SEVEN LAMPS OF ADVOCACY

(PROFESSIONAL ETHICS)

SUMBITTED TO: SUBMITTED BY:

Prof. DAL CHAND Udita Goel 17GSOL101016
Divya Talwani 17GSOL101038
Himanshu Gautam 17GSOL101028
Mohd. Sahil 17GSOL101018
Vinay Kumar Singh 17GSOL101029

LL.B (HONS.) 6th SEMESTER

SCHOOL OF LAW, GALGOTIAS UNIVERSITY
 SEVEN LAMPS OF ADVOCACY
Advocacy is an honourable profession. Advocates are part and
parcel of the judiciary system. Their endeavours solve the conflicts
in the society. Advocates defend the rights and liabilities. They hold
important and unique place in the society. Advocacy is not a craft
but a calling; a profession wherein devotion to duty constitutes the
hallmark. Legal profession is regarded to be a noble one. A good
advocate should possess some essential qualities and equipment.
Justice ‘Abbot Parry’ qualifies the following qualities as “Seven
Lamps of Advocacy”. They are

(i) Honesty

(ii) Courage

(iii) Industry

(iv) Wit

(v) Eloquence,

(vi) Judgment

(vii) Fellowship.

1) Honesty
Honesty means the quality of straightforwardness; freedom from
deceit, cheating or stealing and not telling lies. Honesty is the most
important quality that an advocate should possess. His thoughts
words and deeds should have sincere co-relation to each other with
genuineness. An Advocate should be dependable reliable to
everyone who seeks his advise and services. The nobleness of legal
profession lies in honesty itself. An advocate should not do illegal
practices. He should not do any act which will lead to professional
misconduct. He should disclose the real facts and legal profession
to his clients frankly. Honesty, integrity and character are
inseparable. These there virtues together are essential for the
success of an advocate. The great sages of law had sucked the law
from the breasts of knowledge, honesty, gravity and integrity.

2) Courage
Courage is the quality that enables a person to control fear in the
face of danger, pain, misfortune, etc., It is the duty of an Advocate
to fearlessly uphold the interest of his client by all fair means
without fear of any unpleasant consequences to himself or any
other person. It is the knowledge and the skill of the Advocate that
gives him the necessary courage and confidence to present the case
fearlessly and to uphold the interest of the client. Courage is as
good a weapon in the forum as in the war camp, According to
Charles Hutton’s. ‘He hath in perfection the three chief  qualifications of
an advocate; Boldness, — Boldness and Boldness’.

3) Industry
Advocacy is needed a life of industry. An advocate must study his
brief in the same way that an actor studies his part means hard
work. Hard works is absolutely necessary for an Advocate. His
knowledge of law should be up to date. He shall never be ignorant
of the current law in force. He shall get acquainted with the latest
law by systematic study. If one ignores the law, the law will also
ignore him. That is why it is said that “law is the jealous
mistress”. Lord Eldon Says, “An advocate must live like a hermit
and work like a horse”. Advocacy is an intellectual profession.
Intelligence and knowledge will be sharpened with hard-work and
strenuous efforts.
 4) Wit
Wit means clever and humorous expression of ideas; liveliness of
spirit. Wit flows from intelligence; understanding and quickness of
mind. Wit lessens the work load of an advocate. So, constant clash
between them is common. Anxiety for a favourable verdict on the
part of the lawyers; and perpetual worry for the pursuit of the truth
on the part of the judges generate strain and tension.

It relaxes his mental strain. Often the wit of an advocate will turn a
Judge from an unwise course, where judgment, or rhetoric would
certainly fail. The lamp of wit is needed to lighten the darkness of
advocacy.

5) Eloquence
The success of an advocate depends upon his eloquence. Eloquence
means fluent speaking and skilful use of language to persuade or to
appeal to the feelings of others. Fluent speaking impresses the
listener. As advocate must be fluent, skilful in using appropriate
words to impress the Court. Eloquence attracts the attention of the
listener. Eloquence is related to the art of oratory. ‘Eloquence of
manner is real eloquence’ and there is a physical as well as
psychological side to advocacy.

Words are his keys of thoughts. Strong vocabulary gives him

assurance, build his self confidence and build his personality.
Words must be employed with eloquence. The art of persuasive
and impressive speaking will give the desired result in his favour.

6) Judgment
Judgment is an intellectual capacity, ‘the inspiration which enables
a man to translate good sense into right action’. It means the ability
to come to a sensible conclusion and make wise decisions at the
relevant time in the proper way. It is on the basis of these
conclusions he should employ the necessary facts and the
techniques in the case which he is engaged. This quality is
necessary from the beginning of filing the case till its final disposal.
An Advocate must always anticipate all the possible moves of the
other side and must develop the necessary presence of mind ,
alertness and tact to cope with any awkward situation of difficulty
that may arise in the case.

Judge Abbot Parry has referred to judgment as one of the seven

lamps; but he refers to it essentially as an intellectual capacity, ‘the
inspiration’ which enables a mean to translate good sense into right
action e.g. ‘seeing the right point of his case’ and the like.

7) Fellowship
Fellowship means the membership in friendly association or
companionship. Fellowship is exactly like great public schools, the
boys of which have grown older, and have exchanged boyish for
manly objects. In legal profession, one Advocate fights with another
Advocate for justice before the learned judge. There may be
controversies and contradictions in their contention relating to the
case, but that shall never affect the fellowship. The Advocates
should refer the opposite party’s Advocate as “Learned Friend” and
the judge should be referred as “Learned Judge”. In order to
maintain the fellowship, the Bar Council of India has laid down
certain rules to be observed as the duty to colleagues. Among
advocates, there is just the same rough familiarly, the general
ardour of character, the same kind of public opinion expressed in
exactly the same blunt, unmistakable manner. By keeping the lump
of fellowship burning, advocates encourage each other by sharing
the knowledge to walk in the light of the seven lamps of advocacy.

TACT

A new lamp was added by   K.V.Krishnaswamy Aiyer, in his

book “Professional Conduct and Advocacy” adds one more lamp i.e.
tact. Tact means handling people and situations skilfully and
without causing offence. An advocate must be in a position to
tackle and win his client, opponent party, opponent advocate in a
smoother way.
Many people of unequal ability have failed for want of tack. An
advocate should not quarrel with Court or loose temper over trifle
things in the Court and outside. Men of unquestioned ability have
suffered for quarrelling with the tribunal or for standing on their
dignity over trifles, for getting their clients, or for losing their
tempers; they are men of parts but more properly refers to the
human side of putting into action the result of one’s judgment.