KEY SKILLS IN TRIAL ADVOCACY
1. CASE ANALYSIS
Case analysis is an important tool used by an advocate in the preparation for a trial. Case analysis
entails the collection of information from a client, ascertaining the evidentiary weight of the
information, and determining important factual and legal issues applicable to a case. Case
analysis varies from one advocate to another and the manner in which an advocate conducts a
case analysis has consequences to the case. A superior case analysis provides clarity and focus to
the relevant legal and factual issues an advocate desires to comprehend, highlight or emphasize.
Important steps to consider when an advocate gets a case;
Organize the file-use chronologies, topics and time line
Identify the substantive and procedural legal issues
Identify the factual issues-separate facts into the good, the bad and downright ugly
Plan your presentation in reverse-from closing argument through the case-in-chief to
opening statement (consider your opponent’s case as well)
Verify your evidence-ensure that you have the witnesses to admit sufficient evidence to
support your factual and legal theory
Case analysis is the preliminary stage for the planning and preparation of a new case.
2. LEGAL RESEARCH
Legal research entails the research on the law pertaining to the issues identified in the case
analysis above. It is the process of finding an answer to a legal question. It enables an advocate
to identify and retrieve information necessary to support legal decision-making. Some of the
main primary sources are the statutes and the precedents. Kenya, being a common law county,
practices an adversarial system of justice. Kenya’s legal system is based on precedent in
conjunction with common law and statutes. Therefore, the objective of legal research is to
determine how previous courts have decided cases with similar fact patterns. The advocate
should seek to use the most persuasive authorities, which adopt the legal rule, or argument that
you advocate for, and help you reach the result that you desire to achieve.
The legal research process includes;
Comprehending and analyzing the facts
Determine the scope of the legal question or issue
Identify applicable or relevant statutes to the legal question
Identify previous cases with similar facts to the current case
Confirm whether your authority is still good law
Legal research entails each step of a course of action that starts with the analysis of the facts of a
legal problem and ends with the application and communication of the results of the research.
Legal researchers have to ascertain the sources of law relevant to the case, namely primary and
secondary sources. Primary sources are those resources which are the law itself and they include
the Constitution, Statutes and case laws. Secondary sources refer to the materials that analyze,
1. CASE ANALYSIS
Case analysis is an important tool used by an advocate in the preparation for a trial. Case analysis
entails the collection of information from a client, ascertaining the evidentiary weight of the
information, and determining important factual and legal issues applicable to a case. Case
analysis varies from one advocate to another and the manner in which an advocate conducts a
case analysis has consequences to the case. A superior case analysis provides clarity and focus to
the relevant legal and factual issues an advocate desires to comprehend, highlight or emphasize.
Important steps to consider when an advocate gets a case;
Organize the file-use chronologies, topics and time line
Identify the substantive and procedural legal issues
Identify the factual issues-separate facts into the good, the bad and downright ugly
Plan your presentation in reverse-from closing argument through the case-in-chief to
opening statement (consider your opponent’s case as well)
Verify your evidence-ensure that you have the witnesses to admit sufficient evidence to
support your factual and legal theory
Case analysis is the preliminary stage for the planning and preparation of a new case.
2. LEGAL RESEARCH
Legal research entails the research on the law pertaining to the issues identified in the case
analysis above. It is the process of finding an answer to a legal question. It enables an advocate
to identify and retrieve information necessary to support legal decision-making. Some of the
main primary sources are the statutes and the precedents. Kenya, being a common law county,
practices an adversarial system of justice. Kenya’s legal system is based on precedent in
conjunction with common law and statutes. Therefore, the objective of legal research is to
determine how previous courts have decided cases with similar fact patterns. The advocate
should seek to use the most persuasive authorities, which adopt the legal rule, or argument that
you advocate for, and help you reach the result that you desire to achieve.
The legal research process includes;
Comprehending and analyzing the facts
Determine the scope of the legal question or issue
Identify applicable or relevant statutes to the legal question
Identify previous cases with similar facts to the current case
Confirm whether your authority is still good law
Legal research entails each step of a course of action that starts with the analysis of the facts of a
legal problem and ends with the application and communication of the results of the research.
Legal researchers have to ascertain the sources of law relevant to the case, namely primary and
secondary sources. Primary sources are those resources which are the law itself and they include
the Constitution, Statutes and case laws. Secondary sources refer to the materials that analyze,
