Assignment on Professional Ethics

Title: Skills of Advocacy

Name: Dathranghok Robert Sean Pajat

Roll No. : 19
Semester: Eight (8th)Semester of February 2023- July 2023
Name of institution: Department of Law, North Eastern Hill University,
Shillong.
Submitted to: Prof. JJ. Mozika

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 Table
Sl No. Content Pg No.

1 Introduction 2

2 Art of the Advocate 3

3 Meaning of Advocacy 4

4 Key Skills of Advocacy 5-8

5 Characteristics of a Good Advocate 9-11

6 Code of Conduct for Lawyers or Advocates in India 12-15

7 Conclusion 16

8 Bibliography 17

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 Introduction
This field of study first emerged in Classical Rome. Here, patrons, the first
witnesses to legal rules, originally appeared. Before them, the priests were
responsible for resolving conflicts and carrying out legal proceedings. Cartridges
have caused a fast expansion of legal understanding. Emperors and kings—heads
of state—had the initial responsibility for making decisions. Defenders and
prosecutors both emerged as this market grew. There were first courts and judicial
systems. Jurisprudence has grown into a large field of study over time. The basis
for the laws was religion, it was the commandments from the Bible that became the
first laws. They created the laws that humanity still abides by today. Today, there
are many chances and fields of expertise within the law. It involves the complete
judicial system, knowledge of laws and legal standards, and techniques for
ensuring that both private citizens and formal organizations strictly adhere to the
law.

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 Art of the Advocate
The advocate is a representative but not a delegate. He gives to his client the
benefit of his learning, his talents and his judgments, but all through he never
forgets what he owes to himself and to others. He will not knowingly misstate the
law, he will not willfully misstate the facts, though it be to gain the case for his
client. He will ever bear in mind that if he be an advocate of an individual and
retained and remunerated often inadequately, for valuable services, yet he has a
prior and perpetual retainer on behalf of truth and justice and there is no crown or
other license which in any case or for any party or purpose can discharge him from
that primary and paramount retainer.

“In its widest sense advocacy is the art of convincing others, that is to say, the art
or persuasion. It is a valued accomplishment in many departments of life, such as
commerce and finance, labour relations and politics, as well as in law. In its legal
context, advocacy is the art of conducting cases in the court, both by argument and
by the manner of bringing out the evidence, so as to convince the court or jury, as
the case may be”.

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 Meaning of Advocacy
Advocacy is a skill. When a legal advisor put forward a particular argument to a
court with a view to persuading the court to come to a decision favourable to their
client, is advocacy. However, advocacy can be both written and oral, and it 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 witness in
criminal trials and being able to put forward a strong persuasive case. Advocacy
begins when you meet a client and continues as you research the case, prepare
documents for trial and finally present the case in court. It is often said that oral
advocacy in particular is an art rather than a science. It is best done when the
advocate says the true to their personality while putting forward a strong argument.
The advocate must have a quick mind, an understanding heart, and charm of
personality. For he has often to understand another man’s life-story at a moment’s
notice, and catch up overnight a client’s or a witness’s lifelong experience in
another profession; moreover, he must have the power of expressing himself
clearly and attractively to simple people, so that they will listen to him and
understand him. He must, then, be histrionic, craftly, courageous, eloquent, quick-
minded, charming and great-hearted. These are the salient qualities which go to
make a great advocate. Great courage, independence and presence of mind are
essentially necessary to make a successful advocate. A timid person will never
shine at the bar or win the confidence of the client and the judge. Witnesses have
broken down, unexpected difficulties have cropped up, things look back from
every quarter and yet the advocate has to keep his head cool and rehabilitate
himself and regain the lost ground by coping with such extraordinary situations.
The tide has to be turned back by devising remedy from the resource of the
moment.

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 Key Skills of Advocacy
Public speaking

Speech is a key tool that a lawyer uses in his professional activity. His business
card, thanks to which the lawyer presents himself, demonstrates his level of
intelligence. What kind of speech should it be:

informative,

cultured, competent,

clear and concise,

logical,

convincing,

filled, but not oversaturated with terminology,

expressive.

In addition to the fact that a lawyer must be able to speak, he is obliged to listen
and hear clients, opponents, and judges.

