Leading law firm launches commercial awareness training tool

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Farrer & Co LLP has launched a free training guide for prospective lawyers to improve their commercial acumen – a skill that all law firm recruiters look for in candidates.

The launch coincided with National Apprenticeship Week 2024, which this year focused on ‘Skills for Life’. Farrer & Co’s guide – Helping you develop your commercial awareness – has been designed to enable aspiring lawyers, including apprentices, to gain valuable insights into:

• what commercial awareness actually is;
• the role commercial awareness plays in understanding client concerns; and
• the steps candidates can take to improve their commercial awareness.

Katherine Wilde, partner and director of knowledge, learning and development at the firm, said: “For new joiners to any business, having strong technical knowledge is of course vital, but it is also essential to understand the commercial backdrop the clients you work with have to operate against. Not only does our guide provide a useful resource for future applicants to our apprenticeship schemes in helping them to develop this understanding, but we also hope it offers valuable insights to prospective talent across business sectors.”

The firm created the free training tool following the launch of its first solicitor apprenticeship scheme in 2022. The scheme was designed to develop well-rounded legal professionals and support their commercial understanding while on the job, resulting in a sound understanding of clients’ businesses and the business of law. Successful applicants spend the first two years rotating across different business services teams before training in the legal teams.

Find out more about legal apprenticeships via LawCareers.Net’s Apprenticeship hub.