WHY PUPILLAGE ?

Being a graduate from law school, you have at least a basic knowledge of substantive and adjectival law. However, the advocate and solicitor is concerned with the practice of law which is very different from the academic study of law. Thus pupillage gives and opportunity to the pupil to gain some acquaintance with the work of an advocate and solicitor before commencing practice. The work of an Advocate and solicitor covers a very large field. He has to know the law or where to find it. Since the law is a vast subject, no one can know all of it. A competent advocate and solicitor has a practical working knowledge of those parts of the law which his practice is commonly concerned but he has to know where to look to be able to find the answers to the questions which his client's problem pose. The real important of his work consists of diagnosing accurately what questions arise out of the situation presented to him by his client and the research to find the answers. Additionally, two other major parts of his work is drafting and advocacy. These are two separate skills which both require a full and exact knowledge of the law to the particular transaction with which the drafting or advocacy is concerned. As the knowledge of the law and these special skills develop throughout the professional life of the advocate and solicitor, Pupillage cannot cover all of this. Nevertheless, a Pupil can acquire some experience of the law in action, of the relationship between the advocate and solicitor and his client and the relationship with other advocates and solicitors. WHAT ARE THE LAWS RELATING TO THE PROFESSION THAT A PUPIL SHOULD KNOW ? A Pupil must familiarize himself with the law relating to the profession. The Legal Profession Act 1976 The Advocates & Solicitors (Issue of Sijil Annual) Rules 1978 The Legal Profession (Practice & Etiquette) Rules 1978 The Advocate and Solicitor's Compensation Fund Rules 1978 The Solicitors' Remuneration Order 1991 The Solicitors' Account Rules 1990 The Accountant's Report Rules 1990 The Legal Profession (Professional Liability) Rules 1991 and Disciplinary Rules

Bar Council issues Rulings from time to time which will be published to all advocates and solicitors. When you are admitted to the Bar, you will receive a copy of the booklet containing the consolidated rulings and the Pupil should keep it updated with the Rulings the Council makes. Professional misconduct including breaches of etiquette can give rise to disciplinary proceedings against the advocate and solicitor concerned. That includes a Pupil. Part VII of the Legal Profession Act 1976 should be studied with care. The golden rule is to behave in a strictly honorable fashion at all times. If you have doubts what it entails in any situation, you should write to the Bar Council for a ruling. WHAT IS THE DUAL FUNCTION OF AN ADVOCATE AND SOLICITOR ? An advocate and solicitor has to master 2 basic skills - Drafting and Advocacy. Drafting covers drafting of documents of every kind. As such it forms the greater part of a solicitor's work. Drafting is an art which is developed by practice. It requires a through knowledge of the law, careful thinking out of the subject matter and meticulous and precise use of words in order to avoid obscurity and

ambiguity. Proper drafting cannot be done quickly. Hasty and sloppy drafting is inevitably ill-considered and can lead to litigation because of ambiguity, vagueness, looseness in expression and failure to cover the matter adequately. The idea draft is complete comprehensive and watertight document expressed with clarity and precision. Even though, it may not be possible for human mind to envisage every possibility which may occur but careful thought will bring to light those possibilities which are likely to occur and these can be dealt with in the drafting. Advocacy is primarily concerned with the pleading of cases in Court. It also includes the mediation and negotiation of settlements between parties, advising clients, and persuading the other side to a particular point of view. An essential part of good advocacy is politeness and courtesy. Advocacy is concerned with persuasion and Courts and other people are best persuaded by the advocate who has thoroughly mastered the facts, presents them clearly and put forward reasonable arguments and is tactful in presentation. Naturally, the advocate must have the relevant law at his fingertips so as to be prepared to deal with any points which may be brought up by the Court or by Counsel on the other side. The experience in advocacy can only be gained from observing good advocates pleading their clients' cases in Court as well as practicing it themselves in as many of their applications as possible. It is also profitable to read some of the many books on the subject. WHAT ARE THE MAIN PRACTICE OF AN ADVOCATE ? Criminal litigation and Civil litigation are the two broadly divided practice of an advocate. WHAT ARE SOME OF THE EXPERIENCE I SHOULD GAIN AS A PUPIL INTERESTED IN CRIMINAL LITIGATION ? You should be familiar with the provisions of the Criminal Procedure Code and gain some experience in the following : Interviewing clients - be it in the office, police station, prison or other place of remand Applications for bail Attending at hearing where accused person pleads guilty to the charge, and the consequent submission of a plea in mitigation on his behalf Attending a trial-within-a-trial (voir dire) for the admission of a statement made by an accused person Attending a case where a submission of "no case to answer" is made at the close of the case of the prosecution Drafting appeal papers, Notice of Appeal and Petition of Appeal, and attending the hearing of the appeal Attending a criminal hearing whenever possible

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE EXPERIENCE I SHOULD GAIN AS A PUPIL INTERESTED IN CIVIL LITIGATION ? You should be familiar with Rules of High Court 1980 and the Rules of the Subordinate Court 1980. Other rules which you should also know are the rules relating to appeals to the Supreme Court, Bankruptcy Rules and the rules made under the Companies Act 1965. You should also gain experience in the following : Accompanying the firm's court clerk or filing clerk to the Court Registries to observe the filing and issuing of court documents and inspection of documents and the various Court registers The drafting of pleadings and other court documents including Statements of Claim, Defenses, Reply to defence, Summonses for Direction, Summonses in Chambers, Affidavits in support of

application, Order 14 applications, draft orders and Judgments, and Judgments in Default of Appearance or Defence. Attending Order 14 proceedings Attending to application for injunctions and interlocutory relief - interim injunctions, Mareva injunctions, Anton Piller orders - and drafting the court papers for them. Attending general Motion hearings in the High Court Attending and observing civil trials in their various stages from the taking of instructions from clients, the taking of statements from witnesses, getting up for trial, preparing the bundle of authorities, agreed bundle of documents, subpoenas and other documents, trial hearing appeal if any -, drafting bill of costs and taxation hearings Drafting opinions and briefs to Counsel Drafting the documents for and attending on execution proceedings, writs of seizure, garnishee orders, charging orders, bankruptcy petitions, companies winding-up petitions and writs of possession Drafting the documents for and attending on matrimonial proceedings such as divorce annulments, maintenance, custody and adoption Drafting the documents for and attending on proceedings arising out of road traffic accident claims