10 Legal Skills That Are Great for Any Job

10 Legal Skills That Are Great for Any Job10 Legal Skills That Are Great for Any JobLegal skills can come in handy in any job. If youre considering a careerchange, and youre concerned that your background as a lawyer has made your skill set too specialized, you will want to think mora broadly about what you can actually do. As a lawyer, youve developed many skills that you can put to non-legal use. Here are ten skills you will want to capitalize on for your career change. Clear Thinking The biggest advantage of a legal education for non-legal work is that it taught you to think more clearly. Yes, all those hours suffering through theSocratic methodwere good for something. Its easy to forget when you spend time with other attorneys, but most people havent been trained to focus intently on the facts of a situation, research options, and make specific, reasonable arguments about what to do. Focus intently on facts through disciplined clear thinkingResearch options for actionsMake sp ecific, reasonable arguments in favor of a course of action Where You Can Apply This Skill Disciplined, clear thinking is valuable across the board, from business situations to government deliberations and more. Clear Writing Although you wouldnt believe it from some legal briefs, lawyers are typically fairly clear writers. They need to write clearly, factually, unemotionally, logically, and Able to write clear, straightforward, factual sentencesMake arguments that are logical and evidence-basedPut forth information unemotionallyDeliver grammatically accurate and appropriately spelled sentences Where You Can Apply This Skill This is a skill that you can use in many contexts, including traditional marketing, content marketing, technical documentation, PR, freelance writing, and many other career paths. Attention to Detail Lawyers can be a bit pedantic, but that attention to detail is valuable Rather than glossing over things, lawyers are trained to focus on the details (and, hopefully, identify the most salient details from a sea of information). Able to focus on detailsIdentify the most significant detailsUse these details to generate solutions to problems Where You Can Apply This Skill If youre tired of focusing on legal details, consider other areas where this skill set might come in handy. A few ideas QA testing, product management, copy editing, and so on. Dealing with Difficult People and Situations One reason many lawyers burn out is that theyre constantly dealing with conflict. Even if you want to leave all of this conflict behind, the reality is that youve probably developed some useful coping skills and techniques. Dealing with conflictCan listen deeply so the participants feel heard out and listened toCoping with difficult people and situationsAble to initiate conflict when necessaryAble to focus on the real issues of a conflictAble to resolve issues with difficult people and situations Where You Can Apply This Skill ansicht are skills th at you can apply in any job as a manager or as a corporate attorney specializing in company-specific issues. Youll be the calm one in a corporate meeting when everyone else is stressing out over a minor personality conflict between coworkers. A Great Work Ethic Lawyers (and law students) work longer hours in more stressful conditionsthan many other jobs. If you survived law school, passed the bar exam, and practiced as a lawyer, youve probably got (or developed) a very good work ethic. Able to work long hoursAble to overcome stressful situationsAble to concentrate, focus, and get the job done Where You Can Apply This Skill A very good work ethic will serve you well in any career that you ultimately choose to pursue. Examples include management, professional researcher, training and education, administrative law judge for state, local, or Federal civil service positions, and university administration positions. Identifying and Solving Problems From the earliest days of a 1L ( first-year law student) year, when you started issue spotting, your legal education has trained you to spot potential problems. In certain contexts, this trait is annoying, but its also useful Any new undertaking is bound to face bumps in the road. Spot potential problemsCome up with appropriate solutionsShare problems and potential solutions with others in a non-threatening, nonconfrontational way Where You Can Apply This Skill As long as you can focus onproductivelypointing out potential problems and offering solutions, your legal risk-radar can be put to good use in a variety of contexts. Problem identification and solving problems are key, for example, to succeed in any management role. Research Skills Lawyers are very good at tracking down answers- its what you get paid to do as an attorney. Excellent research abilities come in handy in almost all jobs these days, whether you need to track down the ingredients for a fancy cupcake recipe or figure out if the name of your com panys new product is offensive in a foreign language. Identify needed facts, information, and sourcesVerify facts, information, and sourcesApply the necessary facts, information, and sources to solving problems and providing answers Where You Can Apply This Skill Queries that might stump the average person are nothing to an attorney. Youve been looking for obscure precedents for yearss of careers that can use your research skills include librarian, professional researcher, college hochschulprofessor or administrator, Human Resources Manager or Corporate Council. You will also find opportunities in state, local, and Federal jobs. Public Speaking Skills Part of being a practicing attorney is speaking in front of people, so it is definitely something that you learn in law school and likely already had in your skill set before you decided to go to law school. Gather and organize supporting information to deliver to an audienceDeliver the information coherently to a groupExude confid ence and collectedness when sharing information with a groupPrepare any visuals or video needed to illustrate your key points. Where You Can Apply This Skill In any position in which you are managing other people, you will have the opportunity to speak publicly, even if your audience is relatively small. Knowing how to be confident and collected while delivering information to a group of people is a skill that many people struggle with, and definitely, public speaking is a skill that belongs on your resume. Synthesizing Ideas The logical reasoning that was stressed so much on the LSAT (Law School Admission Test) and in law school will come in handy in the future, whether you end up in a legal role or not. Having the ability to figure out how to take something from an idea to an actual product or service is crucial, and not everyone is blessed with understanding how to get from point A to point B. Exhibit logical reasoningConnect related and unrelated pieces of information to a w hole situationTake an idea and make it into a product or a serviceSee the possibilities inherent in any situation Where You Can Apply This Skill The logical reasoning that you likely fought with and learned will help you see the possibilities, and youll be the one laying out concrete solutions. As with others of these ten skills, careers that can use your synthesizing skills include librarian, professional researcher, college professor or administrator, management and other professional roles, and Corporate Council. You will also find opportunities in state, local, and Federal government jobs. Working Well With Other People More than anything, law school taught you how to work with other people. Whether it was in study groups, on the law review, in moot court, or in an internship or externship, you likely had to continuously work alongside others. Listen to carefully understandSpeak courteously, tactfully, and clearlyRead nonverbal communication by understanding body language, t one of voice, and posture signalsParaphrase and share feedback to ascertain understandingAsk questions to clarify content and context Where You Can Apply This Skill This skill is crucialin the realm of any job, and likely something that is listed on most of the job postings youll come across. All of those hours that you spent working closely with others will definitely pay off down the line.?? You can work well with other people in careers such as education and training, management, Human Resources, state, Federal, and local government professions, college or university admissions, administration, and professor roles. The Bottom Line If youre feeling trapped in your legal career and youre not sure how to make a change, inventory the legal skills youve developed that can be applied in other contexts. Youll likely find you have a plethora of useful skills, which employers would be happy to have you employ on their behalf.