Most aspiring lawyers know commercial awareness matters.

Read the news. Mention a deal. Say something “commercial”.

What they don’t know is what firms are actually looking for when they ask about it.

Commercial awareness isn’t about sounding impressive or memorising headlines but rather about showing you understand how businesses make decisions, what pressures they face, and how legal advice fits into that reality.

This starter pack breaks it down in a practical way.

Inside, you’ll learn how to:

• Understand what commercial awareness actually means (in plain terms)

• Answer the classic interview questions without rambling or guessing

• Pick stories that are easy to explain and relevant to firms

• Use a simple framework to go from “what happened” to “why it matters” to “what lawyers would do”

• Connect any story to practice areas and client needs, without forcing it

You’ll also get a worked example showing what a strong commercial awareness answer looks like, plus a short list of reliable sources to build the habit without spending hours doom-scrolling.

If commercial awareness has ever felt vague, intimidating, or like a box-ticking exercise, this will be useful.

It gives you a repeatable structure you can use in applications and interviews, without trying to sound like a finance podcast.