Wednesday 29 September 2021

Qualities of a Good Lawyer

The profession of legal practice is one of the most highly regarded occupations in the world. The job description of a lawyer includes representing his/her clients in a court of law, in a particular case. In India, an individual can become a lawyer after clearing the All India Bar Examinations.

The job of a lawyer is a particularly skillful one since it requires extensive knowledge of the laws and legal procedures and systems. As doctors are responsible for saving lives by operating on patients, lawyers are responsible for defending the innocent and helping them get their rights. It is the lawyers who show the judges the path of justice, by presenting their case in a meticulous and truthful manner.

Importance of having good lawyers

The judiciary is the upholder of justice and truth in any nation. This, in itself, is dependent on the type of lawyers and judges serving the judicial system. Lawyers are responsible for the fate of their clients. A good lawyer is, therefore, essential to uphold the integrity of the legal system.

To effectively make use of the laws in place and to ensure that justice is served in the shortest time possible, lawyers should have certain good qualities.

Qualities of a good lawyer:

There are certain qualities that every good lawyer should possess to excel in his/her practice of law and thereby enabling speedy justice to all required. Some of these qualities are inculcated in law school itself through the inclusion of a comprehensive curriculum, whereas other qualities have to be cultivated through practice and devotion.

Oration:

One of the most obvious qualities of a good lawyer is good speech and oration. As a lawyer, it is part of one’s job description to present a case orally in front of a judge in a court of law, Eloquence of speech thus forms an indispensable aspect of becoming a lawyer. It is useful not only in case of arguing a matter but also for communication with the client and negotiation a deal with the opposing party and counsel.

Drafting Skills:

A good lawyer needs to possess excellent drafting skills. A lawyer should be able to articulate the matter appropriately, represent his/her client’s stance, and draft notices expressly outlining the reasons. The logic outlined in his/her draft needs to be coherent. This drafting skill is needed to complement the oration skills of the lawyer. In the practice of law, drafting is as much important as speech.

Research Skills:

For a lawyer to present and win a case, it is essential that he/she knows how to do his/her research regarding the matters in the case. Research forms an integral part of one’s argument. A lawyer may be a great orator or a drafter, but without research, it is impossible to win a case. Legal research may include citation of authorities, referral to precedents, or application of legislation to the issue at hand.

Logical and Analytical Thinking:

Logic forms the basis of any argument. So, the quality of logical and rational thinking, along with the ability to aptly analyze a situation, is present in a good lawyer. To connect the dots in a case and to form arguments in favor of his/her client, logic becomes an irreplaceable part of any legal argument.

Confidence:

Another relevant skill that a lawyer should possess is confidence. A lawyer should appear confident while presenting a case and talking to a client. Confidence not only reassures the clients about the status of their case but also makes the arguments presented by the lawyer to be much more compelling.

Empathy:

A good lawyer should be able to empathize with his/her clients. From empathy stems reliability. If a lawyer does not empathize with the plight of the clients, he/she will never get the client to rely upon him/her. Empathy is an essential quality for lawyers because, without it, the judicial machine will be reduced to a platform for money making solely.

Creativity:

A lawyer should be creative in his/her arguments for a case. Creativity is required not only for solving cases and identifying arguments but also for finding solutions to a potential problem. Thinking outside the box is an important means by which a lawyer can serve his/her client’s interests.

Communication Skills:

Communication is an important aspect of the profession of law. A lawyer should have good communication and great interpersonal skills. Communication forms the crux of legal practice. A lawyer should be capable of successfully communicating with the judge and his/her fellow colleagues. She/he should also be adept at maintaining liaison with the clients. Being able to network is also an important skill that a lawyer should obtain.

Listening Skills:

As a lawyer, it is important that one is skilled at speaking, but it is also essential that one listens. Listening is intricately associated with the job description of a lawyer. A lawyer should be a patient listener. It is the inability to listen to his/her clients or opponents that cause lawyers to lose even the strongest of cases.

Assertiveness:

A lawyer should be assertive and not aggressive. The primary difference between the two codes of conduct lies in the manner in which they are carried out. An aggressive lawyer disregards other’s opinions to put his judgment on top, whereas an assertive lawyer makes sure that he/she is heard and his/her opinions valued.

Apart from all the qualities listed above, there are other qualities that an individual engaged in the practice of law should have. Hard work, dedication, and perseverance are tenants of any work field, and these qualities are equally desired in case of legal practice. A lawyer should also be meticulous in his/her work and should have an eye for details. Other qualities that are essential for lawyers include the ability to separate one’s own judgment from that of the case. It is also the duty of a lawyer to stick to the ethical means of the trade.

