Changes in American Court Advocacy during the Long Nineteenth Century: Classical Influences, their Decline, Similarities and Comparisons with England and Wales
Changes in American Court Advocacy during the Long Nineteenth Century: Classical Influences, their Decline, Similarities and Comparisons with England and Wales

Summary/Abstract: Important alterations in the style and content of court advocacy occurred throughout the common law world in the Nineteenth Century. This article turns to the United States, where a sea change in advocacy took place, and to similarities and differences with England and Wales. Matters considered include: influences of Greek and Roman classics and rhetoric in late Eighteenth Century and first half of the Nineteenth Century America and their decline thereafter; key changes in evidence and procedure; discussion whether advocates should be allowed to express belief in the causes of their clients and later adoption of professional rules forbidding the practice; granting accused persons the right to give evidence on oath; the presence of expert witnesses in court; the introduction of plea bargaining procedure and the origins of bench trials.

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