Chapter 12 - Advocacy Flashcards
What does being an effective advocate involve?
It involves gathering all the facts, developing a coherent theory of the case, and marshalling the evidence in a persuasive manner.
81L
What is the theory of the case?
The theory of the case is the lawyer’s position on all the undisputed and disputed facts that will be presented before the trier of fact.
81L
What is the first step in developing the theory of the case?
- Investigate the facts
T/F
You can waive or abandon a client’s legal rights without the client’s informed consent
FALSE
NEVER waive or abandon a client’s legal rights without the client’s informed consent.
82L
To protect the client as far as from being convicted of an offence, general defence counsel may put forward…
Any defence and may rely on any evidence not known to be false or fraudulent.
82L
Duty as a prosecutor
The lawyer, an advocate for the public and the administration of justice must act …
resolutely and honourably
What is the prime duty of a prosecutor?
The prosecutor’s prime duty is not to seek a conviction but to see that justice is done through a fair trial on the merits.
82R
What does the tribunal need to effectively review and decide upon a matter?
The tribunal must have access to all information that is relevant to the matter before it.
83L
T/F
A lawyer has no obligation to assist the authorities in gathering physical evidence of a crime but cannot act or advise anyone to hinder an investigation or a prosecution.
True
To comply with the Rules re: communicating with witnesses giving evidence, a lawyer must consider 2 factors
- Whether the witness is the lawyer’s own witness or is being called by other parties; and
- Whether the witness is sympathetic to the lawyer’s cause
If as a lawyer you are unsure of whether you may speak with a witness under Rule 5.4-2, what should you do?
You should obtain the consent of opposing legal practitioner or the leave of the tribunal to engage in convo with the witness before actually doing so.
When in doubt, just avoid communicating with the witnesses altogether
What is the lawyer’s role as an advocate
Further the client’s interests within the limits of the law.
T/F
The Rules permit a lawyer to represent a client in a matter and appear as a witness in the same matter.
F
You can’t do both
86R
T/F
A lawyer who has appeared as witness in a proceeding prohibited from acting as advocate in the appeal unless the matter for which lawyer testified is purely formal or uncontroverted
True
