Some of our team recently underwent advocacy training, conducted by Colleton Chambers.
Advocacy is the means by which a lawyer puts their client’s case to the court, so is an important skill for any practising legal professional. The training was attended by both experienced staff and our new team members and covered a range of topics; from court etiquette, to preparing for a hearing, to how COVID-19 and lockdown has affected legal processes.
Chloe, a paralegal and LPC student within our Litigation team, had this to say:
“The training was a really good insight into the basics of advocacy. As a paralegal and LPC student, it was nice to have the opportunity to meet barristers in-person and to speak with them and understand advocacy in more detail. It was an informal training session in which discussions were primarily led by us and our needs.
“There was preparation to do before the training based around a hypothetical family law case that was going to trial. We had to prepare a case summary and chronology before the training, and prepare questions for cross-examination. Therefore, after the initial introduction and discussion, we got into groups and practiced cross-examination questions and techniques. It was good to practice thinking on my feet and to share ideas on the kinds of questions to ask in a real trial environment, and also to consider what types of evidence you could have to help support your evidence or witness statement.”
Thank you to Chris, Beth and Anita from Colleton Chambers for delivering the training. As thanks, we have made a donation to a charity of their choice: Cure Parkinson’s.