What is Advocacy?
Advocacy is when a solicitor attends court to represent their client. In simple form, advocacy is the art of communication. A solicitor will attend court and do the very best for their client to ensure they achieve the best possible result. It involves public speaking, which can be quite intimidating when you first attend court. However, with practice and experience the task does become easier. You will find that the more appearances you make at Court, the easier it will become and the more you will improve and become more confident.Your oral communication skills will develop and so will your ability to put forward structured and coherent arguments
Updated 12 March 2026
This article provides a very basic and general description of advocacy. The broad description of advocacy as representing a client in court and involving oral communication remains accurate as a matter of general principle. However, readers should note some important limitations. The article implies that advocacy in court is exclusively or primarily a solicitor’s role. In practice, rights of audience in courts in England and Wales are regulated under the Legal Services Act 2007. Solicitors with standard qualification have rights of audience in the magistrates’ courts and county court, but higher court rights of audience must be obtained separately (either through qualification as a solicitor-advocate or by instructing a barrister). Barristers retain a central role in advocacy, particularly in the higher courts. The article does not reflect this distinction at all, which could mislead students about how rights of audience operate in practice. The article is otherwise too brief and general to contain significant legal inaccuracies, but students should consult additional sources for a fuller and more accurate picture of the regulatory framework governing advocacy in England and Wales.
