The timeless skills that continue to define great lawyers

In the same episode, he stressed how AI has the potential to dramatically reshape the early years of legal careers, enabling junior lawyers to develop their skills more quickly and progress through the ranks faster.

Fischl emphasised that the foundations of a strong legal career remain constant, with the most successful lawyers continuing to be those who are naturally inquisitive, eager to learn, and able to absorb knowledge.

“I think the skills you need to be a successful lawyer are exactly the same. You need to be a really inquisitive person, you need to be like a sponge, you need to be really keen to learn,” he said.

While the core attributes remain unchanged, Fischl highlighted that the opportunities for lawyers to develop those skills have expanded significantly, and at a far faster pace than ever before.

“The opportunity now for lawyers is to learn even faster than they had before, so being inquisitive, trying new things, experimenting, that’s the way you succeed in law,” he said.

Traditionally, junior lawyers began their careers by completing repetitive tasks, which still hold value, but Fischl noted that this is no longer where lawyers can deliver the greatest impact.

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“The expertise before was sitting, reviewing a document day after day for a week. Now, there is a certain skill in doing that. But is that exciting? Probably not,” he said.

Instead, he pointed to a growing shift towards strategic, client-focused skills, particularly as technology increasingly takes over more routine tasks.

“But there are other skills in law which are more exciting, and that’s really getting in and advising, considering strategy,” he said.

“That’s what clients really want, that’s what they need. So if lawyers are not doing that mundane document review, then they have much more time to give the clients what they really want.”

With AI tools taking over more repetitive tasks, Fischl emphasised that lawyers now have a valuable opportunity to refine their skills and further develop the human elements of legal practice.

“Yeah, it’s more important than ever now because that’s what people want. People want the human touch, people want the strategy and the connection, and that’s what there’s more time to give now for,” he said.

As AI remains a relatively new tool in the legal profession, Fischl highlighted that developing skills in this area presents a valuable opportunity for lawyers to gain a competitive edge, with these capabilities quickly becoming essential in a rapidly evolving industry.

“Well, most people have the skills in generative AI; they’ve only had it for a few years, so not many people have a huge head start on other people. So, experimenting and getting involved [is important],” he said.

“If you learn how to prompt better and you understand the context in prompting, then you’re going to be much more experienced and a much better lawyer. When you use AI, when you.”