Transcript

Scott Manson

I can be acting on behalf of an international company who's facing a damages claim for 50 million pounds. Equally, I have represented a dog on death row in Irvine. I've represented footballers who've been naughty. I have dealt with cases concerned with people who've suffered really bad, life-changing injuries.

And what I will say is that cases can be tragic, but you can find humour in them. And cases can seem extremely interesting on a superficial level but soon become very boring when you drill into the detail.

Advocates-- and that's the branch of the profession that I am a member of and represent-- have to be objective and find it easier to be objective sometimes than solicitors. That is because advocates do not act directly for the client. Advocates are instructed by the solicitor, who in turn acts directly for the client. So the solicitor has the day-to-day business relationship with the client. The advocate advises the client through the solicitor as to what to do or how to do something in a particular context or situation, usually court.

And because of that, advocates are able to be objective by saying, a judge is not going to accept this argument, therefore I am not going to make that argument even if you want me to. Equally, you can make arguments you know are going to lose provided you've told your client that you think they're going to fail. But being objective is extremely important because, if you tell clients what they want to hear, they will be extremely disappointed when the judge or anyone else tells them that they're not entitled to the things you've been telling them about. So I would say it's essential that all types of lawyers remain objective. Even if you need to try extremely hard for your client to get the best possible result for them, you should always remain objective, and the client ought to respect you more by remaining objective because they will get a better product and more certainty out of what can be a very difficult situation.