By Katalina Siasau
Young Tongan lawyers are building their advocacy skills through a three-day workshop in Nuku'alofa, presented by law specialists from the Victorian Bar International Advocacy Training Committee in collaboration with the Tonga Law Society, and Tonga’s former Lord Chief Justice Michael Whitten KC.
The workshop, held from 9 -11 December, at the Attorney General's office, will focus on core aspects of advocacy including cross-examination skills, written submissions, and the responsible use of AI in legal practice.
Michael Whitten KC told Matangi Tonga that this specialised advocacy workshop is essential for young and upcoming lawyers.
“It's more designed for what I perceived during my time as Chief Justice here as being specific needs for most, not all, but most of the lawyers, particularly young lawyers coming through."
He said in the last couple of years, there had been a significant increase in the number of new lawyers being admitted, so extra skills development in advocacy was needed.
“Instead of just doing the usual tips and techniques about cross examination, we're going to be trying to teach, show, and then get the participants to get up and do it themselves, so they can demonstrate for themselves how to do much deeper, more incisive cross examination, to try and get to the real point in someone's evidence, not just a superficial examination or very obvious questions,” he said.
“My hope is that Tongan lawyers will be able to present their written submissions at a level, a quality that those Palangi judges will appreciate as being on par with what they are used to, back in their jurisdictions” .
On day three, the lawyers will focus shifts to AI in the legal profession, covering topics such as ways to responsibly use AI for legal research, document preparation, and summarising.
He said it is only a matter of time before AI becomes much more prevalent in legal use.
There are about 30 registered partcipants in the workshop.
The presenters includes Michael Whitten KC, Tom Ellicott, Willem Drent, and Susan Gatford.
Michael Whitten KC served as Lord Chief Justice of Tonga and President of the Tongan Land Court and Court of Appeal between 2019-2023.
Susan Gatford is a commercial law specialist with significant expertise in all areas of intellectual property law, complex matters relating to the Australian Consumer Law and the Corporations Act, and disputes involving privacy, technology and data protection. She is often briefed in matters that are complex and involve multiple parties, international clients and sensitive information.
Tom Ellicott holds a Juris Doctor (Hons) from the University of New South Wales and a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) from the University of Sydney, majoring in archaeology. Before joining the Bar, Tom was a solicitor at Norton Rose Fulbright and Minter Ellison, and a senior associate at Herbert Smith Freehills.
Willem Drent advises and appears in a range of commercial disputes and regularly acts in administrative and/or public law matters involving questions of statutory interpretation, merits and judicial review, disciplinary review, regulatory, environmental and planning law. He is also briefed for Inquiries, examinations, interlocutory applications and complex procedural questions of law and evidence.
The workshop is supported by the Australian Federal Police, Tonga Australia Policing Partnership, Families Free of Violence Program.
