The Qualities of a Good Advocate
| Author | Peter Lyons |
| Pages | 23-33 |
Good Advocate
For this chapter, I take as my template a speech made in Birmingham in 1954 by Lord Birkett.
Obviously, some people may not possess certain characteristics at all, and no amount of reading or training is going to succeed in creating them.
It is also clear that few advocates have all the qualities: some, such as integrity, are essential; others, such as a good voice, are desirable.
Lord Birkett spoke of the following characteristics of the advocate’s art.
1 Integrity
As soon as an advocate gets to her feet, a court must be able to assume that what she will say is honest and reliable. The advocate must be a person of character: the court must be able to rely upon the advocate’s word.
Lord Birkett speaks of the temptations of ignoring duties. Lawyers are given great power – they can sue people; they can totally disrupt or ruin lives. But with these powers come corresponding duties.
The administration of justice and the rule of law are essential to a healthy, safe democracy; and advocates play a crucial part in this. As Birkett puts it:
‘… it is essential that there should always be men of honour and uprightness who make the profession of law their livelihood, trained to defend and to plead for the citizen, and zealously guard his rights, his liberties and if need be, his life.’
24 Advocacy: A Practical Guide
2 A good voice
Not all of us have a good voice to begin with, but with practice it is possible to improve.
Ask people to tell you frankly if your voice needs work. No one likes watching or listening to themselves played back on audio or visual recordings but it can be quite instructive.
If your voice is annoying – if it is too high or you can penetrate brick walls – you must train it to deepen and become more pleasant.
If the decision-maker is irritated by your voice, much of your good work in producing and delivering submissions will be wasted.
To Birkett, the advocate must speak to be heard, articulate clearly and acquire tone and modulation. To an advocate, he says, ‘the spoken word is the breath of life, and it is quite astonishing that … so little thought is given to it.’
You can learn about voice deepening, pronunciation, articulation and projection from many books for actors.
Margaret Thatcher was trained to deepen her voice because it was considered that her ‘shrill’ tone put voters off. She was not precious about the advice she was given.
3 Presence
This is a very hard thing to achieve. Some people naturally have presence. Others do not. I suppose one’s dignity or bearing helps: straightening your shoulders; centring yourself; looking around the room at the people in it; speaking slowly and carefully while remaining calm and reasonable.
Achieving presence does not depend necessarily on being tall. A lot of people who are tall tend to stoop, perhaps so that they do not draw attention to themselves. That’s the whole point: a good advocate does draw attention to himself, but only for the right reasons.
Many skilful advocates – Sir Garfield Barwick and George Carman spring to mind – were not tall, but they still commanded the courtroom.
Presence is often achieved simply by being recognisable. Think of public figures, actors, singers and politicians who you have seen in the street or
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pubs. They gain their presence because people recognise them for who they are and what they have achieved.
But you can acquire a dignified air without being pompous. Practise keeping a straight face when you hear something funny. Don’t do it all the time or you won’t have any friends. Stand up straight. Don’t slouch. Don’t talk too quickly.
4 A quick adaptable mind
Lord Birkett said:
‘It is well if the advocate is possessed of a quick mind, alert to seize the unexpected opportunity, to adapt himself to the sudden changes which occur in the conduct of a case, and to be ready to deal with any interventions from the Bench, whether they can be disconcerting or helpful.’
In Oscar Wilde’s case, the advocate Edward Henry Carson proved himself extremely adept in this regard.
This is how his cross-examination of...
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