ADVOCACY SKILLS
ADVOCACY SKILLS IN CIVIL PROCEEDINGETHICAL STRUCTURES:-1.Litigation fairness2.Competence3.Condentiality4.Charge reasonable fees5.Loyaltya) Litigation fairness –
This include fairness to your client, Court, your fellowadvocates and fairness to yourself as an advocate, fairness may mean thefollowing:-1.Preparation of an advocate before he or she goes to Court and arriving toCourt on time, this means fairness to yourself as an advocate.2.Holding brief for your fellow advocate, this means fairness to your fellowadvocate.3.The habit of not misleading the Court and being honest to the Court thismeans fairness to the Court.
b) Competence –
A lawyer's fundamental ethical duty is to provide competentrepresentation to his or her clients. This "requires the
legal knowledge,skill,thoroughness (great care)
and
preparation reasonably necessary
" for the engagement. The duty of competence includes the "use of methods and procedures meeting the standards of competent practitioners."
c) Condentiality -
This means protecting or keeping a client’s informationbetween you and the client, and not telling others including co-workers,friends, family, etc. Examples of maintaining condentiality include:-
1.Client's les are locked and secured 2.Do not tell other people what is in a client’s le unless they havepermission from the client. 3.Do not tell what you have discussed with client about his case or what isgoing on his case proceedings. Types of informations that are considered condential can include:-1.Name, date of birth, age, sex and address, current contact details of family, guardian etc2.Charges and fees 3.Bank details 4.Medical history or records 5.Service records and le progress notes 6.Individual personal plans 7.Assessments or reports 8.Incoming or outgoing personal correspondence.
d) Charge reasonable fees –
Lawyers are allowed to bargain with clients asaccording to circumstances and nature of a case though there are laws guidingthem to charge reasonable fees.
e.g:-
3%, 5%, 7% and 10%.
e) Loyalty – I
n order for clients to have condence in the legal system,lawyers must be free from conicting interests, in order to promote eectiverepresentation. A lawyer is required to be committed and to act in the bestinterest of his client. A lawyer owes the client a duty of candour (honesty).A lawyer must be able to provide his client with complete and undividedloyalty, dedication, full disclosure, and good faith, all of which may be jeopardized (in danger) if more than one interest is represented.
PHASES OF CIVIL PROCEEDING:-1.PRE-LITIGATION PHASE2.LITIGATION PHASE3.EXECUTION PHASE
4.APPELLATE PHASE
1. PRE-LITIGATION PHASE
PRE-LITIGATION PHASE –
This begins even before the court process startsand attempts to resolve the case before it goes through court.
STAGES OF PRE-LITIGATION:-1.Meeting client stage2.Research stage3.Case analysis stage4.Legal opinion stage5.Demand letter stage6.Informal dispute resolution stage7.Choice of forum stage8.Drafting pleadings stagei) MEETING CLIENTS STAGE –
This is divided into two:-
1.Preparations when the client is on his way to the lawyer's oce:-
Appearing attire - That can mean a good standard of
dress
as youdecide what to wear as Lawyer.
Conducive environment – This means providing the right conditionsfor meeting a client.
Prepare note taking materials
2.What do we do when the client is in the lawyer's oce:-
Listening skills – This is the ability to accurately receive andinterpret messages in the communication process. Listening is akey to all eective communication. Without the ability to listeneectively, messages are easily misunderstood.
Interviewing skills – This is how
questions are asked and answers are given.
Note taking skills – This is the practice of writing down pieces of information in a systematic way.
Recording skills
Counseling skills
Establishing relationship with client
ii) RESEARCH STAGE
This is the investigation of the case and come up with the following:-1.
Cause of action –
These are the facts which are essential or necessaryto prove the case before the Court. 2.
Applicable laws
– These are laws, statutes, ordinances, rules orregulations applicable for determination of the matter.3.
Determination of party to sue (locus stand) -
This is the practice of choosing the right or proper party to be sued or the party which hascapacity to appear before a court of law.4.
Determination of forum –
This is the practice of choosing the rightcourt in which to bring an action from among those courts that couldproperly exercise jurisdiction.
iii) CASE ANALYSIS STAGECase analysis -
This is that which helps a lawyer to prepare himself well forthe Civil trial or before Civil litigation. The Case analysis mainly depends on the
Cause of action.Cause of Action –
This can mean the essential facts which arenecessary to prove before he can succeed in the law suit. As it was explained inthe case of ;
JOHN M. BYOMBALIRWA v AGENCY MARITIME LTD (1983) TLR 1 (CA)KISANGA JA said that;
“The expression
"cause of action"
is not defned under the Code o CivilProcedure, but it may be taken to mean essentially acts which it is necessary or the plainti to prove beore he can succeed in the suit”
.IMPORTANCE OF CAUSE OF ACTION