A lack of basic telephone and interpersonal skills among junior lawyers has led legal education providers to question how they can plug the gap.
Gripes about junior lawyers mentioned to The Lawyer by partners across the legal industry include being too scared to pick up the phone to call a client, and not knowing how to professionally conduct oneself once the number has been dialled.
One partner said: “A big problem we have with our current trainees and NQs is getting them to pick up the phone. They don’t have the confidence to hold a conversation and I think that comes from hybrid-working and not overhearing how senior colleagues speak to their clients on the phone.
They added: “Juniors would much rather engage with clients via WhatsApp.”
Many of the skills that would have been gained in-person are by now picked up by video, text or email as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Using a telephone can seem redundant, and partners say trainees coming through these days are not equipped with these skills.
Other abilities cited as lacking include not knowing how to network or scan documents.
One provider exploring soft skills training is Barbri. The company has kicked off market research to identify where the skills gap sits when it comes to aspiring and trainee lawyers.
Lucie Allen, managing director at Barbri Global, told The Lawyer: “Barbri is focused on supporting and preparing lawyers and their employers in a changing legal industry.
“The skills needed to be a successful lawyer of today and the future are evolving and educators must adapt. We have recently kicked off specific market research to better understand the gaps that exist today as well as horizon scan so that we continue to provide excellent solutions to support our students on their SQE journey and beyond.”
More law firms are looking at upskilling their trainees outside of the typical technical training expected as part of a training contract.
Browne Jacobson and Dentons, for example, are two firms that have embedded being ‘O-Shaped’ into their legal training. This is an initiative that focuses on making the legal industry more client-led and people-focused. Through applying O-Shaped principles to business and training, the aim is to encourage lawyers to engage in a more human and empathetic way, delivering better outcomes for both lawyers and their clients.
Couldn’t agree more with the article but the nature of the problem is becoming clear – a number of our client firms have highlighted a general lack of confidence that underpins the lack of these skills in developing layers. At the College of Legal Practice, we have developed our O Shaped module to deliver these practical skills, with the support of Dan Kayne and the O Shaped Lawyer team , to our clients and students. We have also embedded these practical skills within our LLM with the Legal Business Skills module, to kickstart paralegals and trainees in these skills beyond what you would have seen in the old training contract regime.
Its crucial that organisations recognise how structured training is key here, rather than rely just on general encouragement and vague hopes that such skills will come with experience. Investing in NQs development and growing their junior lawyers confidence (for example, in building client relationships) will really assist not only both business development for the firm but also drive retention of junior lawyers within the firm.