Advice for Young Attorneys
Steve Bennett, a partner in the New York office of Jones Day, has written an article titled “Communication Skills are Crucial to Success.”
It’s geared towards young attorneys, and it starts like so:
Law is a service profession. Good service depends on good communication. Good communication must be relevant, focused and timely.
Yet, law school essentially teaches future lawyers nothing about good communication skills. There are courses in legal writing and advocacy, but little about the day-to-day practice of law.
Freshly minted lawyers, as a result, often have poor communication skills. Such underdeveloped skills can, in practice, be as harmful to a budding career as lapses in judgment or even downright incompetence.
Let’s review some key aspects of good communication that junior lawyers should begin to develop in their first days of practice. These skills are enduring. No matter the area of practice, type of position (government, in-house or law firm) or size of the institution with which the lawyer associates, good communication skills will always serve a lawyer well.
