The ability to think critically is important for lawyers. They must be able to follow a chain of logic to identify potential trouble areas in their own arguments, and to spot weaknesses in the reasoning presented by their opposition or even their own clients. Lawyers must often exercise their judgment in deciding the best course of action to pursue.
Interpersonal Skills
Lawyers should be able to persuade clients to follow their advice or convince the opposition to negotiate a resolution. This requires the ability to read people and figure out the best approach to take when making your points. When presenting a case, lawyers must be able to read how jurors react to statements and testimony, and they need to read witnesses well enough to know whether the individual’s testimony is honest and unbiased.
Analytical Skills
Lawyers must absorb a great deal of information, both during law school and when preparing a case, then be able to organize and analyze the information in a logical manner. If more than one law or precedent applies to a situation, lawyers must evaluate which argument best advances their cause.
Perseverance
The mere act of becoming a lawyer requires a great deal of commitment. The typical path is a bachelor’s degree, followed by law school, which lasts three years. The lawyer must then pass the state bar exam before being allowed to practice law. Once he passes the bar and begins accepting cases, a lawyer often has to spend many hours preparing his case. He'll spend a lot of time conducting research, preparing documents and interviewing witnesses. Lawyers need a willingness to invest the time needed to achieve a successful conclusion to the case.
http://work.chron.com/personal-qualities-needed-lawyer-4148.html
According to the Hildebrandt study, lawyers are:
• High scorers on learning, "suggesting that they value education and enjoy academic activities";
• Self-critical and temperamental;
• Lousy on interpersonal sensitivity. They are task-oriented and speak their minds, coming across as "cold, critical, and argumentative";
• Easily excitable, "becoming tense and overly critical";
• Cautious to the extent they have a hard time taking risks and making decisions; and
• Resistant to authority and skeptical of others.
http://thecareerist.typepad.com/thecareerist/2011/03/lawyer-personality-study.html
1. Sense of humorI cannot overstate how important a sense of humor is. If I’m interviewing you and I detect a humor deficit, you have no chance of my hiring you. I truly believe that a sense of humor is a sign of advanced intelligence. I’ve met plenty of very smart people who lack a sense of humor, and I’m always less impressed with them. But show me that you can be funny and that you understand and appreciate other people’s humor (read: mine), and you get a big check mark on the pro side of your ledger. Plus it makes you more fun to have in the office, and that’s extrememly important, too.
2. DifferentnessI value individuals and what makes them different. Your job as a candidate is to show me how you stand out, which means I want to know what makes you unique. It’s human nature to try to fit in and be like the rest of the herd, but that quality will not help you in your job search. Think of TV commercials. I bet you can’t recall a single individual ad for a car company, because they all blend together. The ads that stand out are the ones that are different from their competition.
3. Eye sparkleThis is the hardest to describe but the easiest to notice in person. Management guru Tom Peters has
described this eye-sparkle factor as one of the most important traits to look for in hiring an employee. It appears in a person who looks you in the eye and conveys his or her engagement with you and what matters to you. It shows warmth and empathy and fun. It’s missing in a person who smiles only with the mouth instead of the whole face, if you know what I mean. Like
Potter Stewart and pornography, you know it when you see it. Of all these ten traits, it’s the one that many people will write off as hokey, but it’s one of the most important.
4. ConnectivityI want to know that you are good at interacting with other people. Show me that you are a social animal, that you have the ability to make friends and that you won’t hang by the wall at networking events. For me, the fact that you have a bunch of LinkedIn connections and Twitter followers and Facebook friends is a positive sign. Same with being involved in organizations like law-school groups or bar associations. This shows that you know how to deal with people, a skill that we need in law firms and one that is often overlooked.
5. OptimismI have no use for a
Debbie Downer. Life’s hard enough without some
Eeyore telling me that it looks like rain. I prefer to surround myself with people who believe things are going to turn out well. Clients tend to prefer people like that, too.
