Welcome to the Advocacy Club
The Advocacy Club was founded in 2007 to train articling students and junior lawyers in the arts of civil advocacy. Since then, it has expanded to include hundreds of participants from many law firms and governmental organizations. The Club's sessions are based on these principles:
- Trainees learn more by doing than by listening to lectures.
- Junior advocates benefit greatly from networking with other like-minded professionals.
- Collegiality, professionalism and competence are interrelated and form the foundation for a successful career in law.
Club News and Events
Advanced Advocacy Club Sessions - Fall 2018 Schedule
Each event takes place from 4:00-6:00 and is sponsored and hosted by KPMG Forensic Services, 150 Elgin #1800
September 5, 2018: Inoculation in Direct Exams
In this 2-hour session, participants will learn the techniques to best present the weakest parts of the testimony of their witnesses. The 45 minutes presentation will be followed by a break-out session for participants to practice what they have just learned. Organized and presented by John Hollander. Qualifies as 90 minutes substantive, 30 minutes professional CPD. For further details, and to sign up, contact John Hollander here. Cost $75 for Club members, plus HST.
What the participants have reported:
These programs offer not only real practice of real techniques, but a defined and consistent overarching method. That method is a tried and tested model from which one can build one's own style.
Really useful program that lets a lawyer play around with different approaches to a problem with other colleagues in a relaxed learning environment.
This program provides useful techniques to best present your case during examination in chief and great strategies to prepare your witness prior to examinations for discovery. You are given tools and tips, useful to practitioners of all experience levels, on how to diffuse information hurtful to your case. John Hollander is a great instructor. I will certainly attend more of the Advocacy Club's programs.
The techniques demonstrated and taught in the session were a refreshing (and highly effective) take on conducting direct examinations.
This program offers an opportunity to put another tool in your chest to address potentially harmful facts during direct examinations.
October 16, 2018: Discovery Techniques I – undertakings, bad questions, bad answers and judgment calls
In this 2-hour session, participants will learn the techniques used during examinations for discovery where the witness does not understand or deliberately avoids the question. The 45 minutes presentation will be followed by a break-out session for participants to practice what they have just learned. This session is sponsored by Cavanagh LLP. Club organizers are Robin Brown and Natalie Gajewski. Presenter is Susanne Sviergula. Qualifies as 120 minutes substantive CPD. For further details, and to sign up, contact John Hollander here. Cost $75 for Club members, plus HST.
November 7, 2018: Use of Transcripts in Cross-Examination
In this 2-hour session, participants will learn how to use transcripts (from discovery or other events) during cross-examination. Not just for impeachment, although that will be included. The 45 minutes presentation will be followed by a break-out session for participants to practice what they have just learned. Club organizer and presenter(s) TBA. Qualifies as 120 minutes substantive CPD. For further details, and to sign up, contact John Hollander here. Cost $75 for Club members, plus HST. If your firm wants to sponsor, help organize and present this session, contact John Hollander.
More details of the seminar can be found here.
Advocacy Club Boot Camp - Summer/Fall 2018
Join the Advocacy Club! The only way is by taking the Boot Camp. A comprehensive training program that covers the basics of civil trial advocacy: interview skills, case analysis, outlining examinations, discovery, direct and cross-examination techniques and legal argument. All in 8.5 hours of mixed presentations, drills and exercises. A practical, formula-based program that arms the junior litigators with the essentials to survive and succeed in a today's courtrooms.
Details of the Boot Camp can be found here. The next session has sold out - Tuesday August 28 and Thursday August 30, 12:30-5:00 on Day 1 and 1:00-5:00 on Day 2. This session takes place at the offices of our sponsor, Brazeau Seller LLP, 100 Queen Street #700, which currently has 5 Club Members among its associates.
The next available session is Tuesday, September 25, 12:30-5:00 and Thursday, September 27, 1:00-5:00 at a place TBD.
Contact John Hollander to reserve your spot for the next session.
- CPD: Sessions qualify as 7.0 hours substantive and 1.5 hours professional CPD, of which 1.0 hour qualifies as the EDI component each lawyer requires annually.
- Cost: $370 for lawyers and $250 for articling and summer students, both plus HST.
- Payment via credit card or PayPal, can be arranged here for lawyers and here for students.
Chat with Lawyers Podcast Series
John Hollander interviews lawyers to present an entertaining discussion of their careers and techniques. Each podcast runs less than an hour. All of the episodes in Season 1 (2017) feature discussions of issues faced by junior lawyers when dealing with professional choices. For both Seasons 1 and 2 (rolling out in 2018), the accomplished guests present tips and guidance with respect to an area of law (e.g. Construction, Family, Personal Injury/Insurance Defence), a component of litigation practice (e.g. Discovery, Trial Preparation, Mediation, Factum Writing) or a subject related to career development (e.g. Promotion, Professionalism, Starting a Law Practice). An impressive group of counsel has participated in these one-on-one and one-on-two interviews. All the lawyers with 10 years or less at the Bar are members of the Advocacy Club.
Most recently, Carissima Mathen chatted with host John Hollander about how she explains consititutional law to the average citizen. Listen to the hour-long podcast here.
All 24 episodes can be found at: www.chatwithlawyers.ca.
Most recently, Carissima Mathen chatted with host John Hollander about how she explains consititutional law to the average citizen. Listen to the hour-long podcast here.
All 24 episodes can be found at: www.chatwithlawyers.ca.
From Novice Lawyer to Skilled Advocate...
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Founded by John Hollander in 2009 in Ottawa, the Advocacy Club trains novice lawyers to become skilled advocates. It has two focuses:
Our training methods emphasize practical exercise sessions without lectures. The initial training (the Boot Camp) consists of two half days of four hours each. The first half day focuses on interview skills, case analysis and outlining techniques. The second applies the lessons of the first session to examinations and closing arguments. Boot Camp enrolment is limited so that participants get the most out of each session. |
By the end of the Boot Camp, junior advocates have learned to apply the techniques to most of the situations they encounter in their practice. After this initial training, Club members participate in advanced sessions that take place throughout the year. To date these sessions have included training in:
John has written several handbooks presenting the Advocacy Club techniques. They are available through Irwin Law Publishers and on the Store page of this website.
In January 2014, John Hollander Professional Corporation was approved as an Accredited Provider of Professionalism Content by the Law Society of Upper Canada. This accreditation applies to all Advocacy Club Programs to which professionalism content is applicable.
If you have any questions for John, or are interested in Advocacy Club training sessions, go to the Contact page.
- focused cross examination techniques
- focused direct examination techniques
- presentation skills (led by professional actress and coach, Kristina Watt)
- discovery techniques (adapted for use by AJEFO)
- advanced discovery techniques - dealing with poor questions and non-responsive answers
- advanced discovery - dealing with aggressive counsel and witnesses
- negotiation tactics (adapted for use by AJEFO)
- mediation
- case analysis
- objections (adapted for use by AJEFO)
- openings and closings
- motions advocacy
- expert witnesses (several separate sessions with accountants, occupational therapists and psychologists)
- impeachment of witnesses
John has written several handbooks presenting the Advocacy Club techniques. They are available through Irwin Law Publishers and on the Store page of this website.
In January 2014, John Hollander Professional Corporation was approved as an Accredited Provider of Professionalism Content by the Law Society of Upper Canada. This accreditation applies to all Advocacy Club Programs to which professionalism content is applicable.
If you have any questions for John, or are interested in Advocacy Club training sessions, go to the Contact page.