May the Lawyer Speak: Preserving the Art of Oral Advocacy – By Prince Ubochi
Prince Ubochi
In this piece, I will briefly tickle the place of advocacy for a Lawyer, and why I believe advocacy is more effective when it is oral than written.
Advocacy is about persuasion. While written advocacy can be used to advocate for a cause, perhaps most of the time, oral advocacy brings written words to life. Emphasis on the word ‘life’. Oral advocacy allows for deep, direct, and immediate human connection and persuasion.
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In the month of July, 2026, I was in Court when a Lawyer wanted to orally address the Court regarding something important he needed to add, highlight and/or indelibly mark on the tables of the Court’s heart. The Lawyer was asked if what he wanted to tell the Court was in his written address, and he replied in the negative. Now, I was thinking the Court would give the Lawyer a little time to speak, but because of time, the Court just said ‘The Law is in the bosom of the Court.’ Some Lawyers chorused ‘As the Court pleases.’ The Lawyer gave up, and sat down.
My worry is that in our Courts of record today, the front loading system has almost entirely stifled oral advocacy. Most Lawyers no longer have time to train their ability to deliver quality oral arguments and this has made a lot of Lawyers verbally rusty.
When it comes to being proficient in oral advocacy, you have to do it as often as possible to be better, nothing less. I am ashamed when some Lawyers find it difficult to make a sound, convincing, and spell bound oral argument, or oral presentation whenever occasion demands.
No matter how convincing a written work advocating for a cause will be, it can never take the place of oral advocacy. Oral advocacy is an oral force that directly melts the iron hearts of its addressees.
May it not get to the point where a Lawyer writes down everything that ought to be said just to save time for the Court, because I would not be happy to live in such a world. It could be likened to a world of educated dumb people who write down all they want to communicate without being heard.
Exercise your jaws. Exercise your oral advocacy. You become a fine and better oral advocate when you use your mouth and words, as often as you must.
I will stop here.
Prince Ubochi is a practising Lawyer who currently works at Onyechi Ononye (SAN) and Co.
Call/WhatsApp: 09020441777
princeituma1@gmail.com
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