6. CreativityNot a trait often used when talking about lawyers, but one that I think is important. Creativity is useful in writing a brief, in strategizing over a case, in doing legal research, and in marketing the firm. Creative people also tend to be more positive and engaged, looking for better ways to solve the clients’ problems.
7. PerseveranceThis is a particularly good trait to have when job-hunting. It’s also crucial to practicing law. I have more respect for someone who will keep trying to find that elusive case while doing a research project than I have for someone who gives up after a few futile searches. Lawyering is hard. I need to know that you’re going to stick with it.
8. InitiativeI’m less interested in having people who wait around until I tell them what to do. I’d rather see them jump in on their own and try to solve a problem. Sometimes they might outstep their bounds, but that’s less of a problem to me then timidly waiting for instructions.
9. Self-confidenceThis is probably the single most important trait. If you don’t have self-confidence, you can’t be a good lawyer. Go do something else. Your self-confidence tells the people you interact with — clients, opposing counsel, judges, coworkers — that you believe in yourself and in what you’re doing. People are more likely to accept that you’re right if you show that you believe you are. I think that self-confidence is difficult to teach, but I do believe that it can be developed and fostered. But I’m more likely to hire you if you walk in the door showing that you have it. Caution: This is not to be confused with arrogance, which will lead you right back out that door.
10. PassionFinally, you need to show me that you care. I don’t mean that I want you to tell me that you’ve dreamed of being a small-firm attorney since you learned how to read. I mean, I want you to show me that you care about things. It can be almost anything. I respect and appreciate passion, even if it’s for something I couldn’t care less about (like soccer). (Actually, if you have passion for soccer, you have no chance with me. Having a passion for a game that can end in a naught-naught tie just tells me you’re strange. Or European.) If I know that you are passionate about something, then it’s easier for me to believe that you will care about our firm, our clients, and their problems.
http://abovethelaw.com/2011/05/small-firms-big-lawyers-10-traits-that-will-get-you-hired/
http://www.emplawyernet.com/rsrc/personality.cfm
1. Credibility. The first is credibility, the foundation of trust. Building a high level of trust with clients, judges, jurors and even opposing counsel is the cornerstone of effective representation. But it is a trait that is earned, not just learned. When a credible attorney tells a client he must be available on a certain day for a deposition with no exceptions, that client will listen. It’s simple: When you make a promise, you keep a promise. No exceptions. When that same attorney makes a promise to a judge or to opposing counsel, the promise is believed and kept. The time and cost of undoing agreements with any party is not only a time-consuming distraction, but it also diminishes the chances that anyone will believe the trial lawyer, no matter how experienced he is. The most effective trial lawyers I’ve seen protect their credibility at all costs. They understand that every human interaction is a chance to build trust or destroy it.
2. Civility. Litigation at its core is an argument. But it doesn’t have to be confrontational. Effective litigators understand that in the art of persuasion, civility is not only the high road, but can also be a powerful tool. Using hostile tactics of volume, anger and intimidation may result in a short-term gain, but tends to undermine an attorney’s long-term ability to persuade. It can pull attention away from key witnesses and facts in favor of emotional reactions that are more difficult to control. And in the case of settlements, uncivil behavior tends to harm an attorney’s ability to negotiate in a reasonable time and manner with the opposition. There will always be a role for celebrity pit bulls, but the most effective trial lawyers fight relentlessly for their clients with respect, intelligence and grace.
3. Confidence. During the course of a trial, a lawyer makes literally thousands of decisions and assessments about risk, timing, pace, advantage, leverage and value. She makes most of these without the benefit of absolute certainty, knowledge or a complete assessment of the facts. To be effective in the midst of such a large gray area requires enormous levels of personal and professional confidence. And don’t confuse confidence with false certainty or hubris. No decision can be certain and no lawyer is always right. But the most effective litigators learn by instinct to translate mountains of structured and unstructured information into clear and decisive action, often in the heat of a trial. It’s a trait that every great military leader, athlete, coach and mentor shares. Confident trial lawyers can be spotted a mile away. You can see it in the way they walk, talk, sit, stand, listen and gesture. They often radiate positive energy and a sense of command that puts clients at ease and speeds the course of trials and settlements. While it can’t always be measured, it is a key asset of the most effective of our breed.
