The old days

I was infected with the litigation “bug” well over 40 years ago and have watched in fascination from both sides of the Bench as advocacy styles have changed. Yet one skill endures—the art of persuasion. Whether a reluctant judge is being moved to make an unpopular decision or a witness being coaxed into remembering what really happened or accepting the implausibility of their evidence, there is nothing to touch it.

However, many of the other skills we enjoyed in the past are no longer required. In the civil arena, gone are the agonies of extracting evidence from a terrified witness during a protracted examination in chief under the glare of a cold judicial stare. Instead, all an advocate has to do is ask his witness to identify their signature on a written statement and hope they