Bullying Doesn't Answer.

Otago Witness, Issue 2370, 3 August 1899, Page 61

Bullying Doesn't Answer.

" Nine persons out 10," observed a wellknown Queen's Counsel to the writer a fewdays ago, " are under the impression that it is the tricky, eloquent, and bullying barrister who wins most cases in our courts of law nowadays. As a matter of fact, trickiness and bullying do an advocate far more harm than

" The man in the street will assure you that all witnesses are bullied — bullied even into telling lies unwittingly — but no statement could be further from the truth. Jurymen detest any attempt at brow-beating, and as many of them have been in the box and know what a painful ordeal a cross-examination can be, you may be absolutely sure that they are in no hurry to look with a kindly eye on the barrister who tries to heap ridicule on a witness. " I may even go so far as to say that eloquence is not essential in an advocate. It is sometimes desirable, of course, but if a man can put his case in a rlear and straightforward way ho can easily dispense with a flood of frothy eloquence such as some counsel delight in. " The special qualifications of a barri&ter are tact, judgment, and, it goes without saying, a thorough knowledge of law. You require judgment in order to realise how your case is progressing in the minds of the jury. If you can ascertain that you can shape your case accordingly."