John Hollander
Lawyer, Trainer, Author
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A civil litigator in Ottawa from 1978 to 2021, John founded the Advocacy Club in 2007, to train civil litigators and law students in the arts of trial advocacy.
John earned his advocacy spurs during many civil trials (including jury trials and admin law hearings) over 42 years of active practice. |
The Advocacy Club now has more than 800 members across Canada, many of whom are leaders in the legal community. With Zoom, programs are available to lawyers, articling students, paralegals and law school students across Canada. The training programs are ongoing, both in person and via Zoom.
For 10 years (until 2022), John taught trial advocacy techniques at the University of Ottawa's school of common law, an experiential course applying the Advocacy Club's methods to train upper-year law students to become litigators. Many students went on to take the Boot Camp on graduation.
In Fall 2024, the Advocacy Club merged its CPD and social event programs with the CCLA (the Ottawa Bar). John continues to run the Boot Camps through the Advocacy Club.
Through Irwin Law, John has published eight handbooks for lawyers on the subjects of interview skills, legal writing, discovery techniques, courtroom skills, mediation, case analysis and examination skills. John has also produced five self-published handbooks. Introduction to Trial Advocacy, Outlining Examinations, Estate Litigation, Authenticity: Public Speaking for Professionals and Think! Write! Speak!: Persuasive Speechwriting for Professional. For details of all handbooks, visit Handbooks on this website.
John has conducted a great many interviews with lawyers about topics of interest to law students and litigators at Chat With Lawyers and publishes a series of detailed posts on advocacy techniques on his Substack page.
Although retired from practice, consider retaining John as a consultant if you are preparing for trial and need help to:
For 10 years (until 2022), John taught trial advocacy techniques at the University of Ottawa's school of common law, an experiential course applying the Advocacy Club's methods to train upper-year law students to become litigators. Many students went on to take the Boot Camp on graduation.
In Fall 2024, the Advocacy Club merged its CPD and social event programs with the CCLA (the Ottawa Bar). John continues to run the Boot Camps through the Advocacy Club.
Through Irwin Law, John has published eight handbooks for lawyers on the subjects of interview skills, legal writing, discovery techniques, courtroom skills, mediation, case analysis and examination skills. John has also produced five self-published handbooks. Introduction to Trial Advocacy, Outlining Examinations, Estate Litigation, Authenticity: Public Speaking for Professionals and Think! Write! Speak!: Persuasive Speechwriting for Professional. For details of all handbooks, visit Handbooks on this website.
John has conducted a great many interviews with lawyers about topics of interest to law students and litigators at Chat With Lawyers and publishes a series of detailed posts on advocacy techniques on his Substack page.
Although retired from practice, consider retaining John as a consultant if you are preparing for trial and need help to:
- prepare for a direct or cross-examination.
- analyze your case on its merits.
- anticipate your opponent's strategy.
- prepare a witness for cross-examination.
- draft and practice your final argument.