4. Curiosity. The benefit of deep specialization in a narrow field of law or business often comes at the expense of broader perspective. Psychologists call it the curse of knowledge. I’ve found that the most effective litigators resist the narrow confines of deep specialties and maintain a relentless curiosity about the world they live in. They possess an insatiable curiosity beyond law for a variety of topics and life experiences in science, art, psychology, physics and even pop culture. They have obscure hobbies and eclectic tastes. They know that solutions to courtroom challenges often come from the most unlikely places.
Juries and judges are rarely expert specialists. They are, by design, non-expert representatives of society at large. In general, courtroom communications are most effective if they’re on a fifth-grade level. This can often frustrate specialists who struggle to relate their language and thinking to lay audiences. Relentless curiosity not only leads to innovative approaches and solutions, but also keeps the job of litigation continually fresh and exciting.
5. Competitive Spirit. Choosing the last trait from dozens of remaining possibilities was difficult. In the end, I considered carefully not just traits, but true motivations. What drives an effective trial lawyer? Ultimately I settled on the only true driver: an innate competitive spirit. Effective litigators tend to take on every matter, large or small, as their must-win Super Bowl moment. To this trial lawyer type, there are no routine trials, meetings or even moments. They thrive on the thrill of the challenge, not just the legal outcome.
Competitive spirit comes in many flavors. But effective trial lawyers consider beating their opponents as secondary to the relentless pursuit of finding the simple, elegant trial solution. One trial lawyer calls it his “obvious surprise,” an insight that is immediately understood and familiar. Another calls it the “one simple thing” that can sway a jury, change the conversation and produce the right outcome.
This type of fire in the belly never goes out. It helps trial lawyers take on the difficult cases with fearlessness, focus and seemingly boundless energy. These types are at their best when a case seems unwinnable. Just try and tell them that something is impossible. They can’t help simmering on your matter 24/7, on the soccer field, driving in traffic or at 4:00 in the morning. For clients, it’s added value. For opponents, it’s an unfair advantage.
Conclusion
Many factors go into choosing the right trial lawyer, and conflicts and costs can limit your options. Of course experience matters, but it is far from the only measure. After decades in the trenches, I’ve found that the most effective lawyers don’t just lean on their experience. They use it to enhance their five key traits and continually improve their craft.
http://www.insidecounsel.com/2012/08/30/litigation-the-5-traits-of-highly-effective-trial?page=2
The 7 Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs
Tenacity
Starting a business is an ultramarathon. You have to be able to live with uncertainty and push through a crucible of obstacles for years on end. Entrepreneurs who can avoid saying uncle have a better chance of finding their market and outlasting their inevitable mistakes. This trait is known by many names--perseverance, persistence, determination, commitment, resilience--but it's really just old-fashioned stick-to-it-iveness.
"Tenacity is No. 1," says Mike Colwell, who runs Plains Angels, an Iowa angel investor forum, and the accelerator Business Innovation Zone for the Greater Des Moines Partnership. "So much of entrepreneurship is dealing with repeated failure. It happens many times each week."
When failure happens, you have to start all over again. Jett McCandless was a partner in a fast-growing freight logistics operation. But the rapid expansion triggered mistakes, including an invoicing glitch that left the company without enough cash reserves. The business had to be sold for a fraction of its value. McCandless didn't agree to the terms and was fired. He lost the company house and car and wound up moving into his girlfriend's apartment. "It was a very tough time," he recalls. "I came very close to going bankrupt."
He went on 25 job interviews and got offers for logistics positions paying $200,000 and up. But McCandless, who grew up in Section 8 public housing, wondered, Should I take a comfortable, secure job, or could I build something better? "I was afraid that failure could define the rest of my life, and I wasn't going to let that happen," he says.
