Joseph Craig
Learning new ideas in the business law sector will help lawyers handle emerging issues effectively.
While speaking to Aussie Lawyer Blog, Professor William MacNeil said there is a distinct need for lawyers to acquire effective business law skills.
The legal profession is currently undergoing profound changes and lawyers should be ready to embrace the new changes. In fact, many professionals working in the legal industry are already aware of this.
This year presents a highly competitive market and one can easily tell with the change being driven by savvy legal entrepreneurs, new practice management apps, social media and digital technology.
A number of law firms are rapidly taking new practices such as working ‘remotely’ on a ‘fixed fee’ basis. However, these practices were far from being achievable and would seem as an absurd preposition in the legal profession a few decades ago.
When engaging legal professionals, clients often look for the form of technology that they use. This is because it helps them get quick access to information. Hence, this shows us the impact that technology has on the practice of law. In addition, clients get better informed when they get introduced to new legal technology.
In the long run, this not only drives massive competition among junior legal professionals but also between law firms looking to penetrate the industry filled with numerous obstacles.
However, it is not a must that junior practitioners and graduates should work for a law firm immediately after law school. They can get involved in other legal services like legal research or they can even choose to be freelance lawyers.
There is increasing demand for legal professionals and with knowledge of transactional law. Legally trained professionals are easily getting their way into various companies across the nation. This is because corporations and companies have started realising the importance of hiring legally trained experts.
However, you should be careful to avoid getting kicked out in the overcrowded job market. Hence you should consider a specialisation in an area of business or law. The increasingly sophisticated client group demands quality service from law firms. Specialising in various business law skills will help lawyers offer quality services to their clients.
Achieving appropriate set of skills is critical towards offering top quality services to clients. The fierce employment market requires employees to immediately compete with their counterparts and companies are now forced to offer specialised professionals.
Postgraduate study can be the best solution towards achieving an effective yet efficient way of cultivating a specialty in business or law. Professionals who wish to specialise in business law should consider going to universities that offer reputable courses such as Master of Laws (LLM) or Master of Business Law (MBL).
It is true that lawyers with an LLM or MBL will stand out in the overcrowded legal market. They will strategically set themselves in a position that they can easily win prospective clients.
Specialising in MBL and LLM will make lawyers more responsive and adaptable to emerging issues in the legal practice, and in other areas such as global regulations, product liability and intellectual property.