Writing skills

The ability to, clearly, accurately and easily present information on paper is one of
the most important skills of a professional. No less (if not more) important is to try
to make the text understood not only by colleagues but also by customers. In most
cases, the right regulation is equal to hundreds of pages of difficult-to-understand
text. And the lawyer must bring the essence to the client, judges, jurors, experts,
other participants in the case and the process.

Legal specialists should:

To study the stylistic and mechanical aspects of writing.

Avoid grammatical errors.

Get the skills of writing concise and convincing prose.

Gain experience in drafting legal documents: petitions, contracts,

resolutions, memoranda, etc.
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Ability to work with the client

In the client-oriented legal industry, honest and qualified work with clients is
crucial for the success of a specialist and a firm. A lawyer should have experience
working with clients, as well as developed communication skills (oral and written).

The ability to search and analyze, apply logic

Lawyers have to deal with a huge amount of complex information, in most cases
written in a specific language. To work effectively with it, a lawyer simply needs
analytical and logical skills:

Consideration of complex written documents, drawing conclusions, and

establishing links between legal entities.

Development of logical thinking.

Structuring and evaluating arguments.

The use of inductive and deductive methods in working on conclusions.

Study of judicial practice, legal research

In the broadest sense, it is the ability to analyze a legal problem and find possible
ways to solve it after studying legislative acts, case law, judicial opinions, charters,
regulations, and other information.

A lawyer must master:

The main techniques of information retrieval.

Skills of determining the actual circumstances of the case.

The art of interpretation, analysis (evaluation) of the legal qualification of

the case.

The skill of determining the applicable rule of law references to laws.

The ability to work with databases (search engines) of judicial instances,

reference systems, etc.

Technologies

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Technology is rapidly changing the legal landscape. Today it is an integral part of
legal services. Therefore, a professional should:

Quickly understand the software that optimizes the work of lawyers

(presentations, search databases, etc.);

Know and master the skills of working with e-mail, voice message systems,
video conferences;

Have Internet surfing skills to quickly and effectively search and analyze
legal information.

Knowledge of basic laws and legal procedures

All lawyers, even those who are at the bottom of a legal career, should have a basic
knowledge of substantive law and legal procedure. Legal specialists should have
general knowledge:

about local and federal public administration bodies;

about the rules and procedures for appeals, filing petitions, etc.;

about the fundamental principles of law in the areas of practice in which

they work;

appropriate legal terminology.

Time Management

In a profession based on the “pay per hour” business model and linking
productivity with financial benefits, lawyers are constantly under the pressure of
time. Heavy loads, timelines, and deadlines – all these, alas, are the usual attributes
of a lawyer’s work. Therefore, important skills will be:

developing multitasking skills;

planning and time management skills;

setting priorities;

ability to work in a limited time.

Organization

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Skills that will help organize the work of a working group, department, or
company:

the ability to analyze, process, structure, and manage large amounts of

information: documents, files, etc.;

theability to determine goals, effectively structure a case from a huge

amount of unrelated information;

skills of working with applications that help manage data.

Teamwork

Lawyers don’t work in a vacuum. Even solo lawyers have to rely on secretaries
and support staff, communicate with consultants and experts. It may also happen
that the case will require the collective efforts of several lawyers or law firms.
Therefore, a lawyer can’t do without skills.

work in a team for a common goal;

coordination and exchange of information and knowledge;

development of communication skills to communicate more effectively with

colleagues, employees, clients, experts.

public speaking and participation in team events, meetings, and conferences.

This profession is suitable for morally stable people. After all, lawyers are often
under both psychological and physical pressure. At the same time, they must have
a high level of intelligence and a broad outlook. A lawyer always thinks soberly
and can make logical decisions quickly. To do this, he needs an analytical mindset.
Also, one of the fundamental qualities of a lawyer is honesty and integrity. Only
such people can provide our state with order and justice.

Lawyers have the opportunity for excellent career growth. Most of the leading and
highly paid positions in the country require a legal education. Having started your
career in this way, you can eventually grow up to become a prosecutor general or a
judge of an arbitration court through hard work and constant self-improvement. To
do this, it is important to have an impeccable reputation, successful high-profile
cases, and make a lot of effort.

