Editor's notes

From the law school to first-class law firms, how do the law students apply what they have learned to practice and achieve the transformation of roles and growth? Let’s listen to the LEGAL VOICE of the "old practitioner" of East & Concord Partners. This is their show time and they sonorously tell what they’ve seen and learned during the internship which gave them genuine inspiration and considerable experience.

In order to benefit those who are determined to engage in the lawyer profession, we have planned the "LEGAL VOICE”. Meanwhile, we hope that excellent law students with the lawyer dream will join East & Concord Partners to go forward together and achieve a win-win situation. We always believe that "success is rooted in assisting others to achieve".

This is episode II of LEGAL VOICE –“Is Life a Play Based on Acting Skills? What is the Basic Quality of a Lawyer in the Eyes of an Intern?” What surprises will it bring to us? Let's have a look!

As we all know, the court trial is the key link of a lawsuit. The performance the lawyers in court directly affects the judge’s decision on the case. Even if one party's attorney has made particularly adequate preparation of pre-trial materials, once he or she is unconfident in the court and unable to accurately express the opinions and calmly face the cross-examination, an “unprofessional” impression will be given to the judge. Conversely, although the evidence is extremely unfavorable to one’s own party, it is possible to reverse the situation as long as an excellent performance is made in the trial period to "touch" the judge. Examples of turning the tables are everywhere.

In view of the particularity of the trial period, the basic qualities of a trial lawyer are especially important. A few days ago, I was lucky to go to Hanjiang Intermediate People's Court with the lawyers Liu Mengjie and Xia Yukun. Although I was not entrusted by the parties to express their opinions as an attorney, I sat in the public gallery and watched the whole trial and had an intuitive understanding of the court trial process of a lawsuit. On the basis of the understanding in daily work, I would like to briefly talk about my opinions on the basic qualities of trial lawyers as a general intern.

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Firstly, the trial lawyer must properly carry out the pre-trial drill. A well-known law firm has set up a moot court in its small office where the equipment purchasing, the setting of tables and chairs, and the decoration style all follow the standards of a real court. Trial lawyers for difficult and complicated cases must go through the “sand table drill” in the moot court before they formally appear in court. The simulating judge and opposing attorney are both acted by experienced former judges and senior lawyers of the firm. The purpose is to make the trial lawyer prejudge possible court conditions in the highly simulated environment and do the preventive and preparatory work in a targeted manner. This drill mode can greatly improve the confrontation level of trial lawyers and guarantee a case's chance of winning. According to lawyer Jiang Yong, the firm's moot court now not only serves as a workplace for the lawyer’s pre-trial drills, but also as an important window for other law firms to study and investigate, and even becomes a revenue-generating product.

However, in real life, most law firms have no such a place for the lawyer' pre-trial drill, because of the limited office space, fund shortage, or the thinking and concept of case handling. Howsoever, before the trial, appropriate trans-positional thinking and simulation of the opposing attorney's train of thought will be beneficial to the lawsuit' smooth proceeding. The so-called "knowing yourself and the opponent, you can win all the battles" is applicable to the "battlefield of law".

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Secondly, the trial lawyer must speak with clear articulation and a mellow and full tune, at a moderate speed and through concise and comprehensive words. The court is a place for both parties to bring out facts and reasons, not to be shrewish and make a scene. Considering that there are so many matters a judge needs to cope with every day, the trial time is very pressing. The attorney who can accurately express his views within a limited time which are accepted by the judge will hold an advantageous position.

According to my observation at the court, the judge particularly "hates" lawyers who are unruly, unprofessional and do not obey the court rules, for instance, evading the judge' questions, blindly stating their own views and constantly repeating the opinions that have been voiced, saying too much but not getting the point, and the more they speak, the smaller the voice is and the less confident they are. If I am the judge at a court, I will favor the lawyer with clear requests, clear thinking and who is calm and efficient. Since everyone is so busy and professional, please do not waste the time.

In addition, the trial lawyer must dare to face the cross-examination and put forward valuable refutations. The cross-examination is a quite important part of the trial process and it is to question the evidence provided by the opposite side.

In the first place, we must properly time the reading of evidence materials. It will make the judge "unhappy" when it is too long but will lead to inadequate preparation when it is too short. This raises a high demand for the capacity of the attorney for making immediate response. In the aforementioned case, the lawyer of the opposite party read the evidence submitted by us for half an hour, during which the judge impatiently urged him three times. We know that there is no explicit legal requirement for the time length of cross-examination, which is at the discretion of the judge. How to accurately identify flaws in the evidence submitted by the opposite party in a relatively short time tests the professionalism and embodies the value of an attorney.

In addition, the trial lawyer's cross-examination must be assured, targeted and resolute, so that it can hit the weakness of the opposite. We should either not to refute or make the opposite side speechless. Do not rebut for the purpose of refutation. In the case, the opposite attorney made this mistake. He said that he doubted the evidence and considered it irrelevant but failed to give the reason. However, what a judge wants to hear is not only "what", but also "why".

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Finally, a trial lawyer must present a good professional image. A good lawyer should take a tense situation calmly with ready plans and must not panic even if he is extremely nervous, just take a deep breath. I’m nervous, isn't the opponent nervous? I'm appointed for the first battle, and I will certainly win. We both fight for our own client, and why should I be afraid? This state is not only shown to the client (you entrust me to the case is the right choice), but also to the judge (I am ready and have the confidence to win today).

During the trial, the attorney should not keep reading the manuscript without looking up to have eye contact with the judge, to attract the judge's attention and to show your respect.

At the proper time, you can "stare" at the other side's attorney. I'm listening to every word you say, so you cannot muddle through.

At an appropriate moment, you can show the "mystery smile" to imply that you've known the other side's petty niggling.

Life is a play that fully depends on acting. A teacher who does not cook may become a good driver, but a lawyer who cannot “act” is not a good lawyer.

Sometimes I see the trial as a process of accurately using legal knowledge to “argue”. The level of “arguing” depends on the attorney's ability of understanding, grasping and using the legal knowledge. At the court, one can see the lawyers of both sides argue with each other and sometimes the judge acts as a mediator. All parties play their role under the legal framework, conscientiously fulfill their responsibilities, and there is cooperation and confrontation, as well as fighting over wits and courage. Isn't it the charm of the law?

Oh, you may ask which law firm I am working for? I’m an intern at Wuhan Office of East & Concord Partners.