necessary to achieve his/her objectives.
One of the most underrated traits shared by almost every successful attorney is a strong ability and willingness to listen. Although strong listening is a part of overall communication skills, it’s important to highlight listening as its own professional trait. Effective communication is a two-way street.
As a starting point, successful lawyers almost always have a true passion for their job. You have probably heard popular cliches like “choose a job you love and you will never work a day in your life”. Of course, we all know that in the real world it’s not quite that simple.
To become a lawyer is to become a man/woman of many hats. Law schools will teach you some of the skills you need, but they can't teach character. In order to become a "good" lawyer, you have to naturally have certain qualities.
Much of your role as a lawyer involves making an argument on behalf of your client. Rather than giving in to what the other side of the courtroom is saying, you need to be the kind of person who is willing to argue for what you believe in.
While some of your court cases may be intense, you need to find ways to keep your emotions balanced when representing your client. Although it's important to show you are passionate about a case, you still need to keep your composure in the courtroom.
Lawyers need to have strong written and verbal communication skills. Remember, you are the one who is a legal professional, meaning that you need to have the ability to communicate complicated legal concepts in simplified terms. Your communication skills can help you ensure your client and the jury understand what you are trying to tell them.
When working with individual clients, there may be a lot of emotions involved. Showing compassion can help your client feel better during uncertain times. It also shows that you genuinely care about their case.
When presenting your case to the jury, you need to show them that you are confident about your client's stance. Being a lawyer also requires public-speaking skills which require a great deal of confidence. You need to be able to eloquently present evidence and arguments for your client.
Sometimes finding evidence that is favorable for your client requires some creating thinking. Being a creative person is also helpful when determining what to say about a case. You need to look at a complicated situation and come up with arguments that help your client, which requires quite a bit of creativity.
Preparing your client's case can take a lot of time and effort. Lawyers need to stay driven throughout the entire process to ensure they are serving their clients to the best of their ability. This drive can help you look at a case in a new way and find better outcomes.
The perception of lawyers is that they’re skilled experts in their field. No one wants to hire a lawyer that has never been in the courtroom.
Once you’ve proven your legitimacy and credibility, you should start getting clients. At this point, you need to start showing your client that you’re trustworthy.
Another trait you need to highlight is your dedication to your craft. Legal work is challenging, and customers expect you to be a hard-worker.
Credibility, trustworthiness, and dedication are all traits of a good lawyer. You need to do more than exemplify them; you need to prove them to your clients.
As a member of the legal community, it’s important to represent these qualities of a good lawyer. If you’re not, then you’re likely losing potential clients.
Creativity might seem like a strange place to start. After all, we’re talking about the law, not artistic pursuits such as graphic design! However, being creative is a universal attribute that proves valuable across the board- especially for aspiring attorneys.
Communication skills are downright essential to anybody hoping to join the bar! Think about it, you might have to stand up in a courtroom and make a persuasive point to a cynical jury. Being articulate, persuasive, clear, and comprehensible is crucial to coming out on top.
However, you can’t be a strong communicator without knowing how to listen! Whether they’re speaking or writing, the best lawyers have listened to their clients first, understood their problems, and settled on the best way forward.
There’s no denying it: intelligent people tend to make better lawyers! Every element of the role calls upon the ability to analyze, interpret, research, and understand the unique components of every case. Without a reasonable level of intellect, doing well in each area can be a challenge.
However, intelligence isn’t everything! People who exceed in this field are the perfect combination of clever, logical, and empathic too.
This point relates to the last in that empathy always helps when it comes to getting on well with people. The ability to form relationships with ease and make a good first impression is critical to any attorney. Remember, this is a profession where you’re around others all the time (be it your client, the judge, your opposition, or the jury).
An unrelenting work ethic is another essential ingredient in the recipe for becoming a successful lawyer. This is a quality that you see in high-end attorneys such as Jay Rahimi and Kathleen Zellner. They go above and beyond in their bid to win.
For you to be a successful lawyer enjoying a well-argued discussion with people is a good one, because this shows you are on the right track.
Persuasion is another skill a good lawyer must possess. Being able to develop this skill can make a difference not only when presenting the case, but also to “convince” the court about your client’s position So, if you are considering to be a good lawyer, you’d better start training your persuasiveness.
Negotiating is a key success factor that must not depart from the mouth of any good lawyer. In almost any case reaching agreements between the parties involved are essential in the profession. It is important to have a bargaining skill that will allow you to reach good deals before falling into more cumbersome procedures.
Due to the verse nature of the profession, lawyers are exposed to many arguments, which could affect their moods and even possible threats; so, not having a good emotional armor will be difficult to bear. Becoming a good lawyer, you must be ready to balance your emotions irrespective of the case before you.
With life being organized shows how serious you are as an individual, and this could speak a lot about your achievement. Becoming a good lawyer also depends on your level of good organization of both time and your job, knowing this secret shows you are one step closer to being a good lawyer.
Persistence is synonymous to this profession and is another great virtue of a good lawyer; as a lawyer is never allowed to surrender. A successful lawyer must be willing to fight to the end to achieve your goals. As we know, all know failure is inevitable, but you will have to be prepared to stand up as many times you fall.
Another success factor of a good lawyer will always depend on his/her patience because the profession requires much waiting for the courts and other actors in the legal system. This could even last longer than expected. You must cultivate the character to learn to wait for hours, weeks and even months to resolve a case.