Working in law naturally requires certain skill set, especially if you want to be successful and remain relevant as the practice of law evolves. Some of the very important lawyering skills every lawyer must have in this 21st century are highlighted here under six major categories;
Tech Skills:
We are speedily moving from the age and time that was wholly dominated by analog lawyers. The changes that come with technology are completely unavoidable; with these tremendous improvements and developments, digital lawyers may easily navigate through the legal space compared to their counterparts still used to the traditional and analog system of the practice law. Particularly, while there are growing concerns that Artificial Intelligence poses a threat to the jobs of many professionals, it should however be understood that AI may never develop to operate independently away from human interference and control. AI to lawyers should be rightly understood as tools created for the overall convenience of lawyers; these tools are aids to the new age lawyers and not master to them.
There was a time when the idea of robot lawyers was a fiction that was probably not something that anyone should take seriously, until very recently in January 2023 when DoNotPay a legal tech startup in the USA built an AI billed as “the world’s first robot lawyer”. This AI is to run on a smart phone and listen to arguments in court before telling the defendant what to say. In the real sense, having robot lawyers still remains a fiction; reason being that by the legal provisions enshrined in the different legal systems of the world, there are steps and conditions standing out as a prerequisite to legally becoming a lawyer.
The implication is that, regardless of how vast an individual may be in knowledge of the substance and practice of law, he cannot be a lawyer until the salient conditions are met. For instance, to become a lawyer in Nigeria, one must be a graduate of law in an accredited university, attended and passed the Nigerian Law School, and such a person must be enrolled in the Supreme Court Roll for Lawyers. Anyone, who without meeting these conditions passes off as a Lawyer is an impersonator. So for us to have robot lawyers, we may have to first implement radical changes to the Rules or have whatever “robot lawyer” graduate from a university, attend and pass the Law School and get enrolled in the Supreme Court Roll for lawyers. Meeting the requirements may be a very easy task for an omniscient “robot lawyer” with a large database of the laws, which would mean easily passing all tests and examinations to qualify as a lawyer, but until this is done we would never have “robot lawyers”. At best, we may have robots impersonating real lawyers.
However, these AI tools like the one passed off as “the world’s first robot lawyer” can rightly be seen as AI powered legal assistants which in no way displaces or replaces human lawyers. In fact, it would work best in this regards under the usage and operation of lawyers. Lawyers must therefore avert their mind and learn to adopt the technology in their practice to be more efficient and seamless. Acquiring tech skills as a lawyer does not necessarily mean acquiring hard and advanced technical skills. Learning how to use basic software and computer applications, as well as keeping up with the trends in the tech space and looking out for new ways to scale up your practice may be thoroughly sufficient. In simpler words, as a lawyer, you do not need to learn how to code or become a developer for you to access the value in the tech space; the paramount thing here is learning the application of the already made tech tools in your practice.
Communications Skills:
Every lawyer; Solicitors or Advocates should never miss an opportunity to sharpen their communication skills, especially in this modern time where the practice of law is broadening across all the spheres of our human endeavours. Some of the necessary communication skills integral to the modern-day practice of law includes but definitely not limited to the following:
1. Advocacy
2. Written Communication
3. Oral Communication
4. Interpersonal Skills
Analytical Skills:
Both the study and practice of law involve absorbing large quantities of information, then having to distil it into something manageable and logical. On a daily basis, Lawyers must be able to digest the law and its requirements, while forming arguments and reasoning to suit their client's cases. No lawyer can survive in practice without building and developing their analytical skills, good news with the integration of tech in law, lots of analytical work can now seamlessly be done. Some of the fundamental analysis skills are listed below but definitely not limited:
1. Legal Reasoning
2. Critical Reading and Comprehension
3. Synthesizing Facts and Law
4. Issues Spotting
5. Information Integrating
Research Skills:
The significance of legal research skills for lawyers can never be overemphasized in the practice of law generally and specifically in this modern-day. For example, lawyers must conduct legal research if they need court opinions to back up a legal arguments they are making in a motion or brief filed in court. Some of the very important legal research skills are listed below:
1. Electronic Researching
2. Computer Skills
3. Facts Gathering and Evaluation
4. Attention to detail.
5. Taking notes.
6. Time management.
7. Problem-solving.
8. Communicating results.
Project Management Skills:
Project management is the process of applying matter management techniques to better serve clients. It is a business approach to legal services to give clients clear expectations of time, cost, and results. It does not necessarily commoditize legal services, but it does seek to categorize and streamline delivery. In essence, project management means transparently identifying needs and tasks, setting a budget, and monitoring progress toward an end goal.
In today’s changing legal landscape, businesses and private individuals are demanding greater service delivered in a more transparent and efficient way. Integral to this concept is the fact that clients also want services for less. In order to meet the needs of clients, today’s Lawyers must have a basic understanding of project management skills and be able to deliver legal services on a budget and in a timely fashion.
1. Paying attention to details
2. Using office technologies
3. Knowing when to go back and ask
4. Organizational skills
5. Working within established time constraints
6. Decisiveness
7. Planning and strategizing
8. Consciousness of limitations
Professionalism:
The legal profession is a very noble profession and what makes it noble is not just the name but the standard lawyers are expected to uphold in their dealings as legal practitioners. Professionalism as it relates to lawyers means being a competent, effective, respectful advocate to your client and the justice system. Lawyers must understand that professionalism involves being reliable, setting their own high standards, and showing that they care about every aspect of their jobs. Professionalism in the legal profession involves being industrious and organized, and holding yourself accountable for your thoughts, words and actions. Diligence and self respect are the two key aspects under professionalism.
How can Lawyers develop their Lawyering Skills for Modern Practice?
Some of the ways lawyers can develop their lawyering skills for modern practice includes, but not limited to the following:
Legal Education
Many aspects of education including legal education are driven by new market dynamics of demand and supply. The old adage remains that law is an instrument of social engineering, and the addendum is that lawyers are part and parcel of agents of social engineering resulting to change. Therefore legal education must diversify for Law, law students and lawyers to impact positively in today’s world. Legal education is the first point of discourse, reason being that it is the first point where a lawyer’s standard are set and the first opportunity for lawyers to develop some of the very important skills as enumerated in the earlier part of this work. The fact remains that things are changing and we now have new ways of doing things, it is in this regards that legal education has a very important role to play in making every lawyer. For instance, in areas such as legal research and analytics, ICT has innovatively revolutionized the way of practice by making these areas easy, seamless and more effective. A lot will be achieved if these new trends spurred by the rise of ICT are integrated in the curriculum of the faculty of law in universities and law school.
Mentorship
The significance of mentorship as a means of developing the lawyering skills of lawyers in modern practice cannot be overemphasized. Mentorship in this regards is either a one-on-one relationship between an experienced lawyer and another lawyer, law student, or potential law student, or it can be executed in a group setting. Put more succinctly, success in the legal profession is a moving target that expands with time, experience, and proper guidance. By learning from a legal mentor who has already tread the path you’re on, you can streamline and strengthen your personal and professional development as a lawyer. With the help of a mentor, a legal professional can learn new skills, set better goals, and build confidence in their career. Mentorship in legal practice has been an age long method of developing lawyering skills among lawyers. No matter how much a lawyer learns and no matter how much information a lawyer has access to, the only way to acquire some peculiar skills may be through mentorship.