Tuesday 28 September 2021

The Importance of Legal Ethics

“In law, a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics, he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so.”
Immanuel Kant

An advocate is an officer of the court and an important part of the justice delivery system. Therefore, by being so, he must conduct himself in a way that is befitting of his profession. The legal profession is one of the noblest professions in the world. Hence, this vests inherent accountability on practising advocates to be ethical in their dealings. But what is ethics?

Ethics is a set of ‘dharmic’ values that inherently lingers in every human life. It refers to a sense of justice and morality, and the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. Truly, to be ethical in one’s dealings implies to be virtuous.

The legal profession also has principles of conduct governing it and its practitioners. Additionally, a code of conduct would help maintain the dignity of the profession, whilst keeping the professional grounded.

An advocate may come across certain unforeseen circumstances while discharging his duties. During such tense moments, a legal professional must reach into his conscience and find the touchstone to guide his decisions. To do that, however, he must not only understand his relationship with the law but also its other elements. These would include the Court, client, opponent, and colleagues.

Legal Ethics in Law Practice

An advocate is an officer of the Court and is therefore expected to act appropriately. Part VI of the Bar Council of India Rules (the Rules) contains the “Rules governing Advocates”. Of this, Chapter II prescribes the standards of etiquette and professional conduct which must always be upheld by the advocates. Its Preamble clarifies that the specific mention of any rule in it does not preclude other unnamed rules of conduct. Let us see what these canons of conduct and etiquette are:
Read Also – Advocates Act, 1961

Conduct Towards the Court

An advocate must always conduct himself with dignity and self-respect and approach the Court with a respectful attitude.
It is his right and duty to submit his grievances against any Judicial Officer before the correct forum.
He must not try to use unfair and illegal means to influence the Court’s decision/s.
He must ensure his client behaves with restraint and must refuse to represent a boisterous and ill-mannered client. An advocate must not function as a meager mouth-piece for the client, but as a sensible orator with good judgment.
No advocate should enter an appearance in improper uniform and must respect the sanctity of the dresses and robes. Additionally, he shall wear the gowns or bands in only such places as prescribed by the appropriate authorities. Wearing the uniform in public places such as restaurants, shopping malls, or movie theatres is not appropriate.
Furthermore, an advocate should plead or act in any matter in which he is fiduciarily or pecuniarily invested.
Read Also – How to Become a Senior Counsel in India?

Conduct Towards the Client

The advocate should not abuse or take advantage of the belief and confidence reposed in him by the client.
An advocate must accept briefs for appearing in forums before which he practices unless specific circumstances justify non-acceptance. Additionally, the advocate must charge a fee, consistent with his standing at the Bar.
Furthermore, if an advocate simply must return a case-brief, then he should also return the part of the fee not earned.
Moreover, he must be candid about every material fact which could affect his engagement as the client’s counsel. Besides, he must not let his personal bias cloud his honorable and fearless efforts to uphold the client’s interests.
Furthermore, the advocate must only follow the instructions of the client or his duly authorized agent.
Legal ethics prohibits the advocate from representing the conflicting interests of the client. For instance, by advising the opposition/s in the same or connected matter, or by drafting, or settling the opposition’s documents.
Every advocate should maintain a true and fair picture of the client’s account.
Read Also – The Inner story of the Farmers Strike

Conduct Towards Opponent/s

Most importantly, an advocate must always communicate with the advocate of the opposition party, and not the opposition party itself.
Secondly, the advocate shall try to honour every legitimate promise made to the opposite party.

Conduct Towards Colleague/s

The law proscribes soliciting for work or direct or indirect advertisement of the advocate in connection with his cases.
Furthermore, the advocate should disallow the usage of his name in aid of unlawful services.
Additionally, if the client is financially sound, the advocate should charge the complete fee taxable under the Rules.
Moreover, an advocate should only appear if permitted by the advocate in whose name the vakalatnama or memo originally is.
Read Also – How Clients Hire Their Lawyers?

Other Principles of Conduct

Some of the other duties of the advocate are to:

Impart training to trainee advocates, in order the further the legal knowledge, without charging any fee or premium.
Provide free legal aid to the indigent and oppressed.
Not engage in full-time employment during the time that he continues his law practice.
Additionally, Section 35 of the Advocates Act, 1961 proscribes ‘misconduct’ of advocates. The Disciplinary Committee of the State Bar Council may reprimand, suspend, or remove the advocate if he is found guilty.

What Are the Seven Lamps of Advocacy?

