Key Skills in the Legal Sector in 2018

In a market where change is constant, it is important to build a team of professionals who have the essential skills, but are also able to adapt in order to navigate new challenges. They must be able to propel your business forward with innovative problem-solving and unique ideas.

To ensure your business is best placed in throughout the rest of the year, we have put together a list of the most in-demand skills within the legal sector. Our team of specialist legal consultants work closely with organizations of all sizes and know exactly which skills you need to drive your business forward. Make sure your team encompasses professionals with the skills and capabilities set to shape the legal sector this year.

Concise communication

Accessible communication is considered a distinguishing feature, a value-add, and a selling point.

The language of law is highly complex. As a result, some professionals in the sector can have a tendency to overelaborate. In private practice, using clear language and writing with clarity can do a great deal for a firm's operations. Many commercial organizations use plain language as a distinguishing feature.

Lawyers who can converse clearly and concisely on highly complex subjects with people who are not as knowledgeable can add a huge amount of value. Plain language can be seen as a distinguishing feature, a significant value-add and as a selling point in itself.

Social media law

Data protection, copyright, libel and privacy laws all apply to social media.

With social media often at the very heart of political, business, and cultural discourse these days, there is increased scrutiny on who is posting what, and where they are posting it. A retweet can land an individual in court, reuse of a photo without permission could breach copyright, and a post containing false information may be libelous.

With social media evolving rapidly, the regulations are always changing. All the while, companies, individuals, and groups are using the medium more and more. Therefore, lawyers who specialize in Social Media Law and Regulation are highly employable in 2018.

Horizon Scanning

Scrutinizing data on regulatory and legislative changes future-proofs and identifies opportunity.

While recent years have brought unexpected changes locally and globally -- particularly in politics -- firms which can get ahead of change are best positioned to succeed in the future. Change can be viewed as a potential risk or as a massive opportunity, and by instigating a formal process of horizon scanning, firms can ensure that they are prepared for the latter.

Gathering, analyzing, and communicating information on regulatory and legislative changes can help to both future-proof and identify opportunity. This requires an analytical mind and an intimate knowledge of regulations.

Business Development

In a busy marketplace legal firms should always be looking for ways to stand out from the competition and considering a vision for development of future cases. Especially as so many businesses are hiring their own in-house legal team.

There are a great many ways to bring new clientele into a firm: structured networking, building brand credibility, and nurturing existing client relations are just a few. These tactics require clever marketing, thought leadership, and the hiring of the right talent to push the firm forward. It requires someone with both a clear strategic vision and the capabilities to see the development through.

Financial Services Expertise

From blockchain to Bitcoin, financial services law is ever-changing and firms must keep up.

Financial services law has to work pretty hard to keep up with advances in technology. With blockchain, distributed ledgers, smart contracts, cryptocurrencies, and more to keep on top of, there is sure to be plenty of work for lawyers in this space throughout 2018 and beyond.

These technologies are pretty radical departures from traditional operating models, meaning that careful legal and regulatory analysis is required in order to use them. Given the ever-changing nature of the technology involved, this is set to be a busy area of law over the coming years.

Cross Jurisdiction

Before globalization really took hold, lawyers could practice will little to no cross-jurisdictional knowledge. However, the skills and abilities of dual-qualified solicitors are set to be in high demand in 2018. Being able to traverse diverse legal systems from different jurisdictions is no longer solely the domain of the global firm. Now leading domestic firms are expanding and taking on international work, and therefore need professionals who can take on cross-jurisdiction work in litigation, arbitration, and injunctions.

For a confidential discussion about how we can ensure you have the right legal talent on your team, get in touch with one of our specialist consultants in our in-house and private practice teams.