In French, the word for “lawyer” is avocat; in Spanish, abogado; in Italian, avvocato. Clearly, many different societies think of lawyers as those responsible for advocacy. While understanding lawyers as advocators is accurate, advocating is more than simply legal protection. To advocate, in its most general sense, is to take action on behalf of one party against another. An Ontario personal injury lawyer advocates for clients, but a parent also advocates for their child when choosing a school, for example. Advocacy is a broader concept than it seems.
Types of Advocacy
As far as personal injuries and personal injury claims are concerned, there are four different types of advocacy.
- Self-advocacy: You can’t always have someone to advocate on your behalf. Self-advocacy is taking action on your own terms to achieve your own goals.
- Peer Advocacy: Most often, peer advocacy is when a friend, relative, or other concerned party advocates on your behalf. A Toronto personal injury lawyer is not a peer advocate, however, because they will advocate for you through legal conduits.
- Legal Advocacy: An Ontario personal injury lawyer provides legal advocacy, because they work within legal channels to establish or secure your legal rights.
- Systems Advocacy: At the highest level, systems advocacy is taking action, usually on a broad scale, to influence social, political, or economic change. This is often achieved through affecting policy.
Regardless of your strategies for advocacy (though we recommend engaging in all four), an Ontario personal injury lawyer can advise you in all areas of your trial and post-injury life. Consult an experienced law firm today.
Source:
http://www.brainline.org/content/2008/10/advocacy-tool-kit-skills-and-strategies-effective-and-peer-advocacy.html