Advocacy at its best is a form of reconciliation. It reconciles the advocate with those whose champion he proposes to be. It reconciles the advocate with his hearers. It reconciles the person whose cause is advocated with the persons who hear advocacy. It brings to community life a new sense of the interests of those the community neglects. It seeks to make things better. It is moral discourse.

This article will examine advocacy in two contexts. The first is advocacy to an institution, conducted in the name of justice or the welfare of the community; one might call this first category "public interest advocacy." The second is advocacy as a lawyer more normally practices it, before judges and on behalf of a particular client. In both cases, advocacy is different when pursued as moral discourse.