Why Soft Skills Are as Essential as Legal Expertise in Today’s Legal Landscape

Posted November 21st, 2024 by Urban Legal Recruitment

Obtaining a law degree or other qualification might be the first step toward gaining a rewarding career in the legal field, but it’s not likely to be what helps you grow and succeed. While legal firms undoubtedly recruit based on education and experience, modern law firms are looking for something less measurable in their applicants. Soft skills, such as communication and creativity, are becoming increasingly sought after.?

Lawyers and legal professionals who excel in teamwork, adaptability, problem-solving, and client relations are better equipped to serve clients and advance their careers. This makes them more desirable from a hiring standpoint and more agile when it comes to career development. Let’s look at how soft skills can contribute to your overall advancement in the legal field.?

The Role of Soft Skills in the Legal Profession

There’s no doubt that every legal professional needs significant education and training. However, soft skills can’t be overlooked in the collaborative world of law—working with others (including clients, team members, and other professionals) is always necessary.??

Based on our work with law firms and legal professionals, we’ve found that some of the soft skills that are most important in the legal world include teamwork, communication, building trust, and managing complex relationships. With these skills in hand, legal professionals are able to:?

• Develop trust with clients, teams, and other collaborators.
• Leverage the talents and knowledge of others to enhance their own offerings.?
• Build out their client bases through referrals.?
• Improve their own knowledge, skills, and abilities by learning from others.?

Let’s look at four soft skills legal professionals can focus on developing to improve their opportunities and relationships.?

Teamwork and Collaboration: Building a Stronger Legal Team

As the legal field evolves, collaborative team environments are becoming the norm. Gone are the days when lawyers operate like “lone wolves” within a firm. There’s undeniable value in working closely with others, especially as various areas of practice become more specialized and cases become more complex, requiring the knowledge and skills of multiple people.?

As an added benefit, collaboration works beneficially both ways. Clients receive a greater breadth of expertise from legal professionals, and legal professionals are able to grow their own hard and soft skills by working with others.?

So, how do you cultivate greater growth through collaboration? Legal professionals who focus on joining collaborative projects, applying active listening, and facilitating the free sharing of knowledge are often the ones leading the charge in soft skill development.

Adaptability: Navigating an Ever-Changing Legal Landscape

The legal world moves faster than ever before, with regulatory and technological changes happening on a near-daily basis. Perhaps the most stark example of the need for adaptability in recent years was the COVID-19 pandemic, which had legal firms scrambling to adapt to remote work virtually overnight. However, longer-term changes are also altering the landscape of legal work, and as things change, it’s essential that people change with them.?

Luckily, there are some simple ways for legal professionals to develop greater adaptability. The first is seeking out industry information and facilitating conversations about it with other professionals. Engaging in thought leadership, asking questions, and an openness to change are three ways to ensure you’re prepared for industry changes.

Problem-Solving: Going Beyond Legal Knowledge

Complex challenges require a more creative and critical type of thinking, and that requires you to go outside your usual train of thought. There are plenty of ways to introduce new ways of thinking to your work or to your team environment. Collaborative team problem-solving sessions can open the floor to different angles and perspectives. Cross-industry collaborations are another method you can use to solve challenges in a unique way.

Client Relations: Building Trust and Long-Lasting Partnerships

When we think about the legal field, we often think of cases rather than people. Turning this thinking around and considering people first is one of the best ways for legal professionals to succeed. Those who can exercise a high level of empathy and strong communication skills are often the most successful. Maintaining great client relations allows you to build trust, which both ensures you’ll have great client retention and promotes new referrals coming in from happy clients.?

One of the most important aspects of client relations for a legal professional is managing expectations. People who don’t live in the legal world often struggle to understand how it all works, so ensuring clients know what to expect, when, and how it will be handled puts them at ease and continues to build trust.?

Cultivating a Balance of Legal and Soft Skills

Legal expertise is essential, of course, but a well-rounded legal professional needs to continuously work on soft skills to thrive in team environments, provide a high level of client service, and stay up to date with emerging ideas. Training programs, self-assessments, mentorship programs, and collaborative team events can all help develop soft skills in an organization. If you’re seeking a career in the legal field, you can look for opportunities to engage in these activities on your own. Or, if you already work within a firm, you can bring these ideas to your team to promote soft skill development for everyone.?

Connect with Legal HR Professionals to Help You Develop Your Career

At Urban Legal Recruitment, we work closely with legal professionals with a growth mindset who want to continuously improve their hard and soft skills. When it comes to building soft skills, you’re building your investment in your career in the legal field. If you want to learn more about what soft skills are most essential to your career path, or if you’re looking for new opportunities in the legal field, reach out to our professionals to learn more.

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