If you are currently deciding which is the best career choice for you, it is important that you weigh up all available options. The best way in which to work out which career fits best for you, is to think about what skills you have, and what your passion is. One of the most common careers which people will tell you from a young age that they would like to do, is that of a lawyer. It is easy to see why law is such a popular career choice, the upholding of justice, the search for innocence and guilt and the opportunity to make a real difference to people’s lives.
Becoming a lawyer is not easy however, and there are some core skills which you’ll need to possess. We spoke to the team at Dolan Law Firm, to find out exactly what skills are required to work in law.
Persuasive
In order to be a lawyer, in whatever branch of the law you decide upon, you must be a person who can be persuasive in their arguments. In order to do this you must have the skills which allow you to view all sides of the argument, and form a compelling case for each one. Whether you are arguing for or against something, you must be able to understand how people will argue against you, and how you can use that to persuade people that you are right.
Academic Ability
With the greatest will in the world, if you do not possess the academic ability to learn the volume of knowledge which is required to become a lawyer, it is unlikely that you will ever succeed. Lawyers must be sharp, studious and intelligent, just to study law in the first place, let alone actually practicing it. This is sometime that you can work on, but if you don’t possess natural academic ability, it will be tough for you to pursue this career path. Law schools will only accept students with excellent grades.
Analytical
Being a lawyer will require you to process huge amounts information and be able to pick out the key parts which are relevant to whichever case you are working on. In order to do this you must have an analytical approach which allows you to pore through such data, and be able to quickly point out relevancies.
Memory
Much of law calls on you to have a great memory, both for your current case, and past cases which can help you in your current case. Lawyers generally have excellent memories when it comes to cases past and present, as well as the requirement to remember the various aspects of the law. If you have a poor memory, this is not to say that you cannot do the job, but you will need to work hard on being able to remember a large amount of information if you wish to be successful.
How many of these skills do you possess?