Milner & Paul Legal Practitioners March 27, 2022
When a legal advisor puts forward a particular argument to a court with a view to persuading the court to come to a decision favorable to their client, that is advocacy. Advocacy can be both written and oral, and in actual fact it encompasses a whole range of skills which are invaluable to lawyers.
Advocacy encompasses a range of abilities including case analysis, drafting and using skeleton arguments, making oral submissions, cross-examining witnesses in criminal trials and being able to put forward a strong and persuasive case.
Advocacy is most obviously applicable in the context of court litigation which is usually the last resort when it comes to resolving disputes. The image of a lawyer arguing in court is probably the first thing people think of when they hear the phrase ‘legal advocacy’. However, skills associated with advocacy are rarely confined to the courtroom. They apply to other forms of dispute resolution such as arbitration and mediation as well as to the work lawyers do with clients generally. For instance researching areas of the law and presenting findings are just as relevant when giving advice to a client as they are when representing a client in court.