01
Read for the decision.
Identify the legal and factual issues, and decide what the audience needs to hear.
Practice,
examined.
Practise making clear decisions under pressure, with limited time and incomplete information.
01Read the brief
02Make the case
03Review the attempt
Knowledge becomes useful
when it informs a decision.
Read the file, identify the result sought and test your strongest points aloud. Build an argument that helps the decision maker.
The work happens
in cycles.
02
Make the argument.
Deliver submissions, question a witness or answer a panel in a realistic setting.
03
See what changed.
Receive precise feedback on structure, evidence, language, responsiveness and judgment.
04
Go again.
Apply the adjustment immediately, then carry the learning into further practice.
The format follows
the exercise.
Presence changes
the pressure.
Physical workshops are suited to hearings, witness handling and exercises where the room itself matters.
Distance need not
mean passivity.
Live online sessions use short exercises, intervention and individual feedback in real time.
An exercise is a working file.
EXERCISE FILE / FICTIONAL01 — 03
A disputed
account.
A witness statement conflicts with the documents. The hearing is close. What matters, and what can fairly be put?
01Identify the issueWhat is truly in dispute?
02Choose the evidenceWhat supports the submission?
03Frame the remedyWhat should the panel decide?
FACULTY NOTE / ILLUSTRATIVE
“The answer was accurate. Bring the decisive fact forward, then explain why it changes the result.”
Observation
A point was made, but its relevance arrived too late.
Next attempt
OBSERVE ADJUST REPEATLead with the issue, anchor it in evidence, then ask for the decision.
Feedback starts
with a decision.
Feedback examines your choices, use of evidence and response to change, as well as delivery.
OBSERVATION / TRAINING LENSCLA / 05
What moved
the case?
the case?
One question is applied to the whole performance.
01 / STRUCTURE
Did the central issue appear early?
02 / EVIDENCE
Was the point anchored in the file?
03 / RESPONSE
Did the answer address the intervention?
Clarity over theatre.
Judgment over formula.
Performance is assessed by whether the advocate advances the case with accuracy, proportion and control.
Rigour in the room.
Designed around decisions.
Fictional briefs introduce disputed evidence, procedural choices and changing instructions.
Specific enough to use.
Observations are tied to choices participants can change on the next attempt.
Built into the exercise.
Accuracy, candour, fairness and care for the client remain central throughout.
The next attempt
is the point.
Leave with a clearer method for your next brief.
A better question to ask of the file.
A specific adjustment to practise.
A way to review the next hearing.
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