Barristers
Plead cases before civil, criminal and industrial courts and other tribunals.
A brief arrives the night before
You are a barrister who has just received a brief for a hearing at ten o'clock tomorrow morning, in a civil dispute between a small business and its supplier. It is 6:15pm. The papers are thick and you have not seen them before. Your client, the small business owner, is anxious. The solicitor who sent the brief is still at her desk and is waiting for your reply.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
I'm sorry about the timing. The other side only sent their documents this afternoon. Can you take this? The client is desperate, and the hearing can't be moved unless we can show good reason.
Take it on and stay up as long as you need to read every page of the new documents tonight
You are ready, but you are exhausted, and the morning's performance is not your best. Preparing hard matters, and so does being fit to appear.
Take it on, read the key documents tonight and ask Helena for a short call with the client
By the time you sleep, you know the case's shape and what is missing. Helena brings two more documents in the morning. Good preparation is organised, not endless.
Decline, because there is no way to prepare properly in one night and the client deserves better
Helena finds another barrister, but the client feels abandoned and the solicitor remembers. You may have been right about the time, and you could have offered something more helpful.
I need you to tell the judge that the supplier lied to us on purpose. I know they did. I don't have proof, but I know it in my gut. If you don't say it, I'll find someone who will.
Refuse to say anything about the supplier at all, since you don't have proof
You are careful, but you have also dropped part of the case that may have been argued fairly. Mr Kapoor leaves feeling you do not believe him.
Explain that you cannot allege something you cannot support, and show him the points that you can argue strongly
He is frustrated, then relieved to see the strength in what remains. Barristers owe a duty to the court as well as their client, and that duty includes honesty.
Say it in court anyway, in careful words, to keep your client happy
The judge asks you for the evidence, and you have none. Your credibility takes a hit and so does your client's case. A barrister's word has to be reliable.
Before we go in, my client is willing to talk about a settlement. It's not a bad offer, but it needs an answer in ten minutes. I'm not saying that to pressure you. It's just the situation.
Accept it on the spot, to avoid the risk of the hearing
You have taken a decision that belongs to your client. Mr Kapoor is furious that he was not asked, and it is not your place to decide for him.
Say you will take the offer to your client, ask for fifteen minutes and be ready to tell the judge it is being discussed
You do the right thing, but you did not give your client a view on the offer, so he asks you what you think. Your advice is part of what he is paying for.
Take the offer to your client straight away, explain what it means, give your honest advice and let him decide
Mr Kapoor decides in five minutes, knowing the risks. Whatever the result, the choice is his. Giving advice and respecting a client's right to decide are both part of the work.
How it went
The hearing went ahead, or settled, with your client making an informed choice. Barristers speak for others in demanding situations, balancing loyalty to the client with honesty to the court. It asks for preparation, calm and nerve. Could you stand up and argue a case you did not choose?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The fence, the neighbours and the settlement
A fictional case set in a barrister's chambers and the courts of a fictional state, preparing and arguing cases for clients.
The situation
Dimitri was a junior barrister, asked by a firm of solicitors to appear in a dispute between two neighbours about a boundary fence. His client, Mrs Oyelaran, was angry and wanted to win. The neighbours had been arguing for years, and the court costs on both sides were already larger than the fence. The hearing was the following morning, and Dimitri's papers showed her case was not as strong as she believed.
What they did
Dimitri spent the evening reading everything again and met Mrs Oyelaran early the next day. He told her honestly which parts of her case were strong and which were weak, and what the court was likely to focus on. He did not tell her what to feel. He explained that the other side had offered to talk, and that she could decide. With her permission, he spoke to the other barrister before the hearing.
How it turned out
Mrs Oyelaran was not happy, but she agreed to a settlement that gave her part of what she wanted. The fence was repaired and, months later, the neighbours were speaking again. Dimitri knew it was not the dramatic courtroom win he had pictured, and that the result was better for his client.
What would you do?
- Would it be hard to tell a client something they do not want to hear?
- What does it mean to argue for someone even when you are not sure they are right?
- Why might a good result sometimes be a settlement and not a win?