Soft Skills for the Effective Lawyer

This book will teach you most of the skills know only to the "Super Lawyers" operating at a really high level. A fellow attorney who used to work for the Discovery channel and I noticed that the skills of the top level LA lawyers were taught by this book. As an attorney, I can tell you that you don't get hardly any of the skills needed to actually practice law from law school even with an LLM (which I have.) This book by Kiser gives you a clue on what you need to know and where to learn the critical skills for your craft. You don't know what you need to know and this book will clue you in on what you need to learn. Kiser gives a summary of the key points you to other books on various soft skills and points you to the best titles.The only deficiency in the book is that a number of books have become available that fill in the holes of your skill set that were not available when the book was published. First, psychological resilience is a critical soft skill because most lawyers get burnt out or are force to abuse drugs to cope. A new book by Donald Robertson titled "Build Your Resilience: CBT, mindfulness and stress management to survive and thrive in any situation (Teach Yourself)" is a critical purchase for every lawyer and law student out there. Check out the book "Self Compassion" by Kristen Neff as well.Second, being able to tell a story is critical for effective advocacy that is rarely taught in law school. I recommend two books: Beyond Bullet Points by Cliff Atkinson and Lawyers, Clients & Narrative: A Framework for Law Students and Practitioners by Carolyn Grose and Margaret E. Johnson. ​Beyond Bullet Points was used to win the Vioxx case and tells you how to set up a basic story for your case. ​The Narrative book shows you how to incorporate story telling in your case, i.e. opening, direct, cross, and closing.Good luck and good hunting.

FANTASTIC! Not just for Lawyers, but for the average person who wants to lead an ethical, productive life!

A must-read for law students and lawyers alike. Thoroughly researched and well-written, this book dispenses great advice on topics that can help lawyers succeed in delivering justice and satisfaction to their clients. It also provides a nuanced perspective on how honing soft skills can make lawyers happier with their own professional lives. I'm a big fan of Kiser's past books. He knows how to deliver.