Lessons by F.S.nariman (1)

8/12/2019 Lessons by F.S.nariman (1)

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Disc la imer : The tex t of the judgment is computer generated'The authenticity rnust be verif ied from the certif ied copy of the judgment.Page1

(2013 ) 6 SCCJ-1LESSONSFOR YOUNG LAWYERSTby

F.S.Nar iman*Aproposecent nfortunatevents ndhowdisheartenede al lareat them,my appeal o you is to fake heart.Weare a free country so 'ree hat we candiscussreelyandpubl ir :11'anythinghat is topical without estraint,I wouldbeginby remindinglouof the widthof th is reedom n India, nSingapore nd Malaysiabothdemocracies)ven or a ta lk as nnocent s aboutthe conduct f unior awyersn courtyou require pol ice ermit. t is rrotrequiredn Indiabecause f thel reedomwe enjoyunderour Consti tut ionwh ich hankGodhasneverbeen brogated ,lways ememberh is whenpeopleel l you hat there s no ruleof law n this country nd everything as goneto rackand ruin,you mustsay hat here s hopeso ongas you and haveFreedom nder he Law: whichwas he titlel of the very first HamlynLecturedel ivered y t-ordDenningmore hanhalfa century go,I am exper:tedo talk o young pract is ingawyers, boutconductn court.Consideringlrat o ld awyersikemyselfnever et i re, ( theyonlydropd


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Disc la imer r The tex t of the judgment is computer generated.The authenticity must be verif ied from the certif ied copy of the judgment'Page2

Rememberhat the bestadvocates onewho s bestprepared, ndvrho s ableto persuade-persuadehe Judge y logicand argumentat iveki l ls-to t i : ; l ient 'spo in t f v iew.And h is s when br ing n the pres id ingudge t today 'sunc t ion .I f youwant c lknowhowan dea l udgemust unc t ionn Ind ia muchoverburdeneds eachof our Judges re - you canwatchJust ice hakur:go andsit n hisCourton any day andyouwil l indhim irm but always eceptirreo ap laus ib lergument . eexempl i f iesn h imse l fhe we l l -known xpress io t rstraight as a -l'udge.Back o lawyers in a criticism f advocacy s a vocation,Socrates nceemphasisedhat "the oratordoesnot feach udges nd uriesabout ig l t tandwrong he nrerely ersuadeshem".I f you are ntel l igent nd haveprepared ourcaseextremelywel lyou wil lreal ise-onlyl .hen-the uperlat ive leasure f a magic ian.AlanDershrowitzs a prominent Sdefenceawyerwhose laim o farnehasbeen hat he oncedescribedhe flaweddecis ion f the USSupremeCourl .n Bushv. Gore3 the infamouselection ase)as fraudulenf nd dishonest and yetescaped ny r: : i tat ionor contempt f court:not because lanDershowitz assucha famous awyer, ut becausehe USSupremeCourt older han our Courtbymore han 200 years) s a Courtsuffusedwith LVISDOM: nd ivesup tc the ideasof freedom nrshrinedn the USConsti tut ion:he Couftwi l lembarkon er ontemptof courtact ion nlywhere t is certain t wi l l not have o withdraw r drptWell ,AlanDershowitz 'son s a professionalagic ian nd his s what hecand id lye l lsh is a ther :Youand do the same hing ather sleight f hand we make hingsappear o trewhat hey are not.Dershowitz:ecords his n his bookabouta famouscase, itledRevers,alfFortune4. eerdt i f you canget holdof th is bookbecauset is out of pr int, anra f ra id ha t n the prac t ice f Law o become magic ian-or lmost - i t 'w i l lakeyoua long orrg ime. Butyou must ry. I t must be your deal o str ive or - ancli f you al l short t mustnot be or want of try ingThebestadvice o young awyerss whatyou must mbibeon yourown - byintel l igent ly atching nd istening: ecausehat is the advice enerated n yourownwhichyou cannever orgetBut next o that let me l is ta few bi tsof advicewhich have earnt rr heschoolof harcl nocks which s the school f l ife'sexperience,Advice No. 7

If you havechosen awpract icen couftas yourcareer, hen be regularncouft .Andwhenyou attendcourtkeepyourmindalertand receptive, 'ourwitssharpened, ut nof your ongue:don't a lk oo much-simplybecause :mptyvesselsmake he mostsound,Whenwearing black oatandgown, he lessyou speakat the in i t ia l tages fyourcareer he better-L ike hat o ld manwho ived n an oak;The morehe saw he lesshe spoke;The esshe spoke he morehe heard;Whycan'tyou be l ike hat bird?5Young awyersend o ta lk a lot - and a lot of rubbish s wel l .Don' l : ruorry,lam no tbe ing ompous ,We a l l (myse l fnc luded)id he same but rea sed ton lymuch a te r .Speak o yourbrief not outs idet and makeyour point n the f i rst ew