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 Characteristics of a Good Advocate

Client Care

Professionalism and courtesy, these two are the qualities and traits of those lawyers
or advocates who know that their clients are to be treated with.

Client’s care must be taken as a primary concern by a lawyer or advocate and must
be taken into consideration and acknowledged in a fact that client is the only
person who is going to arrange for you and your family’s bread and butter and
therefore, must be treated with utmost respect and sincerity.

Understanding the Client’s Business

Understanding and analyzing the business of the client, which helps its Attorney to
act and perform in accordance with its business sector and industry, in a manner
which suits the need of its client and benefit them.

As if a lawyer or Advocate is well versed with his client’s business, then only the
favourable outcome is guaranteed out of its lawyer or Advocate’s conduct while
acting and performing on behalf of its clients.

Business Development

The lawyer or Advocate who understands and acknowledges the client care and its
business will definitely be good at Business Development; it will eventually
increase his working pace by building new business relations and tie-ups.

Leadership

It is generally noticed that in a small practice, usually Leadership skills are needed
neither, the management skills are needed at peak or god level.

Whereas on the other hand, large firm’s leadership skills play a very crucial and
important role while determining the skill-set and thought process of the lawyer or
Advocate so as to be a leader of a follower.

Project Management

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Lawyer or advocates engaged in the cross-border transaction(s) or case(s), project
management skills are crucial, to do, perform and manage the project(s) indulged
in. Coordination is a very primary and generic factor that helps in facilitating the
management of a project between different nations indulging in the lawyer or
advocates practising in a variety of field(s) and industries at different paces.

Responsiveness

The lawyer or Advocate must deal with all the situation(s) and event(s) with the
utmost responsive manner. Timely research, planning, execution, present on the
date of the hearing, all these activities performed by a lawyer or Advocate reflects
the responsive behaviour.

This type of skill and quality is appreciated not only by the client(s) but the
Hon’ble Judge(s) as well. This trait, skill, and quality also appreciates in value of a
particular lawyer or advocate and increase its demand at the marketplace.

Emotional Balance

Apart from professionalism and ethics, a lawyer or Advocate must possess a

balance of emotional trait, and this should be a part of his personality. So as to
ensure the performance made by him in a Court of Law, he could be able to attach
the variety of events in the case of his client so as to drive and explain the
happenings of the event(s) to the Hon’ble judges.

It is very much important to have an emotional balance, which will help in the
client’s case as a whole.

Organized

Although, it is said to be a lawyer or Advocate’s desk should be a messy one; but

on the other side, it is demanded in the character of a lawyer or advocate to be and
stay organized. He should always be well versed with the cases he indulged in, the
case files, the main theme, and the subject matter of the case he pursued.

It is another attitude pursued by a lawyer or Advocate, to be and stay organized,

keeping a routine check over all his belongings in a stipulated time, regularly.

Patience

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It’s a saying; A Good Listener is a Good Speaker, that’s why, a lawyer or
Advocate must be patient enough to listen to the client, the opposing counsel, the
Hon’ble Judge(s), the members of the jury, and the people involved in a particular
case. As this is a skill that a good lawyer or Advocate must be well versed with,
and it should be a part of his personality.

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 Code of conduct for lawyers or advocates in India
Code of Professional Ethics in the Legal Industry is the sum of adopted key
principles for the lawyer or advocates and their code of conduct. These principles
are of obligatory nature and lawyers or advocates must act and perform in its
accordance.

Some of the general provisions are discussed below:

Independence

Lawyer or Advocate, being an individual and independent personality, he should

not be driven by third-party influence or even his personal interest harms his
client’s interest and shall act in a manner that serves his client(s) need in the best
possible manner or degrade his standing at the Bar.

Confidence

Confidence, need time to be built, it is one part of the client to have and moreover
on his lawyer or advocate to build confidence, and this should only be done and
visible if the lawyer or Advocate maintains the dignity, integrity, and honour of
this Noble profession.

Personal Advertising

Law, is a noble profession and thou shalt never solicit; this is the learning my
mentor gave me. It is the profession of utmost respect, treating every man equal
and providing services to the underprivileged and indigenous people, which is our
duty as a lawyer or advocate towards the society and it is a matter of honour and
great pleasure.

