Influence

I really wanted to know if a lawyer’s counsel could influence the outcome of the trial. I have heard of such representatives, but nothing concrete. On the second year of application I had a practice in the Court of First Instance. The court ruled three-member. The judges exchanged several observations about the case and already knew what the verdict would be. I tried to keep up. In one session, the General Court settled more than 10 cases. The president was an extremely brilliant Judge, who in a flash solved all the intricacies. He did it as if he were stacking a Rubik’s cube with his eyes closed. In one case only, the lawyer presented his position so that the President, after hearing the lawyer began to hesitate and during the deliberations could not decide what to do (previously the judges were sure that the appeal of this lawyer, must be dismissed).

Then somehow I machinably joined in the conversation and showed something else that I saw in the reasoning of this lawyer. The President got into a very long discussion with me almost in an argument, and I completely forgot in my fierceness. The President was almost convinced. But finally, he said, “I don’t agree with you. But what you said helped me stop hesitating. You were a bit like advocatus diaboli.” I was a little scared and happy. I guess I knew the answer.