Hints on Advocacy

Excerpt from Hints on Advocacy: Intended for Practitioners in Civil and Criminal Courts, With Suggestions as to Opening a Case Examination, Re-Examination, Reply, Conduct of a Prosecution and of a Defense, Etc;, And Illustrative Cases There is no school of advocacy; there are no lectures on advocacy; and so far as I have been able to ascertain, there is no book on the subject. The young lawyer has to find his way as best he can, very often to the sacrifice of important interests and many unfortunate clients. As he has never learned anything of the art of advocacy, he is no more fitted for the task of advocating their rights than the clients themselves, except in so far as his knowledge of law will assist him in the purely legal aspects of the question. It seems to me lamentable that no instruction should ever be given in an art which requires an almost infinite amount of knowledge. Tact can not be taught, but it will follow from experience, and a good deal of experience may be...