Overview

This Special Report offers a research-based view into the importance of soft skills for modern lawyers and how law firms develop essential soft skills – whether to comply with SRA rules, to lead productive teams, to provide the best service to clients or to grow their practice. Through interviews with lawyers, leaders and human resource professionals at large and small firms, the report provides an overview of the essential soft skills required by modern lawyers, competency frameworks and insights into how best to develop them and guidance on some of the essential soft skills required. Interpersonal, emotional intelligence, communication, learning, adaptability, problem-solving, negotiation, team management, leadership and business development are amongst the soft skills explored for high-performing lawyers. This report is the guide to developing the skills needed to get ahead and stay ahead in your legal career.

Full Product Details

Author:   Kim Tasso
Publisher:   Globe Law and Business Ltd
Imprint:   Globe Law and Business Ltd
ISBN:  

9781787423381

ISBN 10:   1787423387
Pages:   191
Publication Date:   29 June 2020
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   In Print  
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements 7 I. Introduction 9 II. What do we mean by ‘soft skills?’ 11 1. Technical legal and technology skills 11 2. Is it practical intelligence? 12 3. Is it commerciality? 12 4. Are they emotional or people skills? 12 5. Are they attributes? 14 III. The importance of soft skills for lawyers 15 1. World Economic Forum’s Future of Work report 15 2. Management experts 16 3. Client perspective 17 4. Solicitors Regulation Authority 17 5. Legal sector commentators 18 6. Commercial and trusted advisers 20 7. T-shaped lawyers 24 8. O-shaped lawyers 25 9. The Delta Model 25 IV. Emotional intelligence for lawyers 27 1. What is emotional intelligence? 28 1.1 Self-awareness and personality assessments 28 1.2 Self-management 30 1.3 Social awareness and empathy 31 1.4 Relationship management 32 1.5 Being politically astute 32 2. Client views on emotional intelligence in lawyers 34 3. The link between confidence and perfectionism 36 4. Stress, resilience and wellbeing 37 5. Decision making 40 6. High-performance environment 41 V. Methods of developing lawyer soft skills 43 1. Approaches to training and development 44 1.1 Dedicated learning and development function 44 1.2 Training academies 48 1.3 External training suppliers 48 1.4 Self-managed learning 49 1.5 Best practice 52 1.6 On-the-job training 52 1.7 Case studies and scenario analysis 52 1.8 Peer learning 53 1.9 Secondments and shadowing 53 1.10 Part-time (voluntary) roles 53 1.11 Digital training and e-learning 54 1.12 Role models 58 1.13 Feedback 58 1.14 Coaching and mentoring 59 2. Law Society research 61 3. How to promote learning and different learning styles 62 3.1 Fear of change 62 3.2 Fixed and growth mind-set 63 3.3 Adaptive third 63 3.4 Change management 63 3.5 Learning theory and process 63 3.6 Learning styles 65 3.7 Reflection 66 3.8 Retention 66 3.9 Motivation to learn 68 4. Competency frameworks 68 5. Measuring the effectiveness of training 71 6. Awards for soft skills development 73 VI. The range of soft skills required by lawyers 75 1. Essential soft skills for lawyers 75 2. Lawyer qualities and attributes 78 VII. Five essential soft skills for lawyers 81 1. Personal skills 81 1.1 Goal setting 81 1.2 Making an impact, messaging and personal brand 87 1.3 Creativity 89 2. Communication skills 93 2.1 Non-verbal communication 95 2.2 Active listening 98 2.3 Storytelling 102 3. Building relationships 105 3.1 A model of business relationships 106 3.2 Understanding different types of relationships and how they are formed 107 3.3 Creating rapport and trust 112 3.4 Navigating difference and conflict 122 4. Leadership – managing a team 126 4.1 Delegation 128 4.2 Coaching 133 4.3 Feedback 140 5. Business development – marketing, selling and referrer management 144 5.1 What is business development? 145 5.2 Networking 148 5.3 Presenting and performing 153 5.4 Selling 155 VIII. Soft skills in other professions 159 1. Solicitors Regulation Authority 159 1.1 Core competencies 159 1.2 Professional Skills Course 160 1.3 Practice Skills Standards 160 2. Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales 160 3. Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors 162 IX. Concluding observations 165 X. Signposts to other learning resources 171 1. Recommended books 172 2. Training organisations 178 Appendix I. Illustrative competency dictionary and framework 179 Appendix II. Example RICS mandatory competency – communications and negotiation 181 Notes 183 About the author 189 About Globe Law and Business 191

Reviews

Every so often, a book is published which you know will become the 'go-to' text in its field. For lawyers, L&D and HR professionals, trainers and coaches, Kim has skilfully crafted a definitive guide to essential soft skills for lawyers. It contains a wealth of resources offering a research-based overview into the importance of soft skills. With real life practical examples from leading law firms, it is well referenced with a comprehensive list of sources. Easy to dip into for an understanding of different soft skills, or to broaden knowledge of a familiar topic. -- Caron Murphy This timely book is the first of its kind which I've encountered and provides a hugely important perspective on the professional skills required by the next generation of lawyers. The text is accessible and practical in outlook while also offering a wealth of detail and recommended resources which will be invaluable to students and practitioners alike. It brings together the full range of existing and emerging competencies such as legal technology and business development, and offers insightful guidance on how to enhance these skillsets. I would recommend this book to all law students embarking on a career in legal practice and to practising lawyers seeking to future-proof their careers in a dynamic legal marketplace. -- Christopher Howard

Every so often, a book is published which you know will become the 'go-to' text in its field. For lawyers, L&D and HR professionals, trainers and coaches, Kim has skilfully crafted a definitive guide to essential soft skills for lawyers. It contains a wealth of resources offering a research-based overview into the importance of soft skills. With real life practical examples from leading law firms, it is well referenced with a comprehensive list of sources. Easy to dip into for an understanding of different soft skills, or to broaden knowledge of a familiar topic. -- Caron Murphy

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