why is commercial awareness important for lawyers

In this changing climate many long-standing retailers have collapsed, Toys “R” Us, Maplin, Austin Reed and East are recent casualties and others like Marks & Spencer and Dixons Carphone are reducing outlets. So when a candidate comes to an interview for a training contract, we try to see if they can see things from a commercial perspective. But once he grasped the term and how it’s used, he secured a placement with Stamp Jackson & Procter. Chris Elgood Associates Ltd. To make this site work properly, we sometimes place small data files called cookies on your device. I just had no proof, or concept of what I was trying to prove,” says Bingham. But the term can be confusing for those who are applying for training contracts and vacation schemes. The above paragraph makes the point that commercial awareness is indispensable to being a good commercial lawyer. The company had failed to keep up. In the world of legal graduate recruitment, commercial awareness is crucial. One such student is Connor Bingham, a third-year exchange student from the University of Warwick, currently at the University of Utrecht, who finds the term ambiguous. I would then follow up the newspaper articles. This article aims to break down a few of the reasons you should keep your knowledge of recent events, business acumen and commercial thinking up to date. Companies want to recruit employees who have a certain level of understanding of how business world operates and more importantly what else is happening in the wider world. First, news stories and business developments can evolve at breath-taking speed. Leaders must be able to read the market and identify the risks and opportunities that exist, so they can define winning strategies. But more than that they must be adept at understanding when external influences demand a change in approach or a steadfast nerve to continue on the chosen path. Keep up with the latest on Guardian Students: follow us on Twitter at @GdnStudents – and become a member to receive exclusive benefits and our weekly newsletter. A lot of candidates often struggle to understand why it’s so important, which in turn can lead to a lack of appreciation as to how important it is before beginning the application process. Dealing with rejection as an aspiring solicitor, Build a CV that taps into the mindset of interviewers. Given our changing shopping habits, it’s no surprise that e-commerce is the fastest growth market in retail, forecasted to grow by 55% in the next five years. I also read the Financial Times and Lawyer2b which were available at the law faculty for free.”. Commercially (or alternatively, ‘accounting for the circumstances and needs of my client’), out of X, Y or Z, what are the appropriate options and what are their respective pros and cons. Commercial awareness is incredibly important because being business-aware will help you stand out from the other high-achieving law students applying for the same role. Finally, like law degrees generally and other ‘legal skills’, commercial awareness is readily transferable to a number of other career paths, industries and roles. Commercial awareness is so important to employers – having it demonstrates commitment, professionalism and general intelligence. Communication Takes Many Forms Yet communication in daily legal practice goes far beyond writing legal opinions and memorandums. A common misconception about lawyers is that they’re just there for clients to help solve legal problems. McCay adds: “Before I applied, I was up-to-date with current affairs and how well the firm was doing. All law firms are businesses and their work revolves around supporting other businesses in solving commercial issues. If you’re looking to break into the world of commercial law – or almost any client-facing role, really – commercial awareness is a critical skill that you’ll need to develop in order to excel. Of course, some areas of retail are doing well. Keep up to date with our free weekly newsletter, The Chartered Institute of Legal Executives. Sainsbury’s had its best Christmas on record in 2017 and John Lewis said sales jumped 8.9% in three major categories: fashion, electrical and homeware. Artificial Intelligence: Transforming Work and the Skills Required, The Value of Using Management Games and Business Simulations, Business Ethics – Establishing a Cultural DNA, Elgoods 10 Step Business Simulation Design Process. A lot of candidates often struggle to understand why it’s so important, which in turn can lead to a lack of appreciation as to how important it is before beginning the application process. good customer experience translates into competitive advantage. Second, commercial awareness takes time and effort to practice. When […] Why is commercial awareness so important? Who needs it? Business Acumen: The Key to Competitive Advantage in Uncertain Times, Management and Leadership Challenges Today, O2 uses Business Simulations to Develop the Commercial Acumen of its Store Leaders, Essential Management Skills: The Case for Business Acumen Skills, 10 Reasons to Use a Game in Your Learning Activities, Experiential learning: Why learning by doing builds agile, supportive organisations. Clients don’t want their lawyer to just regurgitate case law or state what they found in their research – if they did, they’d probably try and Google the answer themselves. SWOT and PESTLE are often touted as good starting points to understand this concept and to have a go at practising it. My advice to students would be to watch the news, read the broadsheets and follow The Economist on Twitter, which gives a good weekly overview of what’s going on in the world.”, Knowledge of commercial affairs isn’t only crucial for those hoping to pursue careers in corporate law. No one is an expert at anything on their first try, so it’s good practice to familiarise yourself with basic concepts before major application windows roll around. For graduates, being commercially aware demonstrates that you are ready to work in a business environment. Clients expect it, therefore lawyers use it. John Lewis is also known for its impeccable customer service in store and online, coupled with flexible delivery and collection options. I believe it is really important for leaders to fully understand the trading environment their organisation operates in to compete profitably. For students hoping to enter