82 per cent of Canadian lawyers put greater weight on technical skills versus “soft skills”
A survey by legal consulting and staffing firm Robert Half Legal says 82 per cent of Canadian lawyers put “somewhat” or “much” greater weight on technical skills versus “soft skills.” Only 4 per cent said they put somewhat greater weight on soft skills, while none put “much greater” weight on soft skills versus technical knowledge.
The survey respondents included 150 full-time lawyers in Canada at law firms with 20 or more employees or in corporate legal departments at companies with 1,000 or more employees.
The top areas of technology competence for lawyers are cybersecurity, data analytics and artificial intelligence, all favoured by about half of respondents, said the survey.
"With cybersecurity and data privacy at the forefront of many business issues, technical knowledge is essential for job candidates in the legal field," said Jamy Sullivan, executive director of Robert Half Legal, in a statement. "To provide superior client service, lawyers need to possess strong interpersonal abilities and leverage the latest technology, such as task automation, data analytics and information management tools, to enhance productivity and derive more successful outcomes."
