Commercial Awareness and Legal Tech - Saba Nasrolahi

Commercial Awareness is a crucial skill when it comes to interviews and assessment centres.

However, it needs to be grown organically so that you are able to use your commercial awareness practically and genuinely. It can seem daunting to try and understand how industries and businesses work and what is going on in the world, with the aim of being able to discuss and analyse it. Therefore, it is best to build your commercial awareness from the ground up. One way to do this is by narrowing down the field of view.

My advice on doing this is always to identify a topic you are interested in. For me, it was technology. I took Chemistry, Physics and Mathematics at A(S)-Level and had always loved learning about developments in the technology sector. I naturally always clicked on the Technology/Business tab on BBC news before I started thinking about 'commercial awareness'. For me, my interest in technology helped me to organically grow my commercial awareness. I started to think about how the law would adapt to developments in technology such as 'where would uncertainty lie for companies utilising crypto assets' and 'do we need a new form of IP right to protect AI-devised inventions'? Finding a topic like this is a great base line to start at, if you are stuck on where to begin (it can range from climate change to football!).

Whenever reading an article relating to the topic, I would dissect the information. Go back to basics and think:

1. Who are the parties involved?
2. What does each party want in the situation? How would you advise them to reach their goal?
3. What are the risks in the current market impacting each party?
4. Does the current market provide a party with potential advantages/benefits?
5. What are the social, political and legal issues?

This can help you to start to think holistically about factors that can impact law firms and their clients.

This does not have to come from specialist newspapers like the Financial Times (although I would advise the end goal to be to at least be able to discuss your basic views on recent news covered in the Financial Times). Read the kind of news you can read or listen to on the way to University and be able to genuinely engage with it.

Engaging with the material can mean that:

1. If there is any terminology you do not understand, start to compile a spreadsheet, add in these terms, a basic definition and an example of how it is used.
2. You are thinking about which departments in Ashurst would get potentially get involved, based on the information you have read from an article.
3. You are thinking about what commercial topic is being discussed in the material. How does it link to other material you have read during the same week - from any sector?

Starting with this base allowed me to build a foundational understanding of how businesses and the market work. It made it easier to be pro-active and delve into deeper research and analysis. This lead me to learning more about the finance sector, and now I am sat in a Banking seat, which I am thoroughly enjoying.

It is important to follow news you can genuinely engage with in a consistent manner - developments can happen rapidly and the consistency will help you grow your commercial awareness. There is no point referencing a particular issue/deal/development in your application and not being able to discuss it weeks later at an interview either because a) you are not actually interested and b) you have not kept up with the latest developments in the area or market conditions that may have impacted your analysis.

Legal Tech

What is Legal Tech?

Legal Technology is often used to refer to the use of technology and software applications to provide legal services, such as digital products designed to help lawyers carry out their legal work more efficiently.

For me, there are two streams in relation to the commonly discussed overlay between law and technology.

The first is the utilisation of new technology that requires law firms to guide their clients through the developing legal landscape. For example, 2022 has seen a tightening of crypto-regulation as unregulated crypto-assets are being brought within the scope of the financial promotion regime. There is also uncertainty where the regulatory environment has not been developed, requiring lawyers to act as trusted advisors to navigate their client. I often read Law Commission reports/summary reports relating to topics such as Smart Contracts and Digital Assets to see how the legal landscape may be developing and where gaps of uncertainty may lie for clients.

There are many resources online that report on this exciting area as well as events that are accessible to students/aspiring trainee solicitors. A great place to start is the Ashurst website, especially the Ashurst Advance section, and skimming through the Insights/Briefings as well as publicly available Ashurst podcasts. You can then follow up and research areas of your interest that the article has flagged.

Legal Tech – Law Firms and their Clients

The second is the use of technology as a driving factor that is transforming the way law firms operate and offer services to their clients. COVID-19 has accelerated the uptake of technology in Legal Practice. During 2020, the HM Land Registry began temporarily accepting electronic signatures for registration transfers and other deeds, a decade after the Law Society Note advocated a prudent approach to the virtual execution of documents! Remote working and collaborative technology is now arguably a core part of Legal Practice.

Ashurst is a leading, forward-thinking global law firm. During COVID-19, the required embrace of remote execution of legal documents caused the need for policies and guidance on the use of e-signature applications. Ashurst's Legal Technologists worked with the Expertise and Knowledge teams to help create an e-signature/DocuSign policy for the UK. Ashurst is committed to thinking digital first in how we serve our clients with innovation laying at the heart of the firm. Ashurst Advance is Ashurst's exceptional full service NewLaw offering , developing digital products such as Ashurst Privilege Plus, an app that provides a steer to whether a document is covered by legal privilege or not and whether privilege may have been lost. These digital products and solutions help meet clients' needs for cost-effective and efficiency-driven legal service delivery.

The firm is also utilising technology in relation to learning and training, such as Ashurst's Emerging Talent Hub, a digital way to gain an excellent insight in Ashurst.