This programme features a recording from Session 1 of the Essential Written Advocacy Course 2025. There are five sessions in total for the course.
Synopsis:
Modern dispute resolution in courts and arbitration places great emphasis on written advocacy. From correspondence to pleadings to affidavits to submissions, a case can be won and lost even before an advocate rises to speak. Writing well requires strong fundamentals, including an understanding of basic principles of good writing; a solid foundation of substantive law; adroit eliciting, portrayal, and management of facts and evidence; and the ability to tailor the balance between objective and persuasive elements of law, fact, and evidence.
Good written advocacy is both an art and a science. There are rules and frameworks to be followed and precedents to have regard to, but there is also the avoidance of the dross and the gloss, and the infusion of that additional element of style that makes the writing readable and effective. With the increased use of Generative AI in legal practice, this series will also tackle head-on the use of Gen AI in written advocacy in all its forms.
This session will guide participants on what the basic expectations of the recipient of a legal document will be, and correspondingly what general principles counsel should observe, including ethical principles to be applied in legal writing. This session forms the foundation upon which subsequent sessions will develop.
Keywords
Advocacy, Communications, Writing, Ethics
