Covering for Your Senior: How Junior Advocates Should Handle Hearings
Sooner or later your senior will be somewhere else when one of their cases is called. They may be arguing in the High Court, stuck in another courtroom or unwell. The file reaches you the evening before with a short instruction: "Take care of it." For a junior advocate this is one of the most common jobs in chambers, and one of the easiest to get wrong.
Covering a hearing well is not about putting on a brave show. It is about knowing exactly what you are authorized to do, telling the court the truth, protecting the client's position and making sure your senior knows what happened before the day ends. This guide walks through each stage, from the instructions you collect beforehand to the note you write afterward.
Before the hearing: get instructions you can act on
"Get a date" and "argue it" are very different instructions. When your senior hands you the file, ask short, specific questions and write the answers on the file cover or in your diary:
What is fixed today? Find the last order and check the stage: evidence, arguments, a reply to an application, or something routine.
What is the goal? Should you seek an adjournment, proceed, or proceed only if the judge insists?
What is the fallback? If the court refuses to adjourn, what exactly should you say or do?
What must you not concede? Ask about any point, document or statement you must avoid giving away.
Is the client or a witness coming? Know who will be present and what they expect.
How can you reach your senior? Agree on a number and a time window when they can take a quick call or message.
Then read the file properly: the pleadings, the last few orders and any pending applications, much as you would when you prepare a case brief for your senior. Even if you only expect an adjournment, the judge may ask a question about the case.
Check that you can appear: vakalatnama and appearance rules
Before you stand up, make sure you are properly on record or properly engaged. Order III, rule 4 of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 says that no pleader shall act for any person in court unless appointed in writing by that person (or an authorized agent or attorney). The appointment is filed in court. That document is the vakalatnama, and our guide to the vakalatnama for junior advocates explains how it works in detail.
The simplest position is when your name is already on the vakalatnama alongside your senior's, which many chambers do as a matter of routine. If it is not, look at rule 4(5). It requires a pleader engaged only to plead to file a signed memorandum of appearance. Its proviso exempts a pleader engaged to plead by another pleader who has been duly appointed for that party. Courts differ in practice, so ask your senior whether to add your name to the record and check with the court's reader if you are unsure.
Two further limits matter:
Your license. Under section 22 of the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act, 1973, an advocate who is not enrolled for the High Court cannot practice before it. If your senior's matter is in the High Court and you do not yet hold that license, someone else has to cover it.
Pupils and interns. Only an enrolled advocate can practice law. A pupil or intern can carry the file and take notes, but cannot address the court.
What a junior can and cannot decide alone
Even when you are properly on record, the case still belongs to your senior and the decisions belong to the client. A useful rule: procedure is often yours to handle, while anything that changes the substance of the case is not.
Things a covering junior can usually handle within instructions:
Seeking a date. Asking for an adjournment on a true ground and noting the next date.
Receiving copies. Taking copies of anything filed by the other side and asking for time to reply.
Proceeding as instructed. Arguing a point or examining a witness if your senior has prepared you and told you to go ahead.
Things you should not decide without fresh instructions:
Settlement or compromise. Accepting any offer or saying that the client agrees to terms.
Withdrawing or conceding. Withdrawing a suit, application or appeal, or giving up an objection.
Binding undertakings. Promising the court that the client will pay, vacate or do anything else.
Strategy changes. Closing evidence, giving up a witness or dropping a ground.
If something in the second list comes up, the honest answer is that you need instructions.
Asking for an adjournment honestly
Most covering appearances involve a request for a date. Adjournment is a matter for the court's discretion, and judges are often strict about repeated requests. In civil cases, Order XVII, rule 3 of the CPC lets the court proceed to decide the suit where a party given time fails to produce evidence or take the required step. Check how many adjournments your side has already taken before you ask for another.
When you ask, keep it short and true:
State the real reason. If your senior is arguing a matter in the High Court, say so. Do not convert a busy day into an illness or a family emergency.
Offer a short date. A request for a near date sounds more serious than an open-ended one.
Accept costs gracefully. If the court grants time subject to costs, note the amount and the condition carefully for your senior.
Do not argue with a refusal. If the judge refuses, move to the fallback your senior gave you.
When the hearing takes an unexpected turn
A few surprises come up again and again:
The judge wants to proceed. If you are prepared and instructed, proceed. If you are not, say so respectfully, and ask whether the matter can be taken up later in the day so you can call your senior. If the court still insists, do your honest best on what the file shows and record exactly what happened.
