The Gazette 1994

GAZETTE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1994

aimed. One of a series of Legal Practice Course Guides that mirrors the impressive parallel series for the Bar Vocational Course (first published, also by Blackstone Press, in 1989 with a current 1993/94 edition,) Legal Skills cannot fail to prove of value to those to whom it is addressed. Indeed, to the open-minded practitioner prepared to accept that legal skills can be taught and learned, not merely acquired j through experience, it could well open one or two windows to enlarge the view. It contains over 200 pages of compact analysis of principles, "how to do it" guidelines, and advice and illustrations of the practices of the different skills addressed. It further condenses and distills many of the insights contained in the increasingly extensive and helpful literature on legal skills such as texts by Fisher and Ury and Gerald Williams on Negotiation, Mauet on Trial Techniques, Binder on Interviewing Negotiation. There are, however, some surprising omissions from the further reading lists, although these are generally well chosen. While Mauet is extensively utilised in the chapters in advocacy, Haydock and Sonsteng's equally praised Trial, also in wide- spread use in American universities, is not mentioned and the sequel to Fisher's Getting to Yes - Getting Together - described by J.K. Galbraith as "the last best word on resolving differences" is likewise omitted. The chapters on advocacy address the question of solicitors' rights of audience in England and Wales and contain interesting Law Society research findings into the extent of solicitors' current experience of advocacy (over 60%) of whom over half made an average of at least one or two appearances per week. Of those appearing more than three times a week, 52% say they are likely to try for Crown Court and 39% for High Court rights of audience when these become available. Such rights will be subject to passing a test or tests in civil and/or criminal evidence and the completion of appropriate advocacy training. Experience gained in applying the training principles contained in this text is likely to be and Bastress and Harbaugh on Interviewing, Counselling and

useful in the design and delivery of training courses for advocacy in the higher courts. We in this jurisdiction may well have lessons to learn from the English experience. There are good summaries on preparation, analysing the different approaches of different schools, the "theory of the case", the construction of a "story" and the case plan concept developed by Sir David Napley, analysis of law to elicit favourable testimony to advance your own case and how to challenge the opponent's case by discrediting the evidence or by discrediting the witness. delicately, impeaching the witness, e.g. a mother appearing as an alibi witness for her son. The latter is a good illustration also of asking only questions in cross-examination to which you know the probable answers question to which you do not know the answer", so often enjoined on a learner. Other material will not be new to those familiar with Irvine Younger's Ten Commandments of Cross Examination. Five chapters are devoted to the skill of negotiating. They are well written, containing good analysis and illustration of the distinction, not always recognised, between negotiation style and negotiation strategies and the interaction between the two. Anyone who has observed negotiation or analysed an encounter will recognise the hard-ball strategist whose disarming demeanour is one of apparently infinite empathy and desire to please. The one omission from this text, and almost all others, is the scope that exists in the training sphere - to which this series is addressed - for post negotiation feedback by the protagonists. This feature is heavily emphasised in the Irish training course context and is found to be of consistent merit when seriously addressed. There are also five chapters on legal research and problem solving, three on letter-writing, seven on drafting legal documents and five on interviewing. All contain reminders of principles Illustrations in the text include exposing inconsistencies and, as distinct from the somewhat unrealistic dictum "never ask a

and systems already familiar to the general practitioner. There may also indeed be much that is novel to many, for example, the process of establishing evidence through narrative technique, simplified charting and the outline system. In coverage of letter writing, there is a novel illustration of a solicitor's letter containing many characteristics of poor writing. Starting with the letter, it goes on to a diagrammatic critique of i its errors, followed by a commentary and closing with a preferred written version. It is a technique which might commend itself to those faced with the difficulty in acknowledging our need j for remedial training on effective use i of the written word. | This book in conjunction with practical exercises will serve its j primary purpose of contributing to the foundation training in solicitors' legal skills. It may well prove attractive to í qualified practitioners and is good value at £14.95 sterling. j By Alan Molloy, Oak Tree Press, 1993, softback, £9.95. For some, a visit to the business pages of the daily paper is a quest for knowledge, an exploration that may lead to discovery and opportunity. For others, it is not so much a visit as a mad dash on the way to the sports page or the television columns. But for many, those pages, stacked with layers of information, stir the imagination to soak in the success of mortals; to follow the fruits of human endeavour; to ogle over the loss of millions. They contain a world of mystery. Yet the knowledge of their contents will grant an awareness of the meaning of power of which even Walter Mitty never dreamt. difficult task of seeking to teach effective writing. Many of us find Laurence Sweeney J The Irish Investment Market

To understand how people invest

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