Speaking in Court: Developments in Court Advocacy from the Seventeenth to the Twenty-First Century

Description

This book maps the changes in court advocacy in England and Wales over the last three centuries. Advocacy, the means by which a barrister puts their client’s case to the court and jury, has grown piecemeal and at an uneven pace; the result of a complex interplay of many influences. Andrew Watson examines the numerous principal factors, from the effect on juniors of successful styles deployed by senior advocates, changes in court procedure, reforms in laws determining who and what may be put before courts, the amount of media reporting of court cases, and public and press opinion about the acceptable limits of advocates’ tactics and oratory. This book also explores the extent to which juries are used in trials and the social origins of those serving on them. It goes on to examine the formal teaching of advocacy which was only introduced comparatively recently, arguing that this, and new technology, will likely exert a strong influence on future forensic oratory. Speaking in Court provides a readable history of advocacy and the many factors that have shaped it, and takes a far wider view of the history of advocacy than many titles, analysing the 20th Century developments which are often overlooked. This book will be of interest to general readers, law practitioners interested in how advocacy has developed in courts of yesteryear, teachers of advocacy who want to locate there subject in history and impart this to their students, and to law students curious about the origins of what they are learning. Front Matter ....Pages i-xvi Introduction and Structure (Andrew Watson)....Pages 1-12 Distinguished Advocates, Judges, Classical Learning and Other Influences on Advocacy in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries (Andrew Watson)....Pages 13-49 Prohibition Against Counsel in Felony Trials and the Consequences of its Erosion (Andrew Watson)....Pages 51-70 Victorian Advocacy: Emotion, Melodrama, Floridity and Juries (Andrew Watson)....Pages 71-102 Signs of Changes in Styles Before Juries (Andrew Watson)....Pages 103-123 Decline of Jury Trials in the Civil and Criminal Courts and Other Key Developments (Andrew Watson)....Pages 125-134 The Late Nineteenth Century and the Beginning of the Twentieth Century (Andrew Watson)....Pages 135-151 A Spectacular Quartet of Leading Barristers (Andrew Watson)....Pages 153-172 The Silent Revolution in Methods of Advocacy (Andrew Watson)....Pages 173-203 Changes and Influences on Jury Advocacy in England and Wales During the Second Half of the Twentieth Century (Andrew Watson)....Pages 205-228 Developments in the Second Half of the Twentieth Century Influencing Advocacy in the Civil Courts (Andrew Watson)....Pages 229-261 The Teaching of Advocacy: An Important Influence (Andrew Watson)....Pages 263-274 Appearances: Broadcasting and Dress (Andrew Watson)....Pages 275-290 Developments with Consequences for Advocacy (Andrew Watson)....Pages 291-325 Some Conclusions (Andrew Watson)....Pages 327-331 Back Matter ....Pages 333-366