Our legal education primarily trains us to be courtroom advocates and to assist persons with navigating the legal system. And the “popular opinion” in the profession may traditionally be that courtroom lawyers are the only “true advocates”. However, if we consider the Latin origin of the word advocate – “advocatus”, this refers to “a pleader on behalf of another” or “one called to aid.” With many recognized ways for us to engage in change-making advocacy outside of the courtroom, this means we can all “plead on another’s behalf” or “be someone’s aid” even if our legal roles do not involve courtroom advocacy. Let’s explore some of the ways we can do so.

Advocacy Principles & Key Types

The fundamental principles of advocacy are: (i) clarity in problem identification, messaging and ask(s) (ii) flexibility and adaptability to new information, and (iii) being transparent, honest and consistent in communication regarding management, methods, finances etc. (Source).

The three main types of advocacy are:

• Self-advocacy
  Whether we realize it or not, we all engage in some amount of self-advocacy in our day-to-day lives. This involves when we advocate for our own interests based on knowing our rights, understanding our needs and communicating these needs to others (Source).

• Individual advocacy (formal or informal)
  With this type of advocacy, a person or group advances the interests of another person or small group of persons. Formal individual advocacy is engaged in by non-profit organizations, state enterprises/agencies or like entities. As example of informal individual advocacy is when a parent advocates for their child’s needs in a youth or sport club (Source).

• Systems advocacy
  This is a macro level-type of advocacy whereby you seek to spearhead change in laws, policies or regulations at a local, state or national level. To do so, this often involves a multi-stakeholder or multi-actor approach to apply informed, sustained pressure on lawmakers and decision makers and to heighten awareness amongst the wider society (Source).

Other advocacy types

There are also other broader types of advocacy.  Healthcare or patient advocates help to demystify the healthcare system for persons who interact with or use it so they can better navigate it (Source). There is also legal advocacy which focuses on women, children, prisoners, crime victims, refugees etc., and involves advancing the best interests of these groups at a systemic level, and assisting with administrative activities and legal rights education in these spheres. Victim advocacy is a subset of legal advocacy with an emotional support slant. Victim advocates assist with protection orders, safety planning, crisis intervention, access to mental healthcare etc. (Source).

Systems advocacy in action

Outside of doing a very measured and selective type and amount of court advocacy, I found myself engaged in systems advocacy back in September 2025. This was in relation to an area that is near to me as it is a niche I have been; and continue to specialize and upskill in since 2022 – tech, fintech and virtual assets law. This arose as a result of the initial Virtual Assets Bill in my home country which initially proposed a near two-year ban of virtual assets. The First Reading of the Bill in our Parliament triggered calls, messages, emails and meetings as industry players were anxious. Everyone was wondering; What can we do? What should we do? What I initially found myself doing during those immediate interactions was educating them about the lawmaking process; which in turn led to many of them staying peeled to our Parliament’s YouTube channel and website, and ramping up their efforts to try to get their positions heard by the lawmakers and decision makers.

Other industry actors took to - preparing and circulating a petition, podcast interviews, increasing the awareness about the pros of the industry (via their social media pages), doing television and newspaper interviews, issuing - position papers, media and social media releases, commenting on the Parliament website, contacting their area representatives, different Ministers and Senators (on either side of the floor) etc.

As I am non-partisan, throughout the process, I always maintained a safe distance from the political arena. So, I volunteered to weigh in on one position paper which contained suggestions for high-level redlined amendments and I also agreed to share my views in one newspaper article. This contributed to - raising awareness via education, which I have been doing for a number of years via legal articles, blogs  and LinkedIn posts, advancing a cause and safeguarding a fledgling sector that was serving a positive need in my home country; and which is a globally burgeoning industry (with US$112.1billion in revenue projected for 2026 in the virtual assets market according to Statista). This would help to protect the livelihoods of all of the entrepreneurs, employees and the customers who were already deeply entrenched in and benefitting from the virtual assets industry.

In the final analysis, how the Bill started was not how it ended as the final virtual assets legislation, among other things - introduced a Regulatory Sandbox, shortened the original moratorium, and permitted the personal use of virtual assets for the - purchase of goods and services, buying and selling of virtual assets between persons (under certain conditions). The collective advocacy efforts resulted in these key wins for industry enterprises and virtual assets users. And the important fact cannot be discounted that the industry actors, who were unfamiliar before, came away with new-found knowledge about the lawmaking process and Parliamentary procedure.

Closing words

Traditionally, the allure and magnetism of being a litigator may cause law students and lawyers to regard courtroom advocates as the “Holy Grail” of advocates. However, given the diverse opportunities for advocacy, it is clear that our legal education, experience, and even our life experiences, have endowed us with invaluable skills to engage in much-needed, life-changing and impactful advocacy, whether in the courtroom or in the communities and ecosystems that we serve.

Bellina Barrow is the Principal Attorney/Founder of Tenoreque Legal, a virtual legal practice based in Trinidad & Tobago since 2021. A former legal tutor and a dedicated mentor, Bellina is committed to fostering and contributing to thought leadership in law, fintech, tech, digital assets and sports by deconstructing and demystifying these areas via practical and digestible storytelling and writing. Outside of her technical and academic writing, Bellina is also a co-author of the books Soul of An Athlete (2023) and Women in Law: Discovering the True Meaning of Success (2022).