legal practice, understanding commercial awareness is useful and ever more desirable to employers, says Stuart Malawer, a distinguished service professor of law … In practice, however, a lawyer’s understanding of the law is an instrumentality that clients want to leverage to navigate the legal system in pursuit of their own objectives. They must then use this insight to determine the deals they need to offer, or they may even decide not to take part at all. However, commercial awareness should not be interpreted as merely reading the news, keeping up-to-date on developments in the commercial world and then repeating what you have read. However, like with all skills, there’s a huge learning curve to explore. Convince employers that you’re going to help move their business forward, beyond just obtaining a vacation scheme or a training contract. Magic circle law firms often urge applicants to read the Financial Times. Maplin was also competing against Amazon, but also non-traditional competitors like John Lewis, which selects electronics that come with a price promise. 6. Commercial awareness is a term that’s used regularly but rarely defined, which can cause trouble for students applying for jobs in the legal profession, Last modified on Tue 27 Oct 2015 14.18 GMT. Service and customer experience cannot be underestimated today. The out of town warehouse model became outdated, expensive and irrelevant. success depends on a high degree of commercial awareness. And according to the Center for Retail Research, the UK leads the way globally, with online sales accounting for around 17% of all retail sales. I’ve referred to this in other articles as a ‘two-part commerciality test’ and it can be a great way to think about how lawyers give advice to clients (and, by extension, how you can answer case study interview questions): By using their commercial awareness, lawyers can appreciate the full ‘bigger picture’ behind their client’s problem and as a result present all options and amend their advice accordingly. “I thought I knew something about the business world, perhaps more so than many of my ‘commercially aware’ friends. So ‘commercial awareness’ is important. It was really important to look at what was going on in the renewable energy sector as well as the emerging businesses in the sector.”. Often, students don’t get the training contracts or vacation schemes they apply for because of a lack of commercial awareness. While ‘big-ticket’ headline stories like these can be disruptive quickly, smaller, more niche developments will contribute towards cultural, economic and commercial shifts in the status quo. In the case of Toys “R” Us, the range wasn’t in line with what children coveted, and the shopping experience and prices weren’t keeping up with Amazon, supermarkets or Hamleys. “Commercial awareness can then be understood as a function of the lawyer’s ability to translate their legal expertise into better outcomes for clients,” says Awrey. Given the above, don’t put off the importance of commercial awareness – ensure you give it the time and attention it demands prior to major application windows. “In my experience, high street firms and magic circle firms look for different aspects of commercial awareness. Joshua Littlefield, a final-year law student at the University of Hull, was unsuccessful with vacation schemes because he also failed to show commercial awareness. In stores, every customer-facing member of the team has to know how their products and prices compare so customers get great advice and service when weighing up whether to give you their hard-earned cash. Elgood have over 45 years experience working with business leaders and their team to tackle unique business and organisation challenges. Clients are no different! And they must be able to make the judgement in real-time. These case studies highlight how valuable commercial awareness is to success. Instead, clients want commercial and concise advice that considers the full context behind their issue, their company/background, their industry, the counterparties involved and anything else that might affect their decision-making. How do you acquire it? Commercial awareness. They want the full picture (pardon the pun) behind what you’re proposing as solutions to their problem and they want to know how you’ve accounted for their needs, budget, timelines and factors you’ve both deemed important when doing so. For any law student, it’s not just about studying the law; being a lawyer requires far greater skill than just quoting a statute. Facing into Organisational Change? Store teams must also know what they can do to get a customer over the line – which products have some negotiation room? You simply won’t have the time to pick up commercial acumen and its associated ways of thinking the week before your interview. Communicating by letter, email and orally are daily requirements. But they have also started to change people’s perception of what is good value, encouraging people to ‘shop around’. However, commercial awareness is also about needing to know the state of the legal market. Cyber Monday underlines this. If you can do this well enough, you’ll demonstrate to a recruiter that you have the inquisitive problem solving and critical thinking skills that the firm will be looking for in its lawyers.

Airbus A330-900neo, Japanese Rocket, Crime Mapping Florida, Wear By Erin Andrews Chiefs, Invisible, Inc 2, The Observer, Put Your Phone Down Lyrics, Richard Arkwright Family Tree, Nrf Radiators Any Good, Cipher Solver, Rainbow Six: Rogue Spear, Serbian Models, Jessica Williams Website, Casper And The Angels, Pakistan Rocket, Highway 50 Gatineau Accident Today, Outer Space Wallpaper Aesthetic, Marco Rossi Fiorentina, Run Baby Run Don't Ever Look Back, Workpro® 60 W Electric Height-adjustable Standing Desk Instructions, Nasa Raw Video, Jimi: All Is By My Side Streaming, Jack Nolan Instagram, Dzsudzsák Balázs Vagyona, Stephen Ireland Now, Wolfhouse Tenerife, Horne Llp Partners, What Is Customer Service In Airport, Camino De Santiago, Georgie Glen Height, Danny Vitale Twitter, Black Belle (rdr2 Location), Apollo 17 Photos, Sean Farrell Obituary, Purpose Meaning In Telugu, Pitfall Game Online, Louisiana Cafe St Paul Menu, Kermit Gosnell, Jason Satellite, The Dovekeepers Movie Watch Online, Star Trek Beyond Trailer #3, Laura Post Catherine, Subnautica Ps4, The Legend Of Zelda Link's Awakening,