So rather than accept one of those big offers, he started over, founding a new company, CarrierDirect, in Chicago. Hamstrung by the noncompete contract with his previous firm, he created a wholly new space in the logistics field. Instead of matching shippers with truckers, he switched to consulting, providing marketing and sales for logistics companies. In two years CarrierDirect grew to $35 million in revenue. "I'm glad I didn't take one of those corporate jobs," he says now.
Passion
It's commonly assumed that successful entrepreneurs are driven by money. But most will tell you they are fueled by a passion for their product or service, by the opportunity to solve a problem and make life easier, better, cheaper.
"Most entrepreneurs I know believe they will change the world," says Jay Friedlander, a professor of sustainable business who works with entrepreneurs at the College of the Atlantic and at Babson College. "There's an excitement and belief in what they're doing that gets them through the hard times."
Passion based on your company's specific mission is an intrinsic drive that provides the internal reward that can sustain you between paydays. John Roulac is passionate about hemp, which has a host of industrial and food uses and can be grown without herbicide, making it a keystone crop for sustainable agriculture. With a mission of providing a new market for Canadian hemp farmers, Roulac launched his company, Nutiva, in 1999 with a hemp food bar. But he quickly ran into interference from U.S. Customs officials who associated hemp, part of the cannabis family, with marijuana.
"Initially, they tried to harass us," Roulac recalls. "They would say our products couldn't leave the warehouse; then they could. It was very hard to stay in business." Two years later the Justice Department published a rule that put hemp products in the same illegal category as heroin. "It was either go out of business, keep going or go to jail," he says. "It could be bankruptcy or humiliation."
Roulac had more than $100,000 invested in the business by this point. A lot of people told him to quit. Instead, he decided to go on the offensive and sued the Drug Enforcement Administration. With support from the natural-products industry, particularly soap company Dr. Bronner's, he won the suit two years later. Roulac's belief in the power of his mission had prevailed.
"I believed that I was on the side of truth and that there was a government agency trying to prevent something good happening for the country," he explains. "I feel at a core level that this is my destiny to help create a better food system."
Today Nutiva sells a variety of organic products, from hemp protein shakes to virgin coconut oil. Roulac's advice when things get tough: "Dig deeper."
Tolerance of ambiguity
This classic trait is the definition of risk-taking--the ability to withstand the fear of uncertainty and potential failure. "It all boils down to being able to successfully manage fear," notes Michael Sherrod, entrepreneur-in-residence at the Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University.
He sees the ability to control fear as the most important trait of all. "Fear of humiliation, fear of missing payroll, running out of cash, bankruptcy, the list goes on."
Jill Blashack Strahan knows the fear factor. The founder and CEO of Tastefully Simple, a direct-sales company for gifts and easy-to-make meals, remembers the calls to her bank when she was three months overdue on her mortgage. "That fear that I would lose my house almost controlled me," says Blashack Strahan, who also had to overcome the deaths of her brother and then her husband shortly afterward. "The night after the funeral of my husband, I thought maybe I should give up, get a job and be a mom."
This is where the ultimate entrepreneurial test takes place, on the mental battlefield. You can go with the fear and quit, or push through it. "I said no; this idea is going to work," Blashack Strahan says. "We have the power to control our thoughts. When we commit mentally, our action follows." She made a conscious decision to push through the fear. Her company had sales in 2012 of $98 million.
While many would feel powerless in the face of such adversity, "the entrepreneur looks at the situation and knows he has some control over the outcome," says Jonathan Alpert, a psychotherapist and author of Be Fearless: Change Your Life in 28 Days.
Vision
One of the defining traits of entrepreneurship is the ability to spot an opportunity and imagine something where others haven't. Entrepreneurs have a curiosity that identifies overlooked niches and puts them at the forefront of innovation and emerging fields. They imagine another world and have the ability to communicate that vision effectively to investors, customers and staff.
Many people would be satisfied with a couple of successful businesses, but Eldad Matityahu saw beyond his two thriving frozen-yogurt stores. He'd been reading about the fiber-optic space and decided he wanted in on the technology sector that surrounded him in Silicon Valley. So he sold his yogurt shops and his Harley and got into a field he knew nothing about. He took a job with a fiber-optic company to learn the business and discovered his niche there.
