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Introduction
INTAKE
UNCATEGORIZED
1A1: The Traditional
and the Modern
Attorney
by Leon Kalicharan September 17, 2013 0
Comments
TRADITIONAL SKILLS
The skills of the traditional attorney are still very
relevant to modern practice. The skill sets can
be found in the Quality Management Policy of
the Council of Legal Education 2008.
(located at Course Materials Page on TWEN or
on the Remedies blog). Some of these skills
include:
1. The ability to:
1. take instructions from ones client,
another lawyer or the court;
2. follow those instructions;
3. identify the fact(s) in issue;
4. identify legal issues arising from the facts
in issue;
5. research all relevant law, procedure and
practice governing issues;
6. apply relevant law to the appropriate
facts;
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7. recognize when he/she does not know
and seek advice from a competent
source;
8. argue effectively, meaning that he must
present his work:
in a structured and logical manner;
clearly;
concisely; and
with consistency.
1. Further, a lawyer must ensure:
effective and thorough preparation of his
matter;
effective presentation of his matter;
that he utilizes the art of persuasion to
convince his audience; and
that the interest of his client is always at
the forefront of his mind and that all
advice and action taken on behalf of the
client is geared to meet the specific
needs of that client bearing in mind the
clients practical circumstances.
1. Finally, a lawyer must dispassionately
review all his work. Where necessary he
may need to have someone else review
such work where he is inexperienced or
too close to the work to competently do so
himself.

MODERN SKILLS
However, because of the changes in the legal
landscape which have occurred over the last 30
years, there are additional skills which an
attorney must consider and develop if they are
to navigate the challenges and opportunities
that are ahead of us. These changes have
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been driven by globalisation, ICT and the
increased complexity of modern life which is
leading to an unprecedented growth in
specialisation of practice into various fields. See
also the web paper Lawyers and their Skills
located at http://www.lsac.org/jd/think/lawyers-
skills.asp
READINGS
In this Part, you will be provided with the within
reading materials to start your consideration of
this topic and you will be required to do your
own research to further your knowledge for
discussion. The papers written by me provide a
Caribbean perspective. Other papers provide
an international perspective. You are not
required to read all these papers but should
select one or two to consider in preparation for
discussion.
1. Of Relevance, Revolution and the
Power of One The Challenges of the
Young Attorney Michael Theodore
2. The Role of Information Technology in
the Legal Profession and its
Implications for Legal Education in
the Caribbean Paper prepared by
Michael Theodore for the Strategic
Planning Committee of the Council of
Legal Education 2003.
3. Top Ten Legal Skills: By Sally Kane,
About.com Guide. See
http://legalcareers.about.com/od/legalcare
erbasics/tp/Legal-Skills.htm
4. The Modern Eclectic Lawyer: This is
an extremely good short paper written by
a South African law student on his blog at
http://tshepomothulwe.blogspot.com/2012/
02/modern-eclectic-lawyer-during-times-
of.html
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1A: Remedies in
the Arsenal of the
Modern Lawyer
1B: Strategies for
Client Satisfaction/
Customer Service
5. Core Competence: 6 New Skills now
Required of Lawyers Published: July 4,
2008. Located at
http://www.law21.ca/2008/07/04/core-
competence-6-new-skills-now-required-of-
lawyers/
6. What Skills are required to Become a
Lawyer:
http://www.ultimatelawguide.com/careers/a
rticles/what-skills-are-required-to-become-
a-lawyer.html
7. Are lawyers becoming obsolete?
http://www.advocatedaily.com/2012/06/are
-lawyers-becoming-obsolete-in-the-age-
of-the-internet/?
goback=%2Egde_89535_member_12554
1624
8. Report of the Task Force on the
Future of the Legal Profession (New
York State Bar Association), April 2,
2011. This is an excellent (but long)
paper which should really be mandatory
reading to prepare you for the realities of
the future.

There are many resources on the Internet, from
articles, journals, blogs which discuss these
issues. Very good resources can be found at
the American Bar Associations website on law
and technology.
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