The practice of advocacy rests on a tension that every lawyer learns to live with from the first day in court: the duty to fight vigorously for a client while…
Articles
The ethics of advocacy and the modern lawyer's calling
What the Marshall Court Still Teaches Modern Lawyers
For nearly three decades at the dawn of the nineteenth century, the United States Supreme Court under Chief Justice John Marshall handed down rulings that…
Banking Litigation When Money Moves at the Speed of Code
The Australian banking sector has been quietly transformed over the past decade. From the moment the New Payments Platform went live in early 2018, settling…
A day in the life of a trial lawyer
The alarm cuts through the silence at 4:30 a.m., a familiar intrusion that signals the start of another day in the relentless rhythm of litigation. For a trial…
Why the Right to Trial by Jury Is Under Threat
The jury occupies a powerful place in the American imagination. Twelve citizens, drawn from the community, hear evidence in open court and decide whether the…
When the past speaks in the courtroom: history and modern advocacy
The rituals of modern trial practice—opening statements, cross-examination, evidentiary objections, closing arguments—did not spring up overnight. They trace…
How the Statute of Frauds Shapes Contract Disputes
Contract litigation often turns on a deceptively simple question: was the agreement actually written down in a way that a court will recognise? For centuries,…
Litigating against the government: strategies and pitfalls for the modern advocate
Standing across from the state in a courtroom changes everything about how a lawyer prepares a case. The defendant is not a private company with a board of…
The Supreme Court and the Shifting Meaning of Commerce
Few constitutional words have carried as much economic and political weight in the United States as “commerce”. It can describe a shipment crossing a state…
Building a strong case on documentary evidence
When a dispute moves from negotiation into formal litigation, the written record often carries more weight than any witness testimony. Contracts, emails,…