Aaaah – the dreaded phrase. “Commercial awareness” is a term which strikes fear into most aspiring lawyers’ hearts!
I think this is because there’s so much confusion around what it means, and how you can possess it.
Now that I’m fortunate to sit ‘on the other side of the table’, I feel that I’m in a position to really appreciate what commercial awareness is.
In my opinion, there is far too much emphasis on actually acquiring knowledge. You don’t need to read the FT cover to cover every day. But you do need to be able to analyse issues in the context of law firms and their clients.
This guide sets out a framework for applying your knowledge both to law firms’ clients and the firms themselves, and some tools for understanding how law firms run as a business.
My commercial awareness tracker gives you a place to document the sector issues you’re interested in, track them over time, and there’s even a handy section to add any new developments pre-interview.
Download the commercial awareness guide and tracker
I really hope these are useful and I would love to know your thoughts & feedback! I definitely see these as a ‘first edition’ which can be built on and improved over time!
