Stellar Academic Record:
While a stellar academic record is not exactly a ‘skill’ required to be a successful solicitor in the City, it indicates that the solicitor in question has some of the qualities required for success. A stellar academic record shows that the solicitor possesses intellectual ability and can put that intellectual ability to use through hard work and focus. I understand that the work of a solicitor in a City law firm is rigorous and demanding. So the solicitor in question must have proved on paper that he/she can cope with such demands. This can be done by demonstrating excellence in the academic arena. In particular, performance in the law degree must be impressive as a law degree focuses on the skills and knowledge that are relevant to a law career e.g. the ability to absorb, assimilate and analyse complex material very quickly, attention to detail, etc. Therefore, outstanding academic
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To serve such clients well, a solicitor must have commercial awareness. This means that he/she must understand the business world. What the client business’ aims and objectives are e.g. profit maximization, what type of market are they competing in e.g. an oligopolistic market with a cartel, what the government’s role is e.g. the industry may be heavily regulated, are all questions that the solicitor must know the answers to. In the financial services industry for example, firms engage in the trading of complex financial products. It will be difficult to give legal advice to a financial firm when the adviser doesn’t clearly understand what exactly the firm does. An understanding of the environment that a commercial client operates in will also help the solicitor give legal advice in the commercial context. Clients will appreciate a legal adviser who has a firm understanding of their organisation and the factors affecting it; and keeping clients happy is crucial to retaining