BUILDING COMMERCIAL AWARENESS by Wilson Pek King’s College London
When it comes to securing a training contract, recruitment partners of law firms place great emphasis on commercial awareness, citing it as a key skill that applicants must possess. Broadly speaking, commercial awareness entails understanding the commercial and economic conditions that businesses, both local and abroad, operate under. It is also important to appreciate how political decisions may impact commercial organisations, from the sole trader up to multinational corporations, as well as the regulatory and legal framework that businesses and individual employees operate under. Clients seek commercially practicable solutions, and not just academic answers to their legal problems. Having good knowledge on how businesses are run, and the key factors for profitability and growth, would allow for you to tailor legal advice accordingly, with a clear understanding of situation the client is in. The ability to demonstrate that you really understand a client’s busi12
ness needs and objectives is essential to becoming a competent lawyer. As a student, you will have free access to a large volume of high-quality information through your university, and there is no better time than now to develop your commercial awareness. The following offers a few sources in which one may acquire commercial awareness from: LexisNexis Your university will subscribe to LexisLibrary, which provides access to cases, legislation and journals. In addition, most universities would also have access to all UK national newspapers and many regional newspapers in full text. Reputable newspapers remain one of the best sources of insight into political and commercial events, and illustrate the impact of such on businesses and individuals. It is important to consider the differing
views offered by various journalists on the same topic, While the above highlights a few good sources relating as it allows for a more holistic understanding of the is- to commercial awareness, it is in no way exhaustive. sue. Commercial awareness is a dynamic concept and is constantly changing. While such awareness takes time LexisLibrary also has a section for ‘current awareness’, to accumulate, regularly reading reputable newspapers which provides information about the planned or latest and keeping abreast of current affairs, both local and inchanges to the law in the UK, whether it is a Bill go- ternational, will definitely help develop such awareness. ing through Parliament, a new case and the impact of a Additionally, keeping informed of government policies change in the law on an industry, business or individual. and the yearly Singapore Budget will allow for greater understanding of Singapore’s economy as a whole. ReThe Financial Times (FT) member that firms are asking for commercial awareness Your university is also likely to provide access to the for a good reason, and it is important that you analyse London-based FT. FT has been a leading newspaper how such news and issues inter-relate with the legal inthat offers a global view of business and markets, in dustry, and apply such knowledge of commercial activaddition to the occasional sector-based supplements. ity into your role as a future lawyer. FT also provides a list of reports and extracts online, and such reports may be useful in understanding issues which clients may face. Wall Street Journal (WSJ) The New-York based WSJ provides detailed news into the banking and finance sectors, and carries quality analysis of economics and global markets, and acts as a good supplement to the FT. The Economist From time to time, the Economist profiles different industry sectors, and such articles provide a good overview and understanding of the given industry. The Economist website offers a search-by-topic filter which allows you to narrow down on specific industries for your research. South China Morning Post (SCMP) The SCMP provides a very useful overview of Asian markets and supplements the other sources mentioned above, which provide a more international outlook. Singapore Law Watch (SLW) The SLW is available through their website or app, and collates the daily legal news in Singapore. In addition, it also contains commentary on developments in the legal scene in Singapore which provides a good analysis. Latest judgments and legislation passed are also available for you to keep yourself informed of the recent developments in the law.
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