Advocacy is more than just a profession—it is a calling. It is an indispensable part of the justice system for any part of the world. Consequently, it makes perfect sense for the practitioners of this noble profession to imbibe certain qualities. These principles of conduct, Justice Abbott Parry revealed in his book- ‘Seven Lamps of Advocacy’, were the elements that illuminated advocacy.

Judgment

Every problem has two sides to its solution, and good judgment would help determine the right thing to do. When a situation calls for tough choices, a legal practitioner must be able to take heed of his better judgment. Often, it is ‘sound judgment’ that makes all the difference regarding legal ethics in law practice.

Honesty

An advocate is expected to serve with utmost diligence. He must rise above lies, deceit or trickery, and be candid with his client. Additionally, he should be honourable towards the Court, colleagues, and the opposition. Lying under oath would attract the offences of perjury, and contempt of court.

Industry

Just as Rome was not built in a day, similarly, a diligent advocate is not created in a day. A good advocate is the end-product of hard-work, smart-work, and perseverance.

It requires an immense amount of strength to survive in a profession overrun with intense competition and sometimes, unnecessary politicism. Furthermore, an advocate must be able to undertake the pressures of research and drafting, perhaps for multiple clients, often in quick succession.

Courage

The ability to face the pressures of the profession is crucial for the legal practitioner. Courage entails rising to the challenges and being true to oneself. It allows one to do what is right, and not just what is convenient. The legal practitioner must be confident and fearless while arguing his client’s case.

Eloquence

People consider advocates to be champions of the spoken word. A good advocate will be able to conjure feelings of apathy from the Bar and Bench alike. Furthermore, the speech of the advocate must be measured and reserved. Flowery language should be avoided.

Wit

Presence of mind is important to counter the arguments of the opposition counsel, and tackle questions posed by the Bench. Sometimes, a well-placed humorous quip or intelligent statement can help ease the tension in the court-room.

Fellowship

There should be a feeling of brotherhood within the Bar. An advocate should share a mutual respect with his brothers and sisters at the Bar. Advocates should not let the fact that they are opposing counsels undermine their friendship away from the Bench.

Tact (7+1)

Justice KV Krishnaswamy Iyer added the element of Tact to the Seven Lamps. Tact is similar to the element of Wit and refers to being able to think on one’s feet. There may often be disagreements, but the advocate must be able to skilfully advance his opinions and not offend anyone.

Inference

Misconduct is the undoing of legal ethics, and it has only been defined by way of judicial pronouncements. It includes inter alia, going on strikes, breaking the client’s trust, citing overruled judicial decisions.

Good judgment can often help distinguish between what is right and what is convenient. Nurturing the seven lamps of advocacy will assist the legal practitioner in fulfilling the ideals of legal ethics.

Monday 27 September 2021

How To Get Legal Clients Online In India

Management of Clients is the most important checkbox a lawyer needs to fulfill in order to have an effective practice. In a competitive scenario like what exists in today’s world, acquiring clients is not an easy task. Technology emerges as a boon in such cases. In order to attain clients, a lawyer or a law firm needs to satisfy a person that they are the best choice for his or her requirements. Such satisfaction requires abiding by the modern techniques of attaining a client.
Some of the steps that help in acquiring clients online are:

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1) Online Presence

Social Media websites like Facebook, Twitter, Linked In, etc., play an important role in the promotion of one’s practice. A lawyer or a firm needs to maintain its online presence in the form of accounts on various social sites. Creating a social media account and promoting the page through it leads to more traffic on such a page. This even helps in improving the google ranking of the firm’s website.

In fact, adopting a custom email address with a customized domain name helps with promotion and subtle marketing. For example – An email address like abc@xyzpartners.com instead of abc@gmail.com will help with the advertisement of the firm. And in this way, the practice could be introduced to potential or prospective clients.

Paid promotion on Social Media is another way of increasing the reach of your firm and ensuring the best marketing of the firm.

See More: How To Increase Your Law Firm’s Online Presence?

2) Written Content, Blogging, etc.

Content Writing is the sine qua non for every lawyer or law firm. Most law firms focus on legal writing and publishing articles. This presents potential clients with the firm’s ability to handle research work. It attracts prospective clients and is a cheap but effective mode of marketing. High-quality content, along with videos or presentations in laymen’s language is a good form of marketing. For example, – A person can read content on your website and thus, approach you regarding his problem with the same law by getting influenced through the high quality of the written content on the website.

3) Search Engine Optimization

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a methodology of strategies, techniques, and tactics used to increase the number of visitors to a website by obtaining a high-ranking placement in the search results page of a search engine (SERP). This method is more preferable to the firms or lawyers who have been in the competition for a long time because of the costly nature of marketing since you need to pay the Search Engine to promote your page by making it stay on top whenever certain keywords are entered.