The other side makes a settlement offer. Listen, write down the exact terms, and say you will take instructions from your senior and the client. Do not hint at acceptance, even informally in the corridor.
A new application is filed. Take a copy, check what it asks for and request time to reply. Do not concede it, and argue it on the spot only if the court insists and the file supports you.
The other side's witness is present. If cross-examination was not in your instructions, ask for time. If the court proceeds, keep to what your senior has prepared.
In every case, a short phone call or message to your senior, when the court allows a break, is better than a confident guess.
Never mislead the court
The pressure to "manage" a hearing is strongest when you are covering for someone else. Chapter XII of the Pakistan Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Rules, 1976 sets out canons of professional conduct. Several apply directly:
Rule 159 makes it the duty of an advocate to maintain a respectful attitude toward the court.
Rule 161 says an advocate shall not intentionally misquote to a judge the testimony of a witness, the argument of the opposing advocate, the contents of a document, or the language of a book, statute or decision. It also forbids knowingly citing an overruled decision or a repealed statute as authority without disclosing that.
Rule 166 speaks of the duty of advocates to appear in court when a matter is called and of making satisfactory alternative arrangements. A properly briefed junior is often that arrangement.
Rule 167 says an advocate should in general refrain from arguing cases in which they are not engaged, unless the judge calls on them in open court.
In practice this means no invented excuses, no guessing about facts you have not checked and no claiming that the client has agreed to something you have not confirmed. If you do not know, say you will take instructions. For a wider view of these duties, read our guide to professional legal ethics every advocate must know.
Reporting back and keeping the client informed
Send your senior a short written note the same day, by message or in the chambers diary, so nothing depends on memory. A good note covers:
The basics. Case title, court and date.
What happened. Whether the matter was adjourned or heard, and who appeared for the other side.
The order. The substance of the order, including any costs, conditions or warnings such as a "last opportunity."
New material. Any application, document or offer received, with copies attached or photographed.
Next date and tasks. The next date, its purpose and what must be done before it.
Check the order sheet when it becomes available and correct your note if needed.
Client communication needs agreement in advance. Ask your senior whether you or they will update the client. If it is you, give the facts: what the court did, the next date and what the client needs to do. Avoid offering your own view of the case's chances, which can contradict your senior's advice. Our guide on taking instructions from your first clients covers the habits that keep clients trusting you.
Common mistakes when covering for a senior
Reading the file in the corridor. Ten minutes before the call is not preparation.
Exceeding instructions to look capable. A confident concession can do more damage than a polite request for time.
Using a convenient excuse. A false reason for an adjournment can damage your reputation with that judge for years.
Forgetting the order details. A missed condition or costs order can hurt the client at the next hearing.
Reporting only verbally. A passing remark in chambers is easily forgotten. Put it in writing.
Frequently asked questions
Can a junior advocate appear for a senior without their name on the vakalatnama?
Order III, rule 4(5) of the CPC requires a pleader engaged only to plead to file a memorandum of appearance. Its proviso exempts a pleader engaged to plead by another pleader duly appointed for the party. Practice differs between courts, so the safest course is to have your name on the vakalatnama or to confirm the court's practice in advance.
Can a covering junior accept a settlement offer in court?
A covering junior should not accept any settlement or compromise without clear instructions from the senior and the client. The right response is to note the exact terms, tell the court you will take instructions and report the offer the same day.
What should a junior do if the judge refuses an adjournment?
Follow the fallback your senior gave you, and if you are not prepared, say so respectfully and ask whether the matter can be taken up later in the day so you can contact your senior. If the court proceeds, do your honest best from the file and record exactly what happened in your note.
Covering for your senior is a test of trust more than of advocacy. Judges notice the junior who is prepared and honest about their limits. Seniors notice the junior whose notes arrive the same evening. Do it well a dozen times and you will soon be trusted with more than adjournments, a progression our guide to a junior advocate's first year in Faisalabad also describes.
About this guide: the legal points here were checked in October 2026 against the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 (Order III, rule 4; Order XVII, rule 3) and the Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Act, 1973 (section 22). The conduct rules cited are rules 159, 161, 166 and 167 of the Pakistan Legal Practitioners and Bar Councils Rules, 1976. Court practice varies, so confirm the current rules and local practice before you rely on them.
