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Playing the devil's advocate is a key litigation strategy. You'll have to learn to pretend to oppose your line of reasoning or argument. Last week, I had a matter in court. I was to argue a particular application. As usual, I prepped the day before and ordinarily, I should have felt satisfied with my level of preparations. But something kept bugging my mind. I had the feeling that the other lawyer was going to put forward a particular reason why the application shouldn't be argued. I knew this particular reason, if put forward by the opposing Counsel, wouldn't be enough ground to prevent the hearing of the application. Yet, there was the possibility that it would come up for debate. What did I do? I simply went on research. The task was simple: find the legal authorities that support the argument of the application without necessarily doing what the opposing Counsel would suggest that I ought to do before the Court can hear the application. As I anticipated, the opposing Counsel raised that particular issue even before the court sitting began, and because I had some legal authorities in my arsenal, I was able to lead the Counsel to see why her position wasn't tenable. It's good to be familiar with your line argument, it's even better to be familiar with probable opposing arguments. Have a lovely week ahead. #litigation

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Abasibiangake Akpabio

International Law | IHL | International Development

8mo

It's better to be familiar with the opposing arguments, indeed.

Udemeobong Okono

Experienced Psychotherapist 10years+ | Telehealth & In-person Therapy | Climate Reality Leader | Global Shaper

8mo

Well done, Counsel

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