The roles for lawyers as leaders in business are growing exponentially. From traditional roles at law firms and in-house legal departments to roles in management, compliance, human resources, entrepreneurship, and more, opportunities abound for lawyers interested in taking on leadership opportunities within the intersection of law and business.
As the opportunities for lawyers in business rapidly expand, so too do the skills, characteristics, and experiences that lawyers need to succeed. Many, if not most, of the skills necessary to be a successful business lawyer or business leader are not always found in the education provided by law schools around the country (although some schools are making great strides in this area). Instead, these skills, characteristics, and experiences are developed by business lawyers on the job and through other aspects of their professional development.
Still, gaps remain for lawyers to gain the skills needed to become business leaders. The demands on lawyers in our current global economy are much different than before. Law schools, lawyers, and employers need to think about the lifelong learning needs of business lawyers through a different lens—a lens that promotes not only continuous education but also an education on a wide variety of skills that are not traditionally considered lawyering skills.