Thanks to the Access to Justice Act and the Law Society’s rule changes last year, the advocacy door is swinging open. Little more than 300 solicitors had rights of audience to the higher courts prior to 1 October – yet that number is expected to reach about 2,000 by next year. No wonder commercial firms are looking hard for the best way forward to enhance their solicitors’ skills.
Access to the higher courts depends on experience. For more senior lawyers it comes with a mixture of accreditation and exemption. Those with less than three years under their belt require development, and with some firms seeking to train all their litigators for the higher courts, there are huge questions of education and skills transference to be answered.
Not all firms are coming up with the same answer. Some have gone to the leading schools for expert guidance – witness Clifford Chance and Herbert Smith’s link-up with the College of Law, and Linklaters and Alliance’s arrangement with Nottingham Law School. Others value the made-to-measure convenience of in-house training, and are even bringing in members of the Bar to take charge of dedicated advocacy units. Suzanne Fine, head of Business Development at Nottingham, designed and developed the Bar vocational course. She believes the kind of training provided by the schools is vital – and not just to fulfil stipulated requirements.
“More and more lawyers will get higher court rights, but how many will have the opportunity to practice those rights, even with firms expanding pro bono and taking other means for just such an end?” Fine asks.
Competence
“That is why training becomes essential – otherwise you are left with a situation where lawyers are qualified – but are they actually competent? It is similar to driving – young drivers may have their licences, but that does not stop insurance companies charging them higher premiums for their inexperience.”
For Fine, the emphasis is on providing training in a risk-free environment for lawyers who otherwise have nowhere to practice their skills except on their own clients. “Our courses are borne out of experience and expertise over many years – with plenty of role-play, a lot of individual practice and expert specialist feedback.”
What about going to the horse’s mouth and
getting training from chambers? “We do have individual members of the Bar who deliver some of our training, and they are excellent, but as far as many chambers are concerned just because you can do it does not mean you can teach it,” Fine claims.
Scepticism about chambers-based advocacy training seems to be widespread. Few commercial firms have turned to the Bar for advocacy training. Paul Green, senior clerk at busy commercial set Tanfield Chambers, suggests the reason why.
“There may be some fear of ‘poacher turned gamekeeper’,” Green says. “I can see the argument that the transfer of skills may be in doubt – but we have got experienced counsel who deal with and speak to seminars on a regular basis.”
Of course, many firms have made use of the expertise resource of individual barristers, and none more than Hammond Suddards Edge. Patrick Walker had 20 years in commercial
chambers before becoming the firm’s director
for advocacy. Hammonds’ solicitors are left to decide for themselves whether to take advocacy training – but there is no shortage of volunteers: the course is permanently over-subscribed.
The programme maximises hands-on role-play experience – even including the presence of a real judge.
