Commercial awareness for lawyers: guide and tips

Commercial awareness is a key skill you’ll need to demonstrate in interviews, whether for pupillage, a training contract, or Qualifying Work Experience (QWE). Commercial awareness helps lawyers to understand and predict a client’s needs, allowing them to give valuable legal advice.

Read on to discover all you need to know about commercial awareness for lawyers. We’ll look at examples of commercial awareness, how to improve your commercial awareness, and key tips on how you can demonstrate what you learn in interviews.

What is commercial awareness in law?

In a legal sense, commercial awareness means having an understanding of the business world and how it is impacted by the law.

Commercial awareness for lawyers involves knowing how businesses operate, and the role of the law in establishing the boundaries for commerce. Lawyers should also be able to use their knowledge of the law to overcome challenges and identify opportunities for businesses.  

Why is commercial awareness important for lawyers?

As a commercial lawyer, you will be expected to work for, or on behalf of, businesses on a daily basis. To provide advice on commercial matters, you will need to be well-versed in all the relevant legal and business matters involved. You will also need to be aware of the commercial goals of the law firm you work for.

This makes demonstrating commercial awareness crucial for career success.

Examples of commercial awareness for lawyers

Developing commercial awareness does not mean you will have detailed knowledge about every area of a business. Instead, a working understanding of key concepts, commercial law, and how the business world works, will demonstrate your well-rounded commercial awareness.

You should be informed on changes going on in different industries, new developments and technologies, and key terminology used by businesses. You should also be able to translate your commercial awareness to the law firm you want to work for, understanding how changes in the legal and business world will affect the firm.

Commercial awareness interview questions

Examples of commercial awareness interview questions include:

• What do you know about our organisation?

• Who are our main competitors?

• What are the most significant issues facing our industry today?

• Can you about a recent news story you have been following?

Interviewers won’t be looking for an academic or essay-style answer. Instead, they’ll be looking for you to use your personal perspective, experience, and research to deliver a well-informed response.

How to improve commercial awareness

There are many ways for aspiring lawyers to develop their commercial awareness.

Thinking about and analysing how businesses run will help you understand the processes involved in commerce. For example, if you have experience working in any industry, you can reflect on and learn from decisions made by your employer.

Some other great ways to improve your commercial awareness are:

• Gain commercial experience e.g. by completing a placement or vacation scheme at a commercial law firm or business

• Read finance and business news outlets such as the Financial Times and The Economist

• Look for ‘day in the life’ style content made by people working in commercial law firms to gain an inside look into what they do day to day

• Keep up to date on the industry you’re interested in working in, especially relating to any changes in the law that affect businesses within that industry

• Consider the strengths and weaknesses of high-profile businesses and any changes or decisions they have made recently

Final thoughts

Developing commercial awareness can start with small habits every day, such as checking the Financial Times in the morning, or browsing updates on Linkedin.

At BPP, commercial awareness is an important part of our postgraduate law courses. Whether you’re interested in becoming a solicitor or barrister, you will have many opportunities throughout your training to develop commercial awareness.

View postgraduate law courses.