4) Providing Online Legal Advice Services

Several firms approach their clients online by providing them with certain online legal advice services. In the growing world of technology and internet, the clients mostly look for legal solutions online. In such a scenario, features like legal chatting services, video conferencing services, e-mail lawyers, online legal documentation services, etc., help the firm in attracting potential clients of the firm. This mode of legal advice is wider in reach and is quick, efficient, effective, and accurate. In fact, the client can save his time and money with such a mode of legal advice, and thus, this attracts the clients to hire a firm for doing their job.

6) Email List

Email Lists are the core of marketing. They are opt-in mailing lists where people willingly give you their contact information because you share useful information with them. There are several marketing software available in the market which creates a pop-up for potential clients, and there they can enter their contact details. Similarly, setting up autoresponders make people believe that they have personal contact with the firm.

Marketing is a crucial part of any business. The fastest way of acquiring new clients online is by presenting your skills effectively to prospective clients. In the modern world, marketing for clients has become a lot easier due to access to the internet. The Internet enables people to build up a social network and broaden it. Even strangers can connect to a law firm easily online. Networking is a long-term approach to gaining new business. It is done just by being friendly and kind and building a relationship with the clients.

Sunday 26 September 2021

Top 7 Law Books Every Lawyer Should Read

1. THE END OF LAWYERS? – Richard Susskind

An insightful analysis of the ways in which emerging technologies are transforming the landscape of the legal profession. As the world becomes more connected, and information shared more easily, there is increasingly more pressure to reassess the way legal services are provided and to make them more efficient and less costly. Susskind brilliantly argues that the current market can no longer bear the weight of expensive attorneys billing for tasks that a paralegal can and should perform at much lower rates and that this will lead to the obsolescence of traditional Lawyers who fulfills these roles today. Furthermore, the author provides a variety of tools and tips to assist lawyers in planning for the future.

2. TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD – Harper Lee

While it is common knowledge that lawyers are considered by some to be selfish, cagey, and of questionable integrity, this novel contrasts this image with one of a lawyer, Atticus Finch, whose integrity is unwavering. This novel is written in “tactile brilliance” which was remarked as a southern romantic regionalism as well as “the spirit-corroding shame of the civilized white Southerner in the treatment of the Negro”. The Mockingbird is the symbol of innocence in the novel. “Shoot all the blue jays you want, if you can hit ’em, but remember it’s a sin to kill a mockingbird” is in itself an allegory for this message.

3. ANONYMOUS LAWYER – Jeremy Blachman

Anonymous Lawyer recounts the experiences of a dynamic lawyer who endeavors to become chairman of his firm. His lust for power has no boundaries and there is no price we won’t pay to achieve his goals. However, there are several obstacles that he must overcome on his way to ultimate success, including a bitter rival and a wife who spends his money as fast as he earns it. Not only is this book is easy to read and entertaining, but it also comes across as a rare glimpse of the inner workings of some of the biggest law firms in the nation.

4. THE RULE OF LAW – Tom Bingham

This slim volume has rapidly become the book Guardian-reading lawyers are most likely to recommend to anyone interested in the profession. In summary, it is ‘that all persons and authorities within the state, whether public or private, should be bound by and entitled to the benefit of laws publicly made, taking effect in the future and publicly administered in the courts.

5. BLEAK HOUSE – Charles Dicken

To many, Bleak House is Dickens’s greatest novel; it is surely one of the writer’s most compelling and entertaining. It deals with the themes of loss, law, social class, secrecy, and inheritance, as well as, the effect the process of law has on clients and their businesses. Although throughout law books the legal cases it deals with seem like mere backdrops to the central plot, all of the main characters are connected to these cases in one way or another and suffer tragically as a result.

6. THE TRIAL – Franz Kafka

Law books deal with Kafka’s vision of law. Law is expected to be fair and just. And if it is not, it is expected that we work in unison to overturn and rectify that law. But Kafka’s vision is: Law is abstract. Law talks about equality and justice. But does a country exist where this concept is absolutely followed? Kafka’s views throughout this novel make it allegory as it does not point towards a specific law, but THE LAW in general. The novel also shows the corruption and lust of the judges in Courts.

7. STORYTELLING FOR LAWYERS – Philip Meyer

Sometimes, good attorneys make good raconteurs, and this law book explains how the best attorneys can transform a simple set of factual circumstances into a fascinating and believable narrative that has the ability to capture the heart and the minds of everyone in the courtroom. This book provides a new perspective on the role of evidence in the courtroom. The simple yet elegant manner in which Philip Meyer illustrates this anecdotal structure makes it a must-read for anyone associated with the law.