This unique book offers a practical guide to deconstructing judgments for the purpose of fair criticism and appeal. It shows how judgments are written and examines the style and language of judges expressing judicial opinion. It will assist experienced practitioners, newly appointed recorders and tribunal chairman. The work is founded upon independent research in the form of interviews conducted with judges at every level from deputy district judge to Lords of Appeal in ordinary, and the practical application of existing academic material more usually devoted to the structure and analysis of...

Mediation is now at the heart of many forms of litigation - from debt, contract and other claims in the Small Claims jurisdiction, through family law and commercial matters of every kind. However, most disputants coming to mediation are unlikely to be familiar with the process, simply because it is confidential and does not feature in popular culture in the same way as a trial in open court. Participants may therefore be nervous and wary of what may seem to be a strange procedure, particularly the idea that it is voluntary, non-adjudicative, non-binding until its conclusion, confidential, and...

Is it possible to win your case before arriving at court? The author, a practising barrister for over thirty years, believes a highly focused approach to your written advocacy - correspondence, written negotiation, Part 36 offers and skeleton arguments, written opening notes for trial, closing submissions and costs submissions - will put you in the best possible position to do just that. The importance of oral advocacy in deciding cases is not in dispute, but increasingly judges form pre-trial opiIs it possible to win your case before arriving at court? The author, a practising barrister for...