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

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

and Bastress and Harbaugh on

Interviewing, Counselling and

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

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.

Illustrations in the text include

exposing inconsistencies and,

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

as distinct from the somewhat

unrealistic dictum "never ask a

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

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

difficult task of seeking to teach

effective writing. Many of us find

difficulty in acknowledging our need

for remedial training on effective use i

of the written word.

This book in conjunction with

practical exercises will serve its

primary purpose of contributing to the

foundation training in solicitors' legal

skills. It may well prove attractive to

qualified practitioners and is good

value at £14.95 sterling.

Laurence Sweeney

The Irish Investment

Market

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.

To understand how people invest