Commercial Awareness Tips by Dentons
Commercial awareness can be broadly understood to be the knowledge of key business events and issues. You can apply it through your ability to form opinions on business matters and build an understanding of the topics and trends facing the legal industry. Overall, it’s about appreciating the impact of key business issues and understanding high level economics.
Commercial awareness is important because as a law firm, we are selling a product to commercial businesses and so need to understand what drives our clients, what is important to them, and the challenges they are facing. However technical that knowledge may be, it is important for all commercial lawyers to be able to explain solutions and next steps back to clients, in language they will understand.
For today’s blog, two of our future trainees at Dentons, Alex Wendelken and Peter Carragher have pulled together their thoughts on commercial awareness, scroll down to learn more.
How do you build your commercial awareness?
Video by Alex Wendelken
“Commercial awareness means understanding the economic context in which businesses operate and its effect on their corporate strategies. To build commercial awareness you will need to keep up to date with industry news. Broadsheets such as the Financial Times are great resources for general economic news, while niche publications like Financial News, City AM, The Lawyer and Law.com are excellent for understanding developments in the financial and legal industries. Regularly reading articles and distilling them into short summaries is helpful. Developing a broad network on LinkedIn is also useful for keeping to date with commercial news.’”
How have you applied your commercial awareness to your work/ studies or day to day life?
Video by Alex Wendelken
“I have applied my commercial awareness by making short case-studies on the broad industry and legal implications of business events. For example, Credit Suisse, one of the world’s leading financial institutions, collapsed recently. I wrote short notes on the commercial lessons this holds for the banking sector, namely the dangers of poor risk management and reputational damage (Credit Suisse made risky, unprofitable investments and was scandal-prone) and its consequences, such as litigation from angry shareholders. To be commercially aware you have to think beyond the immediate story, consider its industry impact, and determine how the law can be involved.”
What is the commercial awareness topic/trend you are currently following?
Video by Alex Wendelken
“ I am following the impact of high interest rates on the cost of borrowing and its consequences for corporate finance. Many corporate M&A deals in the mid-to-high-value buyout market involve a significant amount of leverage – bank debt taken out by a buyer to finance the purchase of an ownership stake in a company. When interest rates are high, debt is more expensive to secure because repayments are higher, meaning an already costly M&A process is less attractive. Rising inflation means higher interest rates and poses a challenge for M&A buyers, who will have to choose deals more carefully.”
Having heard from our future trainees on their take on commercial awareness, we have put together some useful tips and resources to help you develop your commercial awareness:
1. Keep aware of news. For Dentons specific news, you can visit:
Early Careers Website: https://challengers.dentons.com/
Dentons News and Events: https://www.dentons.com/en/global-presence/united-kingdom
2. Have a look at news headlines and podcasts, some of our recommendations include:
Podcasts:
BBC radio 5 “wake up to money”: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0070lr5 – quick commercial snippets
Chambers Student Podcasts: https://open.spotify.com/show/4qRpTYJ1RqSVn5lPZjQFGf – covering commercial and application content
Commercial Awareness with Watson's Daily: https://www.watsonsdaily.com/
FT News Briefing: https://www.ft.com/ft-news-briefing – a roundup of the day's headlines in under 10 minutes
Robinhood Snacks: https://snacks.robinhood.com/
News Updates:
Law Careers Weekly Updates: https://www.lawcareers.net/Explore/News
Finimize Daily 3 Minute Update: https://www.finimize.com/wp/signup/this-newsletter-will-change-your-life/
Scottish Legal Daily (Scotland only): https://www.scottishlegal.com/
3. Engage with multiple sources, some of our recommended websites include:
All About Law: https://www.allaboutlaw.co.uk/
Chambers Student: https://www.chambersstudent.co.uk/
Law Careers: https://www.lawcareers.net/
The Lawyer Portal: https://www.thelawyerportal.com/
Legal Cheek: https://www.legalcheek.com/
Prospects: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/
Target Jobs Law: https://targetjobs.co.uk/law
School Leaver Specific:
All About School Leavers: https://www.allaboutschoolleavers.co.uk/
Get My First Job: https://www.getmyfirstjob.co.uk/
Not Going to Uni: https://www.notgoingtouni.co.uk/
UCAS: https://www.ucas.com/
UpTree: https://uptree.co/
4. Follow general trends e.g. recession - and identifying the effects on businesses
Think about the impact on the business world, and law firms specifically!
Form an opinion.
Why has the situation arisen?
Who are the main players?
What are the implications of the situation?
What do you think might happen next?
If you'd like to find out more about Dentons, please visit our Challengers Websites here or email graduaterecruitment@dentons.com. You can also keep up with life at Dentons through our Instagram here.
