In this article written for The Advocates' Society
newsletter, Advocacy Matters, Tamara Ramsey pays homage to
satirical articles from the Honourable Marvin Catzman and provides
some practical tips for counsel in virtual courtrooms. The full
issue of Advocacy Matters is available here.
Tip #6 in the first of the late Justice Catzman's facetious
articles about how to lose appeals in the Court of Appeal is to
never answer a question directly or, better still, at
all1. In 2023, as we continue to hold appeals and other
court appearances over Zoom there are so many new ways to try to
avoid dialogue with the judge hearing your argument.
Justice Catzman suggests that you avoid giving a clear,
straightforward answer and to stonewall, stonewall, stonewall. He
provides some helpful tips for stonewalling such as talking around
the question, taking the judge to lengthy passages from the
evidence that have nothing to do with the question, rephrasing the
question in a manner
