4 Traits Lawyers of the Future Will Need

If you are currently studying to become a lawyer or were thinking about enrolling into a law program, it's important to know the personality traits and skills needed for the job. In this article, we're going to give you four traits every future lawyer should have.

Analytical skills are one of the most important skills needed as a lawyer. A lawyer needs to be able to read the law and determine how it applies to a client or predict whether a client's actions are within the scope of the law. You'll also have to be able to study proposed legislation or recent rulings to predict how a business or individual should alter their behavior to stay within the new boundaries.

A future lawyer must have good judgment. This involves judgment of character when dealing with both clients and witnesses. As a lawyer, you will be involved in vetting the jury pool to improve the odds of a jury being on the side of his or her client. You'll need the people skills to convince a judge or jury to influence the outcome of a trial.

A good lawyer will need research skills. If you're intending to earn a master of law from an institution like the University of Southern California, you'll know the area of law you're intending to practice. However, this is only the start of what you need to know to be a good lawyer. It includes keeping abreast of changes in the law, learning about evolving common law precedents and investigating everything related to a case. You also have to be able to absorb massive amounts of information before distilling it down to something your client can understand.

It takes a certain amount of grit to get through several years of college and law school. If you're earning an online master of laws, it may take even longer if you're working full time while attending law school part-time.

Unfortunately, too many attorneys decide to abandon perseverance and rush ahead making a name for themselves upon graduation. However, no client wants an attorney who pushes for a quick settlement that is not in the client's best interest. Do this a few times to get cases out of the way and complaints about how you handle cases will deter any potential clients from working with you. Another variation of this mistake is the attorney who is eager to rush through their client meetings since this scares away prospective clients left with the reasonable fear you'll rush through preparation for a case, too, and lose.

As you can see, there are many skills needed to be a successful lawyer. A good future lawyer must be creative while continually learning about their field and related cases, have good analytical and research skills, good judgment, and patience. The good news is that you don't have to be necessarily born with these attributes; they can always be cultivated. So, if you're lacking in a certain area, it's never too late to improve yourself.