Academic results are not as important as having people skills and an ability to relate to clients, according to a legal academic in Australia.
That’s nothing new, particularly. Several New Zealand academics make the same point. However the rush towards top grades can sometimes push other criteria for being a good lawyer under the carpet.
People skills have always been a key part of making a good lawyer, but the fact that other skills are often overlooked is an issue that confront many young lawyers. “Independence, good research skills and communication skills” were all central to how employers perceive good potential employees, according to Jenny Poore at Trinity Grammar in Australia.
Associate Professor Alison Duxbury teaches the Juris Doctor graduate law degree at Melbourne University. She acknowledges the course is highly demanding but says “the students are more prepared for the expectations” because it is a graduate course.
Duxbury says employers look for graduates who have been “pushed academically and have intellectual curiosity”, but the young would-be lawyers also need communication skills and an ability to relate to a diverse client base.
Despite the emphasis that Poore and Duxbury place on academic work, leading employers disagree, focusing more on “transferable skills”.
Slater and Gordon runs a highly competitive graduate-trainee program, which takes in a select few individuals to work alongside practising lawyers. The company’s human resources general manager Catherine Harris says the firm is looking for “well-rounded academic ability and the ability to have a broad range of extra-curricular activities”.
She says the firm looks at graduates’ engagement in the community and any volunteer work they’ve done. “We obviously do look at academic results but they are certainly not the main priority.”
Harris also says Slater and Gordon wants employees with “the ability to engage with a range of people” and “a high commitment to social justice”. These qualities are crucial, “because they indicate to us how prospective young lawyers will interact with our clients”.
Law firm Herbert Smith Freehills also runs a similar, highly competitive program. “We look for strengths in a candidate’s application across both their academic and extra-curricular experiences, with a strong focus on transferable skills,” said Carla Ragonesi, Freehills‘ graduate recruitment manager.
“Work experience, community involvement, volunteer activities, sporting activities and university activities are a great way to develop some of these transferable skills.” Ragonesi listed some of these transferable skills as “problem solving, communication, interpersonal skills, [and] working in teams”.
She also highlighted “intellectual curiosity”, “clarity of thought” and “ambition to grow personally and professionally” as traits that Freehills looks for in candidates.
Source: WA Today
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