And some other code of conduct or the specified duties that a lawyer or Advocate
must not forget, and must act, perform in accordance and in compliance with the
general principles of professional and work ethics of the Bar:

A. Duties towards the Court

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 1. A lawyer or Advocate should be straight forward, and his arguments
should be pointed clear and precise.

2. A lawyer or Advocate should have a sense of honour and pleasing

manners in his arguments.

3. A lawyer or Advocate must be tactful in presenting the matter.

4. A lawyer or Advocate should not mislead the Court.

5. A lawyer or Advocate should not influence the decision of the Court by

any illegal or improper means.

6. A lawyer or Advocate shall appear in the Court at all times only in the
prescribed dress. He shall not wear a band or the gown in the public
place(s) other than a Court.

7. A lawyer or Advocate shall consider when presenting the case and while
otherwise acting before a Court, conduct himself with dignity and self-
respect.

8. A lawyer or Advocate shall not enter an appearance, plead or practice in

any way before a Court, Tribunal or Authority on behalf of kith and kin.

9. A lawyer or Advocate should not criticize the judiciary with malice.

10.A lawyer or Advocate should not act or plead in any matter in which he
has some pecuniary interest.

B. Duties towards the Client

1. A lawyer or Advocate shall fearlessly uphold the interest of his client by

all fair and honourable means without regard to unpleasant consequences
to himself or any other.

2. A lawyer or Advocate shall fairly and reasonably submit the case on

behalf of his client.

3. A lawyer or Advocate shall pay attention which he is capable of giving to

the case he is dealing with.

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 4. A lawyer or Advocate shall not act on the instructions of any person other
than his client or his authorized agent.

5. A lawyer or Advocate shall not ordinarily withdraw from engagements

ones accepted, without sufficient cause and unless reasonable and
sufficient notice given to a client.

6. A lawyer or Advocate shall not do anything whereby abuses or takes

advantage of the confidence reposed in him by his client.

7. A lawyer or Advocate shall not accept a fee less than the fee taxable under
the rules when the client is able to pay the same.

8. A lawyer shall not adjust the fee payable to him by his client against his
own personal liberty to the client where liability does not arise in the
course of his employment as an Advocate.

9. A lawyer or Advocate shall keep the accounts of its client’s money

entrusted to him.

10.A lawyer or Advocate shall not disclose communications made to them in

the course of their professional engagement(s) even after the case is over.

C. Duties towards Opponent

1. A lawyer or Advocate shall not communicate or negotiate upon the

subject matter of controversy with any party represented by an Advocate
except through that Advocate.

2. A lawyer or Advocate shall not mislead an opponent, or put him on the

wrong way regarding any point in the case.

3. A lawyer or Advocate shall do his best to carry out all legitimate promises
made to the opposite party even though not reduced to writing.

D. Duties towards the Society

1. A lawyer or Advocate shall establish Legal Aid Societies for the purpose
of rendering legal assistance to poor, underprivileged and indigenous
person(s).

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2. A lawyer or Advocate shall help the people, local bodies such as
Panchayat in villages to function on sound lines, so that the people may
discharge their functions in an enlightened and responsible manner.

3. A lawyer or Advocate shall provide legal education to the illiterate and

working people by informing them for the rights and legal provisions in
simple language.

4. A lawyer or Advocate shall work with social welfare committees to

promote social order in which Political, Economic and Social Justice will
be assured to all.

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 Conclusion
Advocacy is a noble and honourable profession. As lawyer, it is a duty of a lawyer or
an advocate to be fair with his Clients, with is fellow partners, and with the Courts.
He must follow all the professional ethics in his profession. He must follow the code
of conduct in his profession for the benefits of himself, for his clients and for the
benefit of the other people. He must be fair, genuine, honest, trustworthy, unbiased
towards his profession, towards his clients or towards the Courts. Not only accused is
punished for his wrongful act. In the legal profession, if an advocate commits any
wrong act or any misconduct in his profession, he will also be punished by the court.

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 Bibliography
Primary Sources

 Advocates Act, 1961

Secondary Sources

 https://blog.ipleaders.in/top-10-key-skills
 https://www.lawjure.com/professional-ethics-for-lawyers/
 https://blog.ipleaders.in/makes-great-lawyer/
 https://taxguru.in/corporate-law/advocacy-art.html

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