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.
For more information, watch the Advocacy Club's promotional video here.
Advocacy Club Boot Camps
The Advocacy Club Boot Camp is the perfect introduction to civil trial advocacy for junior lawyers, paralegals, and articled/articling students who seek practical techniques for planning and conducting examinations, cross-examinations, and final argument. The Boot Camp is experiential CPD, small seminar teams led by a senior litigator, John Hollander. Want to join an active legal network with 800+ members? For greater detail of the program, visit Boot Camps - The Advocacy Club.
The Fall 2024 programs were:
Future participants will qualify for 8.0 hours of substantive CPD. The cost is $400 for lawyers and $275 for articling students, summer interns, and paralegals, all plus HST, payable one week in advance and not refundable. For more details about the boot camp content & format, click here.
Boot camps can be (and have been) run for one employer (law firm, government department, NGO or corporation). In-person in Ottawa between May and October or on Zoom/MS Teams any time of year. Custom-made case studies are possible, based on reported decisions or cases in progress. We need the material for four witness statements, a timeline, and, ideally, a few exhibits.
A custom-made session on cross-examination (2 half days) based on a disciplinary decision under appeal and a boot camp based on a custom-made fictional admin law case study took place in the fall, 2024, both contracted by federal government agencies. We are planning two fall boot camps for large law firms outside Ontario, via Zoom/MS Teams.
Please contact John Hollander to express your interest in this or a future session.
Recent Feedback:
"I'm amazed by how much I learned in such a short time. I gained practical knowledge and tools to be a better advocate for clients. This Advocacy Club Bootcamp is definitely a worthwhile investment." Participant.
"The Advocacy Bootcamp challenged me and allowed me to learn much about how I currently conduct my legal practice and how it can be improved. The instructors pushed us and helped us reflect on our advocacy skills and how to improve them. I highly recommend taking this course." Participant.
"Outstanding!" Participant.
"I was extremely impressed by the passion and expertise demonstrated by John Hollander – the lawyers on my team were very happy with the training." – Manager and Senior Counsel, Government Department.
For more testimonials, click here.
The Fall 2024 programs were:
- September 16 and 19 hosted and sponsored by Emond Harnden LLP at their officesin Ottawa.
- October 8 and 10 hosted and sponsored by Brazeau Seller LLP at their offices in Ottawa.
- November 26 and 28 hosted by Thompson Dorfman Sweatman LLP in Winnipeg, this session took place via Zoom.
Future participants will qualify for 8.0 hours of substantive CPD. The cost is $400 for lawyers and $275 for articling students, summer interns, and paralegals, all plus HST, payable one week in advance and not refundable. For more details about the boot camp content & format, click here.
Boot camps can be (and have been) run for one employer (law firm, government department, NGO or corporation). In-person in Ottawa between May and October or on Zoom/MS Teams any time of year. Custom-made case studies are possible, based on reported decisions or cases in progress. We need the material for four witness statements, a timeline, and, ideally, a few exhibits.
A custom-made session on cross-examination (2 half days) based on a disciplinary decision under appeal and a boot camp based on a custom-made fictional admin law case study took place in the fall, 2024, both contracted by federal government agencies. We are planning two fall boot camps for large law firms outside Ontario, via Zoom/MS Teams.
Please contact John Hollander to express your interest in this or a future session.
Recent Feedback:
"I'm amazed by how much I learned in such a short time. I gained practical knowledge and tools to be a better advocate for clients. This Advocacy Club Bootcamp is definitely a worthwhile investment." Participant.
"The Advocacy Bootcamp challenged me and allowed me to learn much about how I currently conduct my legal practice and how it can be improved. The instructors pushed us and helped us reflect on our advocacy skills and how to improve them. I highly recommend taking this course." Participant.
"Outstanding!" Participant.
"I was extremely impressed by the passion and expertise demonstrated by John Hollander – the lawyers on my team were very happy with the training." – Manager and Senior Counsel, Government Department.
For more testimonials, click here.
Holiday Social - Dec 4
The CCLA New Legal Professionals and Advocacy Club Committee presented its first combined-effort Holiday Social!
WHEN: Wednesday, December 4th at 6:00 pm
WHERE: Rabbit Hole, 208 Sparks Street
SPONSORS: Harold Geller and Brenda Hollingsworth
ORGANIZERS: Kelli-Anne Day and Victoria Boddy
WHEN: Wednesday, December 4th at 6:00 pm
WHERE: Rabbit Hole, 208 Sparks Street
SPONSORS: Harold Geller and Brenda Hollingsworth
ORGANIZERS: Kelli-Anne Day and Victoria Boddy
The Advocacy Club Boot Camp on Substack - the Streaming/Blogpost Edition
The AdvocacyClub.Substack.com now presents all our techniques with far more detail than the Boot Camp with well over 60 posts on techniques about:
- framing questions
- case analysis
- applying case analysis to the events in a case (Scenes)
- preparing for direct and cross-examinations
- conducting direct examinations
- issues in cross-examinations
- final argument
- preparing yourself & your client for discovery examinations
- dealing with issues that arise during examinations for discovery
- two posts about public speaking
Advocacy Club Newsletter - All Good Things Come to an End
We started to publish the AC Newsletter in March 2022. We sent it to many Club members (and a few others who asked to be added to the list) to let them know about Club events. With the passage of the Club's social events and CPD to the CCLA, communications are best continued by them. Here is a link to the December 2024 newsletter. Best wishes to Kelli-Anne Day and Victoria Boddy for the success of the new Committee.
From Novice Lawyer to Skilled Advocate
Founded by John Hollander in 2007 in Ottawa, the Advocacy Club trains novice lawyers to become skilled advocates. It has two focuses:
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:
- To teach the art of advocacy through preparation, interview and examination
- To promote collegiality among advocacy peers.
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:
Advocacy Club Handbooks
|
|
John has written several handbooks presenting the Advocacy Club techniques. They are available through Irwin Law Publishers and on Amazon.com at John's Author Page here.
Hull & Hull, a leading estates law firm, recently reviewed one of the handbooks in the series, The Civil Courtroom. "It is a book within Irwin Law’s Young Advocates series that I found to be more insightful today than I may have as a first year lawyer." Check out Doreen So's full review, here. |
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 feature discussions with senior lawyers about issues faced by junior lawyers when dealing with professional choices.
There are themes to the series. The early podcasts featured senior prominent lawyers discussing specific techniques in civil litigation. The series expanded to include professional issues, such as parental leave, partnership and promotion. The series took a detour to interview Great Canadians, a retired Supreme Court justice, a law school dean, the creator of the Syrian Refugee Sponsorship program and a sightless law student, all of whom have had a major impact on our legal scene.
The series currently presents Advocacy Club members discussing their experiences in trials and contested hearings. All podcasts present tips and techniques for junior lawyers to improve their practices.
All episodes can be found at: www.chatwithlawyers.ca.
There are themes to the series. The early podcasts featured senior prominent lawyers discussing specific techniques in civil litigation. The series expanded to include professional issues, such as parental leave, partnership and promotion. The series took a detour to interview Great Canadians, a retired Supreme Court justice, a law school dean, the creator of the Syrian Refugee Sponsorship program and a sightless law student, all of whom have had a major impact on our legal scene.
The series currently presents Advocacy Club members discussing their experiences in trials and contested hearings. All podcasts present tips and techniques for junior lawyers to improve their practices.
All episodes can be found at: www.chatwithlawyers.ca.