It’s fair to say that lawyers are generally perceived to be “skilled” professionals. In courtroom dramas, lawyers are depicted as being articulate, intelligent, and competent.
But what do these competencies actually consist of? What are the specific skills needed to be a lawyer, besides the knowledge you need to be a lawyer?
We’ll take a look at both the soft and hard lawyer skills you need to run a successful legal practice.
What are Lawyer Skills?
Lawyer skills encompass a range of abilities, including technical know-how, critical thinking, communication, and interpersonal skills. These skills allow a lawyer to conduct legal research, provide counsel to clients, negotiate and draft agreements, represent clients in court proceedings, and resolve legal issues ethically and effectively.
Soft Skills for Lawyers
While legal knowledge can win cases, these soft skills for lawyers can help win trust. In the following sections, we break down the interpersonal and cognitive skills crucial for the modern lawyer, or someone studying to become one.
1. Communication
Lawyers must be able to communicate well in both written and oral formats. Expressing long chains of complicated reasoning, both when speaking and when writing, is among the most basic attorney skills. Outside of the courtroom, effective client communication is extremely important for case success and internal operations.
Client intake: Successful lawyers should be able to put themselves in their clients’ shoes, and elicit the information that best represents them, without being prying or too aggressive.
Courtroom communication: Attorneys should have no problem explaining complex concepts clearly to juries and judges.
Internal client communication: Avoid confusion and earn positive reviews by promptly sharing important dates, case reminders, invoices, and more with clients.
Professional client communication tip:
The right legal software can make client communication easier. Look for software with a client portal that allows you to share important dates and case reminders with clients, send invoices, and organize all case information. Solutions like MyCase even offer built-in, secure text messaging to easily stay in contact with all your clients.
2. Attention to Detail
There’s no way around the fact that attention to detail is a foundational legal skill. Billion-dollar lawsuits can be won or lost based on some minute technicality, and the ability to track such nuances is a huge advantage.
For example, in Pennzoil v. Texaco (1985), Pennzoil's legal team's detailed review of internal memos led to a $10.3 billion victory. Their legal team's ability to spot and highlight contractual language in fine-print details won them the case.
To ensure your legal team is the most detail-oriented for each case, there are a few procedures that can help, including:
Using checklists to avoid missing key steps in processes.
Practicing active reading and note-taking.
Standardizing common tasks.
Creating document templates.
Proofreading all legal documents + getting a second set of eyes or an AI proofreading tool for additional review.
Asking for feedback from peers and mentors.
Legal software like MyCase offers a flexible and powerful way to organize legal documents, automate document creation with templates, and refine your writing with the help of AI. With the basics covered, you can focus on the fine details and reduce the likelihood that a crucial detail will slip through unnoticed.
3. Time Management
The ability to effectively manage your schedule is an essential attorney skill. The chances are good that you’ll manage several cases simultaneously, in addition to office meetings, emails, and all other obligations. While court schedules are fixed, there are other ways to improve your time management in your day-to-day work.
Set dedicated time periods for administrative work, client calls, and deep focus case work.
Utilize macro-deadlines to help move cases forward.
Track billable and non-billable time carefully to review your efficiency and discover opportunities for improvement.
Work flex hours into your weekly schedule in case of client emergencies or other unforeseen circumstances.
4. Teamwork
Most lawyers today work as part of a team. According to the American Bar Association, fewer than 1% of law school graduates start a solo practice, so the chances are extremely good that you’ll end up with colleagues (at least in the beginning).
There are advantages and disadvantages to being part of a legal team. Working with a team of lawyers can make it easier to manage a case. However, having teammates means you’ll need to understand the vagaries of the personalities you’re dealing with, learn basic conflict resolution, etc. You can set yourself up for success with the following tips for improved teamwork and collaboration.
Assign clear roles and responsibilities for each team member at the start of the case.
Regularly offer status updates to your team members.
Use task management tools to track assignment status.
Provide actionable feedback, and accept it when given to you.
Acknowledge all team member contributions and share credit for wins.
Address inter-team conflicts privately in a calm manner.
Offer support, especially when deadlines are tight, but don't micromanage your team members.
5. Ethical Judgement
Ethics is one of the key (and crucial) skills needed to be a lawyer. The law ultimately rests on a philosophical view of justice—it’s wrong to hurt or defraud others, and jurisprudence has emerged as a way of punishing those who break these rules while making their victims whole. An easy way to stay true to your ethics is by following a checklist when you're uncertain. Here are a few questions to get your checklist started:
Do I have all the needed facts about this situation?
Have I confirmed the facts, or am I acting on assumptions or client-driven narratives?