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Disc la imer : The tex t of the judgment is computer generated,The authenticity must be verif ied from the certif ied copy of the judgment'Page3

sentences f your argument. know i t is d i f f icu l twhen you star t . But t ry to jo tdown on paperwha t you are go ing o say and hen, say i t w i th c l a r i t y .Th i sw i l lh e l o ,Justice achawathosatmany earsn hisCourt sed o say "state ourargumentn capsuleorm".Hisconstantlyel l ing s hishelped s o cutcut romourspeechesn court rrelevantmbell ishments.Cult ivatehe art of brevi ty: omeandsit n th is ounge-LoungeI - vvhere eare al l assembled oppositeo t he excel lent ortrai t f Moti la l etalvacl.n hist ime he was he soulof brevi tyand or 12 ongyearswhenhe was ndiar 's ;i rst , tsbestandgreatest t torneyGeneral,he SupremeCourt udges al l veryeminentmen .- werenot able o resist he begui l ing harmof hisbrevi ty, heo therpor t ra i t ,ha t o f C .K.DaphtaryChandubha i )s equa l ly t r i k ing I r rd ia 'sf i rstSol ic i tor eneral nd second ttorneyGeneral: is mindwas ikea br: l l ndhiseloquencen courtwasunmatched. omehere rom t ime o t ime and ookupon heseportrai ts they wil l nspire ou.

Even f you are only br iefed o takean adjournmentn a caseget anri arwithi t becausehe Judgemay wel laskyou (yoursbeinga new ace)as to what hemat te r s aboutand ha t s whenyou mustscore , ndc la im our igh t c fame. na couple f sentenceshat you havepreviouslyehearsed,oUmustsaltwhat hecase s about,what he lowercourtshavesaidand he point hat is 5eLi, ; f r to becanvassedn the courtwhereyou appear. his s the frequent uest ionmanyJudges o askvery young awyerswho appear efore Bench f the SutpremeCourtand request or an adjournment ecausehe seniorwho s br iefecls on hislegselsewhere. haveseen his myselfand am mostdisappointedhen oftenf ind hese awyers i thersay hat hey havenot read he briefor do not, :nowwhat he case s about.That s a shame,not knowingwhat he case s atbout,even f you are onlyasked o have t adjourned.My own experience h,en wasoneyearold at the Barwasas ol lows I have ecordedt in my autobicgraphy6but I reproducet hereverbat im):Chief ust iceM.C.Chaglawas he brightest nd he bestof the JudrSesnmy t ime.He hada f inemix of a l l he qua l i t iesf an dea l udge.He ruash igh lyintel lectualnd very udic ia l .And his reatment f uniorswasexemll l i l ry ,When wasonlya yearold at the Bar,NaniPalkhivalaad entrusteclnewithan appeal ' roma judgment n a wri t pet i t ion nder he Bombay ancRequ is i t ionc t ,wh ichhadbeen ismissedy a S ing le udge, was :o ookupthe mat te randprepareor h im he awon he po in tsnvo lvedn the appea l .Pa lkh iva laadanother ngagemente fo rehe Income axAppe l la t t : - f r ibuna l .As my luckwouldhave t, the appeal eached earing in his absenc,:) eforeBench onsist ing f Chief ust ice hagla ndJust iceGajendragadkarater obecomeCJI) at that t ime about he strongest iv is ion ench n the country.I shu f f ledn tocour tandweak lyment ionedhat Pa lkh iva laasappear ingnthe matterandwouldhopeful ly rr iv 'en a shortwhi le,andcould he c:asestandover.Chief ust ice hagla ourteouslyaid hat they did not kttowwhatthe matterwasabout,and hat hiswasa greatopportunityor me 1:o egin.Of course, knew t was not, s ince rom what i t t le had read, t apptearedobe a prettyhopeless ppeal. bravelywenton, stated he facts, eaC he egalprovis ions,nd did not havemuchmore o say. could ee he sol ic i tor ndc l ien ts eh indme, wr ing inghe i rhands n despa i r o r tuna te ly ,neo f ' themhad he goodsense o go fetchPalkhivalaost-haste, ut by then httd

alreadymadea perfectmessof the appeal. alkhivalarr ivedwhi lst udgmentwasbe ing e l ive redmy argument av ing onc ludedn aboutha l fa t thourandthe o ther idenot be ing a l led pon) .Pa lkh iva lan te r rup tedhe udr ;n ren tomention more el ic i touslyhan could) he interpretat ionf the rel t :vant


