MANY lawyers are in the habit of copying and pasting the legal draft from the previous cases. Every case has its own facts and it is required to be drafted in a particular manner so that the main points can be emphasised.

Not only junior lawyers but even senior lawyers are also involved in this practice. Legal drafting is a skill. A good lawyer always prefers drafting the case his way after reading relevant books and sections.

Three things make one a good lawyer – a good reader, writer and speaker. All these factors are inter-connected. The absence of any one of the components could be disastrous for a lawyer. This is not only the duty of a lawyer to win cases but also to understand the legality of the issues being solved.

Drafting is the backbone of every case because through this a good lawyer can easily convince a court of law to understand the legal sensitivity of the matter. I urge lawyers not to indulge in copy-pasting.

Mian Muhammad Imran

Peshawar

Published in Dawn, January 22nd, 2017