Have I reviewed all applicable policies?
Does this decision abide by my state's Rules of Professional Conduct?
Could this create an actual, potential, or perceived conflict of interest?
5. Negotiation
Negotiation is a critical soft skill requirement for lawyers to resolve disputes efficiently and secure better outcomes for their clients. Whether it's a settlement discussion, plea deal, or contract agreement, strong negotiation skills can save time, reduce litigation costs, and preserve relationships. Successful negotiators understand leverage, timing, and how to balance firmness with flexibility. They also know when to push, when to pause, and when to walk away.
Hard Skills for Lawyers
Hard lawyer skills are the teachable, measurable capabilities that form the foundation of legal work, from research and writing to courtroom advocacy and technology use. Mastering these skills ensures lawyers can earn the best results for their clients.
1. Analytical Skills
Analytical legal skills are a core skill required to be a laywer. However, they require consistent effort. Strengthening analytical skills involves consistently challenging assumptions, asking more insightful questions, and rigorously testing your own logic on a daily basis. You can hone these skills with daily practice.
Dissect winning briefs, dissents, and arguments. How did they build their case, topple counterarguments, and present complex issues?
Put yourself in the opposition's shoes. Are there any exploitable loopholes in your argument?
On the administrative side, legal analytics solutions can help you understand how each case is performing, how much time you or your legal team are spending on cases on average, where the greatest inefficiencies are, and what kinds of clients are the best fit for your legal skills.
2. Legal Research
Attorneys specializing in litigation should be proficient in legal research platforms. This skill is crucial for developing compelling legal arguments and predicting opposing lawyers' strategies.
Use trusted tools like Westlaw or LexisNexis to streamline case research and ensure accuracy in your arguments.
Keep up with recent case law and rulings to avoid shifts in judicial reasoning and legal standards.
3. Legal Writing
Like spoken communication, legal writing skills are paramount to simplifying complex legal terms and language into something juries and judges can easily understand. To improve your legal writing skills, try the following:
Practice translating complex legal language into simple explanations to make your briefs and client updates more accessible.
Edit your work ruthlessly by cutting jargon, avoiding passive voice, and aiming for clarity and impact.
Read briefs from successful attorneys to learn the tone, rhythm, and techniques of persuasive legal writing.
Hard Skills for Running a Successful Law Practice
In addition to core legal competencies, today’s attorneys must also master essential business skills to open a private practice or firm leadership. These skills go beyond case strategy, they help lawyers build sustainable, client-focused, and efficient practices.
1. Case Management
Even the most persuasive lawyers will struggle if their internal case management skills are lacking. Effective case management allows you to keep your practice organized, efficient, and client-focused. These case management tips can help you streamline your day-to-day work:
Use case management software (like MyCase) to centralize documents, deadlines, and communications—eliminating the chaos of scattered emails and spreadsheets.
Create workflows and task templates for repeatable case types to reduce busywork, ensure consistency, and allow you to focus on the fine details.
Leverage calendar integrations and deadline reminders to avoid missed court dates, filing deadlines, or follow-ups with clients.
Use client portals to streamline communication, reducing back-and-forth emails and improving client satisfaction with self-service access to case updates.
2. Legal Marketing
Marketing is a legal skill that could easily be classified as “technology” since so much of it is done through blogs and social media.
While many lawyers rely on word of mouth for lead generation, more lawyers find it worth their time to establish other legal marketing channels. Writing a blog, for example, can increase monthly leads by nearly 90%, and with billions of people using some form of social media, putting out video content on platforms like TikTok or YouTube can also be a winning strategy.
3. Technological Proficiency
There’s no escaping the fact that technology is playing an increasingly important role in almost every profession, and law is no different. From case management to time tracking to data analytics, technology is helping lawyers get more done in less time. The ability to use legal technology is, therefore, something that can set you apart from other lawyers.
Learn to use a tool like MyCase for interacting with your clients.
Explore tools for eDiscovery, document automation, and time tracking to streamline repetitive tasks.
Dive into advanced technologies like generative AI for your research.
Elevate Your Legal Skills with Help from MyCase
Being a lawyer draws on many competencies, including knowledge of case law, precedent, legal proceedings, and many other domains.
Today’s attorneys need to hone soft and hard skills to compete in their chosen fields. Lawyers can elevate every aspect of their work with a little legwork, an ongoing dedication to professional growth, and the right tools.
All of this becomes much easier with the right legal software. You can sign up for a 10-day free trial or schedule a MyCase demo today to learn more about our low-cost monthly and yearly subscriptions, with no commitment or credit card needed.
About the author
Trent Fowler