Customers told him they were frustrated that they couldn't have access to see who was on their networks--important for security. "I realized there was no solution on the market addressing this pain point," Matityahu says. "I took the time to figure out why."
The products Matityahu created made activity on the network easily visible and also protected the system. He bootstrapped his company, Net Optics, with $100,000--the proceeds from his two yogurt stores and Harley (along with a small investment from family members)--turning down venture capitalists along the way. In October 2013 he sold the company for $190 million.
"Entrepreneurs often face naysayers, because we see the future before the future plays out," Matityahu says. "You have to be several steps ahead of the market."
Self-belief
Self-confidence is a key entrepreneurial trait. You have to be crazy-sure your product is something the world needs and that you can deliver it to overcome the naysayers, who will always deride what the majority has yet to validate.
Researchers define this trait as task-specific confidence. It's a belief that turns the risk proposition around--you've conducted enough research and have enough confidence that you can get the job done that you ameliorate the risk.
"You have to have a lot of self-confidence. Be willing to take a risk, but be conservative," says Jason Apfel, founder of FragranceNet.com, an e-commerce site for beauty products. Apfel didn't know anything about the beauty world when he started the company, but he believed he could create a solid website to sell such products. "I thought selling a commodity online at the most competitive price would work," he says. His company has outlasted well-funded competitors and sees $145 million in annual sales.
Flexibility
Business survival, like that of the species, depends on adaptation. Your final product or service likely won't look anything like what you started with. Flexibility that allows you to respond to changing tastes and market conditions is essential. "You have to have a willingness to be honest with yourself and say, 'This isn't working.' You have to be able to pivot," says Colwell of Plains Angels.
While still a student at Babson College, Matt Lauzon wanted to digitize the process of designing personalized jewelry. After raising $500,000 from Highland Capital Partners, he launched a custom jewelry design platform for retailers in 2008; however, a year later there was no payoff in sight.
"In theory, it was a perfect match, but in practice we found that we simply couldn't change the jewelers' focus on selling the expensive inventory they had sitting in their display cases," Lauzon recalls.
He reached out to his jeweler customers to solicit feedback. "One of them actually said, 'You have built something so amazing, with so much potential, you should let people use it directly,'" he says.
Lauzon decided to do exactly that, and with additional rounds of financing, relaunched the Boston-based company as Gemvara.com, selling the custom jewelry experience directly to consumers. He won't disclose sales, but he has raised $51 million to date, including additional millions from Highland Capital, which backed his initial concept. He has even hired away executives from the jewelry world's biggest retail force, Tiffany & Co.
Rule-breaking
Entrepreneurs exist to defy conventional wisdom. A survey last year by Ross Levine of the University of California, Berkeley, and Yona Rubinstein of the London School of Economics found that among incorporated entrepreneurs, a combination of "smarts" and "aggressive, illicit, risk-taking activities" is a characteristic mix. This often shows up in youth as rebellious behavior, such as pot-smoking. That description would certainly hold true for some of the most famous entrepreneurs of recent years.
In fact, simply starting a business breaks the rules, as only about 13 percent of Americans are engaged in entrepreneurship, according to a Babson College report. Doing what the majority isn't doing is the nature of entrepreneurship, which is where the supply of inner resources comes in.
“The starting point of all achievement is desire. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desires bring weak results, just as a small amount of fire makes a small amount of heat.”
“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” 
“Money is only a tool. It will take you wherever you wish, but it will not replace you as the driver.”
“Simple can be harder than complex: you have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it’s worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.” 
“People of the world don’t look at themselves, and so they blame one another.”
Entrepreneurs do not become successful due to luck. Every successful entrepreneur created his own path with his intelligence, creativity and intuition. Business models are constantly changing. Consequently, the way business owners market and grow their business constantly changes. The most successful entrepreneurs understand how fast current trends change. More importantly, however, they know how to keep up with the changes.