What Qualities Do You Need for a Career in Law?

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Are you in the process of trying to figure out what your dream career would be? What is the job that would make you feel fulfilled, challenged, and passionate about throughout your working years? It can be rather daunting to pick one single career, but at the same time, it at least gives you that goal to work towards.

If your soul searching has led to a potential career as a lawyer, there are some things worth noting, besides the schooling you’ll need. You may also be interested to learn about the qualities that tend to make a person ideal for their career path. Let’s take a closer look at what they are.

Excellent Communication Skills

In terms of the most important skill to have, communication skills sit high atop the list. You need to be able to effectively communicate when speaking and through writing, as well as be an excellent listener. Your clients will want to know that they are being heard, their concerns are being understood, and that you fully absorb all the details. You also need to be able to communicate your own thoughts and actions in a concise manner.

Compassion and Empathy for Others

This leads well into compassion and empathy for others. Depending on what area of law you practice in, your clients may be dealing with very emotional and traumatic issues. Showing compassion and empathy towards them not only makes them feel more comfortable with you, it will make you a better lawyer all around.

Superb Organizational Skills

When dealing with the law, every little detail matters. This means you always need to be on top of your game where organizational skills are concerned. Things shouldn’t fall through the cracks because if they do, it can be the difference between winning or losing a case.

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The Ability to Multi-Task and Work Under Pressure

As a lawyer, you will also likely be working on more than one case at once, which means you need to be able to multi-task. This means being able to move from one case to another seamlessly without missing a beat or detail. There are also a lot of high-pressure cases where you will be working within a time crunch. This can be stressful, which means you need to be able to deal with that stress in a healthy manner and ensure it doesn’t impact your work.

The Desire to Help Others

The desire to help people can also be an excellent quality to have when pursuing a career in law. You can check out practices like msuewilsonlaw.com which deal exclusively in family law as an example of that desire to help others. Family law will touch on such sensitive and emotional things, such as child custody, divorce, and marital estates.

While there is a lot to consider if you want to pursue a career in law, having these qualities can certainly help make your decision a little clearer and let you know if you’re cut out for the job.

Written by
Jeremy Kaplan

A 50-something year old lifestyle, career, and education blogger based in Atlanta, Georgia. Years of experience in the office setting working with others and still loving it year-after-year.

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