Annalise Keating is one of the main characters in the American drama series, How To Get Away With Murder. Annalise is a successful and well-respected lawyer known for her intelligence, confidence, and career. Aside from being a lawyer, she is also a professor teaching criminal law at a university.
The plot is about Annalise’s journey with her top five students, which they call the Keating Five, in courtrooms, murders, and crime scenes. The series also unravels deep personal issues, traumas, and experiences that interrelate with the present lives of the main characters.
Watching How To Get Away With Murder is a great pastime for people interested in becoming criminal lawyers, judges–or simply learning more about the law. And despite the drama, murders, and shocking turn of events that the series has in store, there are many lessons that you can learn from Annalise Keating.
For future lawyers or those aspiring to be one, this post is for you. Here are seven traits of a successful lawyer and some lessons from Annalise.
1 - Persuasive in communication.
In the series, there are many scenes where lawyers talk in front of the jury to appeal to their side. Having impeccable communication skills is necessary if you wish to become a defense attorney. But aside from your communication skills, you also have to be persuasive.
I’m not referring to being persuasive to the point that you force people to believe what you’re saying. I’m referring to the type of persuasiveness that is graceful, seamless, and empathetic. You probably had classes in law school where you practised defending a case. But in real life, lawyers need to connect to their clients to get their empathy and vote.
2 - Clear and quick sense of judgment.
One of the best traits of Annalises Keating is that she has a good sense of judgment. There are many scenes in the series where she seamlessly counterargues the other lawyer’s rebuttal and aces it with evidence that benefits her case.
As a lawyer, there will be many instances where you’ll need to be quick with your judgment. There will be instances where the other party could question you with false evidence or claims you never heard from your client. And so, a clear and quick sense of judgement is a key ingredient to success.
3 - Compassionate and understanding to the client, regardless of the case.
There are cases when some lawyers don’t like the case they’re handling because they’re not in favour of their client’s stance. However, it is the lawyer’s job to represent people and help them in the best way. There were many scenes in How To Get Away With Murder where Annalise would assign cases to her Keating Five that will help her defend her client even though she’s indifferent to the stance.
There is so much to learn from that. One of which is trying your best to understand the client, regardless of his stance and truth. After all, people do many things that root from pain and trauma. That’s why even though Annalise is a confident and strong woman, she is still compassionate and tries to understand the client to help in the best possible way.
4 - Highly attentive and analytical
One of the challenges of being a lawyer is memorising the law and learning about its updates and changes. And aside from being in court and defending your client’s case, there are many instances where you’ll have to review legal documents that support your case.
It’s an understatement to say that lawyers only go to court and fight. The truth is, they’re highly attentive to every detail of the case, client, plaintiff, law, and other things affecting and contributing to it. Aside from their attentiveness, they’re also highly analytical. Their minds always look for solutions to benefit their client and counterargue the other party’s claims.
5 - They know how to present themselves, physically and mentally.
One of the most entertaining parts about watching How To Get Away With Murder is seeing how Annalise styles herself and dresses well. In every case, she knows how to rock her defense despite showing up in the court with no rest and sleep.
In real life, that’s true for many lawyers, especially those handling massive and controversial cases. But despite that, it’s essential to dress the part and to present yourself well. Not only mentally but also physically. Of course, what you wear and how you look doesn’t represent your skills. But in most cases, it helps in your speech delivery and leaves a good impression on the jury.
6 - Always thinks outside the box.
Annalise Keating is many things, and one of them is creative. If she weren’t, she wouldn’t be able to perfectly orchestrate and cover the demise of her husband, Sam Keating, and other cases that she won throughout the seasons of the series.
Indeed, a successful lawyer is not only analytical but also creative. Thinking outside the box is essential and critical in this profession because there are cases when you have no evidence left to prove and are left with the truth that no one would believe. That’s why thinking outside of the box is critical. Doing so will help you think of claims that would increase the winning chances of your client.
7 - Never slacks off.
Annalise Keating works hard–and you can’t deny that despite the decisions she made in the series. Unfortunately, this trait of hers results in unhealthy coping mechanisms like drinking. But if there’s one thing that Annalise proved in the show, her hard work always pays off.
As I mentioned earlier, there were many scenes where Annalise and the Keating Five would show up in court with no rest because they were looking for evidence to use in the case. Indeed, you won’t always get a reward for working hard in the real world. But somehow, never slacking off and pushing yourself always comes back in ways that would benefit you.
Being a successful lawyer is more than just being smart.
Indeed, being a successful lawyer is more than just being smart. Instead, it is more about the skills you acquire and mould throughout the years of your experiences. Learning will always be a part of it and is something that lawyers do when meeting a client, defending a case, or even losing in court.
Written by Bianca Banda
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