Lawyer is one of the cool jobs for some people. However, not all people can have this job since this job requires you to spend a lot of time and even requires your after-work time for handling cases. So, a number of skills are needed for being able to be a lawyer. According to the Hager & Schwartz site, here are some skills needed to be a criminal defense.
Having Good Communications Skills
A lawyer needs to be able to communicate well to the judge and jury. Besides, you also have to be a good listener because you have to listen to the cases of your client and if you become a good listener, you will be able to decide the appropriate strategies that you need to use for defending your clients.
As a lawyer, you also need to be able to communicate effectively with other lawyers or prosecutors who are involved in the cases. It is done to negotiate terms and conditions relating to your clients’ release or court settlement.
Being critical in the courtroom is also part of communication skills. When a lawyer presents a case in front of a judge and jury, he or she needs to be confident and not be intimidated by judges or prosecutors.
Having Integrity
When you become a lawyer, you need to have integrity. Make sure that you live by strong moral principles. It is important because when you become a lawyer for your client, you will have to protect your client’s rights and to make the right decisions.
Lawyer Needs to Care and Understand
When your client is charged with a crime, it is scary and stressful for him or her. Your presence is not only to defend him or her, but also to understand and to be empathetic to your client’s situation. By behaving like this, it can help to reduce your client’s emotional stress.
When you become a lawyer, you also have to be concerned for your client’s safety and understand the emotional impact on your client’s family members. As a lawyer, you also need to be able to minimize public exposure so that your client can maintain their privacy.
Having Analytical Skills
As a lawyer, you need to be able to show your sharp thinking and quick rebuttals when you are defending your client in the courtroom and it must be done when you negotiate terms, challenge the prosecution, or close arguments to the jury.
Having Good Research and Investigation Skills
It is important for you to note that criminal defense involves a lot of research and time. Not only that, every case is unique and if you use a cookie-cutter approach to your client’s defense, it will not work. It means that you need to be interested in doing legal research of other similar cases. Besides, you also need to dive more deeply into your specific case where it is done to find anything that may have been overlooked that could show that your client is innocent or at least can reduce the charge.
Having Aggressiveness
Sometimes, being aggressive is important in the defense of your client’s criminal case. If you are aggressive at the right time and place, it can be an advantage for your client. If a lawyer is passionate about advocating for their clients’ rights and using aggressiveness at the right time, it can have a better outcome for the clients.
Having Approachability
When you become a lawyer for someone, it means that you represent him or her in a criminal case and he or she relies on you for the best results. Your client will want to have a lawyer who can be comfortable with them so that your client can be approachable and capable of communicating with you. so, having approachability is needed.
Having Criminal Law Experience
After you complete your education and pass the bar exam, you may want to move into an area of specialization. If you do it, it means that you decide to work in a specific area of the law. Let’s say that your client is facing severe criminal charges. If so, your client does not want to put their freedom in the hands of an attorney who handles mostly civil cases. They surely need a lawyer who knows the way around the criminal justice system. And it will be better if the lawyer has a lot of experience with specific crimes or crimes that your client is being charged with. Your client may ask you about case studies and successes that you have achieved.
Lawyer Needs to Have Connections to the Local Legal Community
It is important for you to note that the legal community has a very different structure in every city, county, and state. As a lawyer, you have to know prosecutors. Let’s say that someone is facing criminal charges in Miami. It makes sense that he or she wants a well established Miami criminal defense attorney that advocates on his or her behalf. Through the reputation that you have and also your involvement in the local legal community, you will know how to solve problems and who to contact to get important information.
A Lawyer Needs to Keep Confidentiality
When your client discusses their case with you, all the things that they say are confidential where it must only be known by you and your client. If there is breach of confidential information, it can hurt the client’s case and also this behaviour is not ethical. Often, it is called an attorney-client privilege where it is your client’s right to have privacy in your case.
That’s all a number of skills that you need to have if you want to be a criminal defense lawyer. So, have you had these skills? If you are sure that you want to be a lawyer, but there are still some skills that you do not have, you are able to train the skills. However, if you think that you cannot have these skills to be a lawyer, it may be better for you to look for another career path.
A bookworm and researcher especially related to law and citizenship education. I spend time every day in front of the internet and the campus library.