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Disc la imer : The tex t of the judgment is computer generated.The authenticity must be veritf ied from the certif ied copy of the judgment,Page4

sect ion, hat our c l ientshad been canvassingor , Chagladid not l ik .ein terrupt ionswhen he was dictat ing r . rdgments ut permi t ted his onr : .Hel is tened o Palkh iva la, ave an answer o the interpretat ion, nd then said, MrNarimaneryablyput orwardhesame oint ndwe have ejecteldt." knewI haddonenoth ing f the so f t ,Chag lahenwenton to add , I don ' t :h ink , rPa lkh iva la ,oUcanaddany th ingmore o whatMr Nar iman asso we l lpresented." knewhow well" hadpresentedhe point But not a srni leescaped hag la 'sipsandhe made t appearha t he wasdead er iousn hecompliment e paid o a juniorwhose acehe had neverseenbefore, ndwhosenamehe had neverheardbefore hegraciousnessf the n 'ran asabound ing .havenotseen ucha combina t ionf knowledgendgraciousness,ot unt i l met, and carne o knowand respect in lateryears),Jus t ice .N,Venkatacha l iah-Ch ie fu rs t icef Ind ia -another rea t udge ndagrea thumanbe ing ,We are not al l bornorators and or,r tor icallouris;hesre neverappreciatednthe courtroom. tateanything ou have o saysimplyand clearl ,Thre rract icefLaw s not an elocut ion ompeti t ion but you do get marks romnot sf;out ingonly or speaking p. And don't use he mike hat is irr ront of you. I have oundtha tmos tJudges on ' t i ke t ,Advice No. 2Attend ouftevenwhenyou haveno work,And meanattend n thecourtroom, ot s i t andgossipn the Bar Library.Careful ly atchwhat seniorpract is inr;awyers ay anddo: not necessari lyutof adorat ion r with hopes f emulat inghem but part icular ly i th a vierv orememberwhat nof to say or not to do Even he greatand successfurlften alterin the cut-andl-thrustf batt les n courtandyou mustcult ivatehe discerrnmento

detect his,Whenyou seesomeof us arguing n courtyou must be perceptive you mustbe ab le o d is ,cernhatmade he Judge urnaga ins t s n the case t hand.Awrongphrase an erroneous rgument. hisexperience f seeing efore ourveryeyesseniorpract is ingawyersosing ases r makinga hashof theircaseswil ls tandyou n goodstead n lateryears.Youwil l hen be able o develophe aftof what not to say and when not to speak.Advice iMo. 3The ,vai t ingeriod n the pract ice f Law s longandweary:almost ike hewa i t ing er iod f cases end ingn cour t .So a lways e we l l -equ ipped.or hepract is ingawyer he mottoof the BoyScouts ppl ies BEPREPARED- alwaysbe preparred.Jo tdownandget ami l ia r i th he growing o lume f case aw onv ; l r ioussubjects) hichwi l l mean hat you have o constant lyeaddigestand rr:rnemberreported ase:secided y the HighCourts nd by the SupremeCoutt.h lnowhereferencesn your ingert ips. nd his s howyou canbe useful o the t l igT uyswhoarehandsomelya id andof ten ,more hanhandsomelya id to a rguecasesn court.When hey ind youuseful hey helpyou - not out of chari ty utout of need.And henyou can safely ookback o the badold dayswhenyouwerestarv ing, stay Hungry.StayFool ish"T as he message onveyec y SteveJobs whendyingof cancer o youngstudents f hiscol lege.)n the Lavv tayhungry f you have o, but sfaysmart never ool ish

The Law s a profession ith cut-throat ompeti t ion. o not eelsorry1'oryourself , egal id s for c l ients not or young awyerswho must end orthemseltres.he r ich ewards re neverat the beginning f yourcareer nd areonly oundnear he top rungof the ladder neverat the bottom ung: b 'ut ou


