Pinsent Masons Work Experience 2015

I'm currently in the process of applying for the Pinsent Masons work experience, but as I have never studied Law, I'm stuck on this question:
What three criteria do you think a client values most when selecting to instruct a commercial law firm? Please explain the reasons for your choices.

So far, from what I've researched I've come across Integrity, A trusted advisor and commercial judgement being three main factors a client values.
However I don't know how to develop on these three and relate it to commercial Law.
There's a max. of 1300 words.

Reply 1

Blackacre

12

Original post by r3cklesspixie

I'm currently in the process of applying for the Pinsent Masons work experience, but as I have never studied Law, I'm stuck on this question:
What three criteria do you think a client values most when selecting to instruct a commercial law firm? Please explain the reasons for your choices.

So far, from what I've researched I've come across Integrity, A trusted advisor and commercial judgement being three main factors a client values.
However I don't know how to develop on these three and relate it to commercial Law.
There's a max. of 1300 words.

Dear lord, 1,300 words for that question is ridiculous - even when I was applying for training contracts the limit was about 300. I can only think they're looking to see who falls into the trap of writing more for the sake of reaching the limit.

In terms of the factors you've outlined, integrity and commercial judgement are fine. What do you mean by "a trusted advisor"? Surely having the requisite traits would make the lawyer a trusted advisor, rather than that being a characteristic in its own right?

I appreciate that the answers are probably obvious to you, but you have to ask yourself why it's important for a lawyer to have integrity and spell it out. Similarly, with commercial judgement (possibly tweak this to "commercial focus"), this is necessary because law firms don't operate in a vacuum; they have to understand their clients' businesses and needs and anticipate problems before they arise.