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Christopher Sallon QC to Present Seminar Series on The Art & Ethics of Advocacy

Noted British barrister Christopher Sallon QC will deliver a four-part seminar series at Yale Law School examining the “The Art & Ethics of Advocacy.”

The seminars will be open to Yale Law students and run between September 17 and September 24.

Sallon will focus on trial advocacy and comparative ethics during the talks, encouraging questions and discussion throughout. He will draw on his own professional experience to illustrate key points in the lecture, and the third seminar will feature a practical exercise based on a fictional trial. During the exercise, students will cross-examine witnesses and argue parts of the case; Sallon and the other students will provide feedback on their performance.

"The art of the advocate is the ultimate expression of the lawyer's craft,” said Sallon. “This is linked to a sound understanding of ethics governing our professions in the US, England and Wales. The aim of this interactive program of four seminars is to provide a solid groundwork in these shared traditions to help future lawyers help both their clients and their cause."

The seminar is presented by the Jerome N. Frank Legal Services Organization, Thomas Swan Barristers Union, and Morris Tyler Moot Court of Appeals. It is funded by The Oscar M. Ruebhausen Fund at Yale Law School.

Christopher Sallon was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1994 and is a bencher of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn. A founding member of Doughty Street Chambers, he has a high-profile criminal practice focusing on regulatory and financial crime, bribery and corruption, corporate compliance and pre-charge advice, homicide, international criminal cases, cases involving medicine and forensic science, and all other aspects of criminal law trial and appeal work. His practice also includes health and safety, professional discipline, and regulation. In 2008 Sallon was appointed Special Counsel to the House of Commons Constitutional Affairs Committee's Enquiry into Party Funding. He was also appointed as a special adviser to the Commons Public Administration Select Committee in their Enquiry into Propriety and Honours. His written advice on reforming the law of bribery is annexed to the Committee’s Report.

He has worked extensively in the West Indies, and has represented appellants in death penalty cases before the Privy Council. He is a member of the Bars of the Eastern Caribbean and Trinidad and Tobago, and a member of the American Board of Criminal Lawyers. He also sits as a part-time Judge in the Crown Court.

The four seminars will take place in Room 129. They are scheduled as followed:

  • September 17: “Good Lawyer, Bad Lawyer: Structure, Ethics and Performance of Criminal Advocacy in England and Wales.”
  • September 18: “What Makes an Advocate Good: An Analysis of Courtroom Skills and Ethics.”
  • September 23: “"The Queen v Nicholas Bulstrode: Mock Trial and Assessment for Student Advocates.”
  • September 24: “How to Defend Someone You Know is Guilty/ Suspect is Innocent.”