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Disc la imer : The tex t of the judgment is computer generated.The authenticity must be veri 'f ied from the certif ied copy of the judgment,Page5

have o begin as we al l began at the bot tom.We in the l t950sand 1960s were for tunate hat we had Judges n the l l ighCourtwho al luaysencouraged s. But senior awyerscan and must help -- not bygiving utdolre utby payingor effortwel lspent. oumustearn our /ay o thetopof theBarbothby being roficientndby being seful.Advice No. 4KnowyourJudge:not knowhim or her by cal l ing n the Judge r by becomingwhatwe cal ler hamcha this s whatclemeansou,Whenyou meeta Judge t a tea partyor outs ide ourtwhensomecol leagueof his has et i red, ndyou alk o him or her,makesure hat you don't :er lkfmatters n court.Youwil l earn he respect f the Judge,KnowyourJudge s used n an ethical ense.Because veryJudge i t : t ingncourt s di f ferent each udgehashisclwnbackground f experience r ld heJudge eforewhomyou are priv i legedo appearmust be addressed nclhandledwithcare,Addressing Judge orrect lys extremelymportant.n a bigConsti tut ionaseperhapst doesnot matterbut n the run-of-the-mil lasestdoes.Thereuseclo be n my t ime Just iceihelat, i rst a Judge n the BombayCityCiv i lCourt, hen n the HighCourtand i inal lyn the SupremeCourtof Ir td ia romFebruary 96t5o Apri l1973.Now, n the CityCiv i lCourta Judge s alwatl tsaddresseds"YourHonour""n the HighCourthe (or she) s always drlresseds"My Lord".Shelatwassensit ive bout he changen formsof address henhebecame HighCour t udge andhe wasso a l le rg ico be ing on t inuedo b eaddresseds"YourHonour" hat lawyerswhen nadvertent lyddressed im assuch hey wouldsufferby losing heircase t happenedo me in my youngdayswhen opposed nother oung awyer the opposing dvocatehe s todayawel l-knowrlommentator n publ ic f fa irs) who kept referr ingo Just ice helatas"YourHonour", ndso bri t t ledid he Judge ecome hat he del iveredhejudgmentn my favour t wasof course wrongudgment ndwhen t teappealcameup for hearing efore Bench resided ver by Just iceMudholkar,n theBombay ighCour t , he appe l lan t asnotca l led ponandappear ingor herespondr:ntt was who wasasked o defend he udgment Of course,hejudgmentwas reversed). ut o hiscredit ust ice helatworkedhimself ut ofth isb lenr ish ,andn the Supreme our t ecame f ineseasonedudge.Hehadal i terary renternd rotea bookon the l i feof Akbar, he Great,Thee:xamprlef Shelat s only o indicate ou hat someJudges re rnostsensit ive, oreapt to take umbrage,han others.Advice No. 5To be a su,ccessfuloung awyeryou must havea pairof goodwatchful yesandaboveal lgood earsigeneral ly hen here s a Bench f two or moreJudgesyou can rainyourselfo see and l isteno and hus hearanddiv inewhat heJudges resay ingo oneanother , h ich s he lp fu l you mustbe ab le o p ickupevena whisper f oneJudge o another here s no such h ingas eavesdropp ingin court you canhearand notewhatevers said n courtwith mpunity tooverhear ha toneJudge, h isperso anothero h isco l leaguen the Benchsnot bad orm And t i s he lp fu l . oucan e l lwh ichway he cour t s go in


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Disc la imer : The tex t of the judgment is computer generated,The authenticity must be verified from the certif ied copy of the judgment,Page6

memoryof ele:phants.heynever orgeta s l ight they may orgive t, but besure hat hey wil l never orget t . Judges realsomost receptiveo a goodargument . heywi l lnever orge ta good og ica l rgument ven hough c lumayhave ost he case, n whichyou made t - becausehe next ime youappear heJudgewi l l ook :o you o speak qua l ly ens ib ly ndwi l lapprec ia teha tyousay ,Don ' t e t h im down.Advice No. 7Don'tshowoff - "humblydoes t" - as he saying oes.And never


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Disc la imer : The tex t of the judgment is computer generated.The authenticity must be verif ied from the certif ied copy of the judgment.Paoe7

x SeniorAdvocate,SupremeCourt .1 AlfredDenning, reedom nder he Law Stev'ensndSonsLtd.,L.ondon

1949) .2 DavidPannick, dvocates OxfordUniversity ress,1992).3 148L Ed2d 388 : 531US98 (2000) .4 Dershowitz,Reversal f Fortune RandomHouse,NewYork 1986).5 I. Opieand P.Opie,TheOxfordDictionary f NurseryRhymes 2nd Edn.,OxfordUniversityPress,Oxford1997)340-4L6 FaliS. Nariman,BeforeMemoryFades An AutobiographyHay HousePub l ica t ionsInd ia ) P)L td . ,20101.7 Steve obs, StayHungry.StayFool ish"StanfordUniversi ty, al i l 'ornia20os).l S e a r c h T e x t : " ( 2 0 1 3 ) 6 S C C J - 1 " l

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Lessons by F.S.nariman (1)