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“Law Master’s” Publication
“Noble Profession of Advocacy”
Prof. S.D. Bhosale
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Noble Profession of Advocacy/ Seven Lamps of Advocacy
QUESTION BANK
Q.1 “Advocacy is a profession and not a business” comment.
Q.2 “Every successfulAdvocateshouldpossesscertaingoodqualities”Explainin the light
of the seven lamps of Advocacy.
Short Notes
1. Seven lamps of advocacy.
2. Noble profession of advocacy.
TABLE OF CONTENT
A. Legal Profession....................................................................................................................71
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Prof. S.D. Bhosale
7. General Education-....................................................................................................73
10. Citing appropriate authority-..................................................................................73
11. Maintain independence and dignity-.....................................................................73
B. Seven Lamps of Advocacy-.................................................................................................73
1. Honesty-......................................................................................................................73
2. Courage-......................................................................................................................74
3. Witt-.............................................................................................................................74
8. Tact-.............................................................................................................................74
A. Legal Profession-
The legal profession is a noble profession. It is not a business or a trade. A person
practicing law has to practice in the spirit of honesty and not in the spirit of mischief-
making or money-getting. An Advocate’s attitude towards and dealings with his client has
to be scrupulously honest and fair.
“Law’s nobility as a profession lasts only so long as the members maintain their
commitment to integrity and service to the community”.
A person practicinglaw has an obligation to maintain probity and high standards of
professional ethics and morality.
compromisebetween the partyand advocateandpunishedtheadvocateby suspendinghim
from practice for 3 months, who grabbed the client’s property.
In business, money matters, but professional service to society matters. In present
days, the legal and medical professions are very important for society.
Professor Palmer aptly mentioned that “A ‘trade’ aims primarily at personal gains,
whereas a ‘profession’ at the exercise of powers beneficial to mankind”. To be a
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professional requiresa high degree of learning and specialised knowledge, some Code of
ethical conduct, and a sense of the spirit of service. This sense of public service makes a
profession different from other occupations.
Equipment of a successful Advocate-
To be a successful Advocate, a person needs the following qualities viz.
1. Honesty, Integrity and character-
An Advocate must possess honesty, integrity, and good character. Honesty is the
quality of freedom from deceit, cheating, stealing, and telling lies. An advocate needs to
be honest with his clients and with the court.
Integrity is the quality of completeness and uprightness of character, ‘character’
counts both mental and moral qualities, which makes one person different from the other.
All the abovementioned virtues are basic requirements of a successful advocate.
2. Patience and Preserving-
Patience is the power of enduring trouble, suffering, and inconvenience without
complaining. An advocate with patience should have the ability to wait for results to deal
with problems calmly and without haste. Preserving is a constant effort to achieve
something. An Advocate capable of taking labour, with maximum patience, self-
confidence, and faith, is honored by success.
3. Legal Learning-
A comprehensive study of law is necessary for an Advocate. He must digest the law
with a spirit of inquiry. He must go not only through sections of the Act but case law
developed under these sections. He must become a “running encyclopedia of law”.
4. Study of case laws-
Case laws of High Courts andSupreme Court are reportedbyreporterslikeAll India
Reporter (AIR), Maharashtra Law Journal, etc.
To be comprehensive in law, an Advocate should not only study Bare Acts and
sections but also case laws. The interpretation of sections by case laws gives a complete
idea of law. Sometimes, sections or Articles are so thoroughly interpreted that a bare
reading of a section does not give us a complete idea of their real meaning. Therefore,
readingsectionsin thelight of caselaws isnecessaryforan Advocatetoachieveperfection.
An Advocate, must-readcaselaws in detail andnot just go through headnotesit. An
advocate should cite appropriate case laws in support of his case by highlighting relevant
portions.
5. Use of legal phrases-
Law has peculiar phraseology. An advocate is expected to use legal phraseology in
his arguments.
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6. Manners in Court-
An Advocate must follow proper manners of behaviourin court. He should be calm
and respectable to the court. He should speak politely. He should not lose his temper in
court if anythingis expressed against his opinion. He should maintain the decorum of the
court.
