Legal research analyst skills for your resume and career

Whether trial or transactional, a lawyer's ability to spot issues and think critically about those issues is crucial to success. The world moves fast, and I think that has encouraged all of us to look for the "quick" answer. We're conditioned to think if we need to know something, we can just look it up. But the law doesn't work that way. First, lawyers have to have a sufficient knowledge base to spot not just the obvious issues but those that are not so obvious. And then the lawyer has to be willing to spend the time and intellectual capital to think hard about the issues, do some research, and then think even harder about them. In a world where "action" represents the typical coin of the realm, it can be difficult for lawyers to exercise the discipline required to slow down and think before they act. But those who do develop a reputation as excellent strategists, and this is a very marketable skill.

Two things: Research skills, especially research skills specific to a particular specialty area like tax or immigration. If you're looking for work in these fields, you need to be knowledgeable about where and how to research law relevant to these specialties. Secondly, just minimum competence in the technology you need to practice law in the absence of significant administrative assistance - things like Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and billing software.

Stay abreast of new trends. Read broadly and be widely curious. Keep up with advances in English literature (since so much of interpretation of Classical texts follows similar lines).