As a middle-aged mainstream litigator in the City of London, I could be accused of having a fairly blinkered perspective of the role of solicitors as advocates. I must confess that a perspective from my field of commercial litigation will obviously influence any views I hold. Let’s begin by dispelling a few myths.
The introduction of higher rights of advocacy did not herald some wonderful new opportunity for commercial litigation solicitors to perform as oral advocates in the High Court. I believe the vast bulk of most commercial practices’ oral hearings are interlocutory ones in which solicitors have had rights of audience for at least 100 years. It is important for the hype to be seen in this context.
Solicitors interested in being courtroom advocates have been free to do so for the past 100 years or so. Most solicitors (myself included) have not wanted to make a career of it. When I encounter competitors who trumpet their solicitor advocacy capability, I see little evidence of them putting their advocacy mouths where their PR money is.