7. General Education-
An advocate should be good in legal education as well as in general education such
as science,socialscience,anthropology,physics,etc.The versatilepersonalityofAdvocate
and his profound reading makes him successful.
8. Sharp memory and intellect-
Memory means the power of keeping facts in the conscious mind and of beingable
to call them back at will. It is an important virtue of an advocate to remember necessary
knowledge and reproduce it at an appropriate time. An advocate must be intelligent.
9. Proper presentation of the case-
An advocate should present his case meaningfully. He must arrange his thoughts in
proper sequence and chronological order without any confession. He should not repeat
arguments again and again. An advocate should properly deal with adverse points.
10. Citing appropriate authority-
An Advocateshouldquotetheapplicablecitations.Heshouldpreferto citethe latest
authorities. The decisions of the Supreme Court and the High Court subordinate to which
the court is, are to be cited. However, if citations of the immediate above High Court are
not available, then citations of any other High Court may be cited. The number of citations
do not matter, but the accuracy of the citation matters. An Advocate blindly should not go
through head notes but with the whole citations. An Advocate should cite a few recent
cases of the higher judiciary that have a close resemblance to the facts of his case in hand.
An Advocate should highlight the portion of citation on which he relies.
11. Maintain independence and dignity-
An advocate should maintain his dignity, independence, and integrity. He should
discharge his duties fearlessly and faithfully. He should not be led by the sentiments of his
clients.
B. Seven Lamps of Advocacy-
Advocacy is a noble profession. Therefore, a good advocate should possess some
essential qualities and virtues. Judge Abbot Parry, in his book “The Seven Lamps of
Advocacy”, called these qualities “Seven Lamps of Advocacy”. These qualities are as
follows-
1. Honesty-
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“Noble Profession of Advocacy”
Prof. S.D. Bhosale
‘Honesty’ means the quality of straightforwardness, freedom from deceit, cheating
or stealing and not telling lies. ‘Honesty’ makes the advocate best. The nobleness of the
legal profession lies in honesty.
An advocate should tell all facts clearly to his client, he should not adopt illegal
practices, and he should not commit professional misconduct.
2. Courage-
‘Courage’ enables a person to control fear in the face of danger, pain, misfortune,
etc. An Advocate must be courageous. He should face all sorts of pressures and fears
against his client’s interest.
3. Witt-
‘Witt’ means cleaver and humorous expression of ideas, the liveliness of spirit.
‘Witt’ flows from intelligence, understanding, and quickness of mind. ‘Witt’ lessens the
workload and relaxes the advocate’s mental stress and strain.
4. Eloquence-
Eloquence means fluent speakingand skillful use of language to persuade or appeal
to thefeelings ofothers. The successofan advocatedependsonhiseloquence.An advocate
must be fluent and skillful in using appropriate words to impress the court. It is being said
that “words are lawyers' tools of trade”.
5. Judgment-
Judgment is the capacity of an advocate to judge the merits and demerits of the case
on hearingthe brief andseeing the documents. It is his duty to inform his clientof the legal
position of the case after judging the case.
An advocate should not keep his partyin the dark as to the demerits of his case. The
party should not be left surprised after listening to the result of the case.
Thus, judgment is an important quality of an advocate to judge the merits and
demerits of the case.
7. Fellowship-
Fellowship means to be in friendly association or companionship. Advocates, even
opponents before the court should not be enemies outside of the court. Their conflict must
end as they come out of court. They should not be enemies of each other merely because
they are opponents in court.
Fellowship is thus the spirit of fellowship, which is necessary between advocates.
8. Tact-
One more lamp, i.e. tact, is added by K. V. Krishnaswami Aiyer. Accordingto him,
‘tact’ means handling people and situations ‘skillfully and without causing problems’.
An advocate must be in a position to tackle and win his client, opposite party, and
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the oppositeadvocate.However,many advocatesofgreat abilityfail dueto not havingtact.
An advocate is not supposed to quarrel with a court or lose his temper over trifling
things in the court and outside. Tactful and humble advocates achieve more success than
arrogant advocates, even though they are intelligent.
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