People easily understand that ‘primitives’ cement their social order by believing in ghosts and spirits,

and gathering each full moon to dance together around the campfire. What we fail to appreciate is that
our modern institutions function on exactly the same basis. Take for example the world of business
corporations. Modern business-people and lawyers are, in fact, powerful sorcerers. The principal
difference between them and tribal shamans is that modern lawyers tell far stranger tales.

if a certified lawyer followed all the proper liturgy and rituals, wrote all the required spells and oaths on
a wonderfully decorated piece of paper, and affixed his ornate signature to the bottom of the document,
then hocus pocus – a new company was incorporated.

When in 1896 Armand Peugeot wanted to create his company, he paid a lawyer to go through all these
sacred procedures. Once the lawyer had performed all the right rituals and pronounced all the necessary
spells and oaths, millions of upright French citizens behaved as if the Peugeot company really existed

J,S Jadhav Vs. Mustafa Haji Mohamad yusuf 1993 AIR 1535, the Hon’ble Supreme court of India
observed that “Advocacy is not a craft but a calling; a profession wherein devotion to duty constitutes
the hallmark. The sincerity of performance and the earnestness of endeavour are the two wings that will
bare aloft the advocate to the tower of success. Given these virtues, other qualifications will follow of
their own account. This is the reason why the legal profession is regarded as a noble one.”

Judge Abbot Parry, in an admirable book entitled The Seven Lamps of Advocacy, refers to the qualities
that make for success at the Bar.

He mentions Honesty, Courage, Industry, Wit, Eloquence, Judgement and Fellowship, as the seven
lamps.

Honesty

 'the best advocates of all generations have been devotees of honesty'.

 Honesty should reflect in the thoughts, words and behaviour of an advocate.
 An advocate is expected to be honest while dealing with the case and making arguments and
producing oral and documentary evidence in the court of law.
 It is honesty that increases the personal and professional reputation of the person in a society.
The reputation of an advocate is the thing that includes his fame and trust with his clients and
bar.
 Honest with his client-
o He must tell his client about the position of the case every time.
o An advocate must tell about the merits of the case
o He must tell about the demerits of the case or any consequences which can lead to the loss
of his client.
o If an advocate is going to lose the case in court, he should talk about this.
 Honest with opposition-
 o An advocate should be honest even with his opposition party. He should not give any
false facts to take the case in the opposite direction.
o Deceiving a person in a case should not be the purpose of an advocate.
 Honest to law-
o Honest with the law means an advocate should give truthful fact in front of the judge,
not any false statements. Telling the truth in front of the judge is the best practice for
honesty.

Courage

 'Advocacy is a form of combat where courage in danger is half the battle. Courage is as good a
weapon in the forum as in the camp.'
 Courage means the ability to stand in front of the court without any fear. An advocate should
feel proud and confident while arguing in a case.
 It builds the ability of an advocate to convince the judge that his true and honest facts represent
on the behalf of his client.

Industry

 he quotes the graceful alliteration of Charles Lamb, 'the dry drudgery of the desk's dead wood*.
'Advocacy', he says, 'is indeed a life of industry* and 'an advocate must study his brief in the
same way that an actor studies his part. Success in advocacy is not arrived at by intuition.'
 Ignorance of the law is not an excuse. He must have the knowledge of the law for which he is
dealing in a case. We all know that the law is like an ocean; no one can be the master of law. But
an advocate should know about the law used in the case in which he is dealing for.
 To get the knowledge of the law and understand the law he should have given sufficient time for
that.
 Our law is not static, it keeps changing with the need of society every time to solve the various
new problems of the society. An advocate should update himself with these new laws.

