The Devil’s Advocate is written by Ian Morley. It has been recommended to the DSG by one of our members who has a special interest in legal issues.
The Devil’s Advocate is a perceptive and informative guide for those looking for to develop the skills of legal advocacy. Written in a humorous and appealing style, this pocket-sized ready-reckoner is easy to read with the text provided in quickly absorbable sections. The author guides the reader with the essential principles and practical applications of advocacy, step by step in a clear and rational manner.
From the outset, Morley mentions that the method is useful illustration upon his admirable experience as an advocate without any conversation of the theoretical bases. This is a rough and all set, however absolutely authorative guide or handbook to advocacy – the dos and the do n’ts.
This book offers outstanding useful guidance for Advocates (generally barristers)as to the best ways to prepare cases and conduct themselves in court. But it is far more than that. Those thinking about the Law and how it is practiced in this country will certainly discover it interesting. The Author, Ian Morley QC, makes it clear from the start that this is a practical primer lacking any philosophising or moralising. It therefore concentrates simply on the best ways to WIN – which he states must be the one and only issue of any advocate – and how ‘obviously hopeless’ cases can be won if you ‘play the guidelines’ much better than your challenger. He is specifically honest about the ‘difficult’ facet of ‘the reality’, highly implying that this must not be the issue of any supporter. Undoubtedly, he mentions that (in uppercase) supporters should attempt to win their cases IRRESPECTIVE OF THE TRUTH. In so doing he (maybe unwittingly but possibly not) provides a damning condemnation of how the adversarial system of British law works in practice. It is a wonderful shame that this book will certainly continue to be mainly unread outside the supposed legal profession.