What experience in your legal career best prepared you for work on the bench?

One experiences that prepared me for the bench, was that I spent most of my career inside a courtroom. My familiarity with the venue made a difference with my comfort level when I first presided as a judge. If you have aspirations for the bench, you need to go to court.  Another skill that prepared me for the bench was my experience with appellate work.  This experience taught me to write cogently. I also suspect my background in music has assisted me in being a judge.  The study of music taught me to listen and observe. These are essential qualities for judges.  Judges need to listen and observe carefully, because sometimes what is being said is not so much in the words, but how those words are expressed.

What advice do you have for counsel who appear before you?

 When you appear before the judge, remember that counsel’s role is to assist the court in arriving at the just result. While the fact of an adversarial system means that counsel are obligated to advocate for their clients (and so you should!), counsel also need to be able to help the court understand why their argument is the just argument. They need to show the judge how to arrive at that result.  Good advocacy is not aggressive or argumentative, but persuasive.

How do you do this? Be prepared! Know your brief, and know the applicable principles.  Understand the details, but more importantly, understand where the details fit in the big picture. You have to be able to untangle the tangles, and smooth out the hurdles that might be in the way of the success of your argument - without getting lost inside the argument.  When it comes to oral argument, you must be able to think on your feet. Do not get buried under written notes. If you have a weak link – you must address it.  The judge before whom you appear will ask you to address your opponent’s point of view. Practice your argument. Read it aloud. Challenge your opinion.  Before you speak, remember to breathe.  Sounds silly, but I have seen many counsels unable to express themselves simply because they did not have enough air in their lungs. You have no voice if you have no air.  Nothing is done without breathing. 

You might also take any opportunity to observe experienced counsel and judges in court. One advantage of technology in a geographical expanse like Canada is the ability to observe other court proceedings.  When I was appellate counsel, I regularly observed proceedings at the Supreme Court of Canada by connecting to their online links.  I would sometimes decide what to watch based on who was appearing more than the subject matter.  I watched all types of matters and learned not only about advocacy - but a lot of law! This is free courtroom advocacy training at your fingertips!

In terms of your own career, do not be too rigid in your long-term plans.  Let the road take you where it will. It always works out.  My background started in science and math, and then to music. I did as little criminal law at law school as possible, and then practiced criminal law almost exclusively for 25 years (First as crown trial counsel, then appellate counsel to becoming Director of Public Prosecutions).  In fact, if someone had told me at law school that I was going to be a crown prosecutor for 25 years, I would have laughed.  Now, I would not trade those years.  So, sure have a plan. It provides stability.  But stay flexible. Having the flexibility to go where the road takes you will more likely put you where you need to be; than will fixed ideas about where you “ought” to be.  There is no wrong choice, as long as you are committed to your choice.  One wise person once said, whether you are a plumber or a neuroscientist, counsel or caretaker, whatever you “do”, that is your “art”.