Wit

 Wit is needed 'to lighten the darkness of advocacy'. 'Often the wit of an advocate will turn a
Judge from an unwise course, where judgement or rhetoric would certainly fail.'
 . It is the humour that keeps us calm and active. A person without a sense of humour will fight
the case with anger which isn’t good for providing justice.
 A wit helps the advocate to stay focused on his work and reduce the workload so that he can
remain relaxed. It automatically removes the mental strain of an advocate so that he can think
beyond the limits of his mind.
 A well-prepared speech by an advocate in front of the Judge will not always work. An advocate
has to answer the questions of a Judge and that question will check the wit and presence of
mind of a lawyer.

Eloquence
  'eloquence of manner is real eloquence' and there is 'a physical as well as psychological side to
advocacy'. 'In nothing does the advocate more openly exhibit want of judgement than in
prolixity.'
 The lamp of eloquence is the art of speaking
 The lamp of eloquence is the art of speaking
 Eloquence is an oral art that is used by an advocate for fluent and skilful use of communication
which touches the soul of a judge.
 points related to eloquence

o An advocate should be a skilled speaker

o He should stay confident while giving the speech in front of the judge
o He should be fluent while giving this speech.
o The language used by an advocate should be error-free
o He should have the ability to pause himself at the right moment
o This speech given by an advocate should be effective, not dramatic.
o He should give this speech in a way that leaves an impression on the
judge.
o The language should be used in a way that should help the judge while
writing his judgement.
o The language should influence people towards the point of discussion.
o Use of the right law phrase and law maxim.
 An advocate can use the power of eloquence by:

o noticing the faults made by the opposite party

o Presence of mind in the case
o Knowledge and practice
o By setting the relation between arguments and justification
Fellowship

 the words of Fitzjames Stephen about the English Bar, that it is 'exactly like a great public school,
the boys of which have grown older, and have exchanged boyish for manly objects. There is just
the same rough familiarity, the general ardour of character, the same kind of unwritten code of
morals and manners, the same kind of public opinion expressed in exactly the same blunt,
unmistakable manner.' He concludes that by keeping the lamp of Fellowship burning, we
encourage each other to walk in the light of the seven lamps of advocacy.
 When an advocate takes the case and argues, he argues against an opposite advocate. But it
does not make them opposite to each other, they are just making arguments for the sake of
justice only
 fter finishing the argument in the court hall, the advocate should respect his opposite advocate.
Even while doing an argument in court, an advocate should respect his opposite lawyer as well.
The reason is, it is not the fight between both of them but it is the fight for justice only.
 A case must not bother his friendly relationship with other advocates. An advocate should while
referring to the opposite advocate use the term as a learned friend or learned counsel.
Judgement

 essentially as an intellectual capacity, 'the inspiration' which enables* a man to translate good
sense into right action, e.g. 'seeing the right point of his case' and the like.
 The lamp of judgement means the deep study of the present case and then make an informed
opinion for that case.
 An advocate should think from two sides of the case because it will help him to understand the
consequences of the case. By understanding the case from both sides the advocates knows the
merits and demerits of that case. It helps him to anticipate the problems and tackle the same
with his other lamps of advocacy.
 A good advocate knows what will be the consequences after representing a witness in court.
 He should be aware of what questions can be asked by the judges and the opposite party after
the witness.
 And he should be ready to counter these arguments and questions from the opposite party and
judges of the case as well.

'Tact'

 An Indian lawyer and former judge of Madras High Court “V Krishnaswamy Iyer” has written the
TEACT in his book of PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT AND ADVOCACY as the 8th lamp of advocacy.
 It is not easy lo describe tact but its absence is easily noticed. Men of unquestioned ability have
suffered for quarrelling with the tribunal or for standing on their dignity over trifles, forget- ting
their clients, or for losing their tempers; they are men of parts but without tact. Tact involves
and is in reality founded on judgement but more properly refers to the human side of putting
into action the result of one's judgement.
 Tact means handling people and situations skilfully and without causing offence.
 Sometimes it happens that the courtroom becomes a mess due to the heavy and
serious arguments by advocates. In those circumstances, advocates should
know how to tackle the situation. An advocate should know how to:
o control his client in that situation
o Control over the opponent advocate in the case.
o Persuade the judge
