The Four Ms of Advocacy: Matter (Part 5)
David Bennett AC QC introduced his structure by reference to the Four “M’s”: Milieu, Manner, Matter and Method.
David’s first four points about “Matter” were first: remember that you are there to persuade, so your starting point is to think about how the judge(s) is/are likely to want to decide the case. Second: do not lose sight of the fact that your task is to persuade a person, just as you do in many other facets of your life. Third: a question from the Bench is a godsend. Fourth: prepare for the Court to test your proposition by taking it to the extremes.
David continues.
Matter
Work with your team
It’s important, in your preparation phase, to work with your team, and this is where a team approach is very important, where you need the juniors, the solicitors, the paralegals and possibly even the clients, to discuss with them how the questions you anticipate should be answered.
It gives you a wonderful feeling of warmth and deep down comfort when you have prepared the answer so well with your team and then you get to court and the judge asks the question.
Identifying your weak points
The final thing about “matter” is the old cliche, “should you argue your weak points”. There is a real problem here. Lots of people including judges and experienced advocates will say to you “you should stick to your strong points and abandon your weak ones.”
There’s a problem with that. What is a strong point? Who decides? You may think a point is weak but the judge may actually see something in it.
I can think of cases where I’ve had two points. I think that one is strong and one is weak, but I’ve lost the strong one and won the weak one. Like most advocates, I’ve been wrong about what was the weak and what was the strong point.
That’s why you do have to be careful about identifying weak points. If you’re really satisfied as to what they are, discuss them with your team and then abandon them.
So that’s “Matter”.
This is part of a series of posts containing a speech on advocacy given by David Bennett AC QC, which he has kindly agreed to publish through advocacyhub. Read the full article here: https://www.advocacyhub.com.au/david-bennett-ac-qc/
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