Miles Edgeworth was actually a better lawyer than Phoenix Wright.

My opponent starts off his case by countering my experience point. He advocates that Winston has more experience than Phoenix Wright but was still made known as being rather inferior. First, I believe that a combination of the three attributes I listed can determine the skill level of a lawyer. Second, I believe that Winston Payne is an exception and I'll explain why. Winston Payne was a man with psychological issues. In the past, he was regarded as a great prosecutor. However, it was the defeat Mia Fey handed him that mentally scarred him for the rest of his career. During that case, he grew so frustrated that his hair literally escaped his head. Payne was regarded as the Rookie Crusher. No doubt is a Rookie Crusher losing to a rookie the epitome of humiliation. Now I can already predict my opponent's response to this, so I will further clarify. The only reason Mia Fey defeated him was because she had the help of a veteran defense aid, had undisclosed background knowledge of the actual murderer (she even had access to past evidence), and was merely fortunate that the murderer was dumb enough to leave crucial evidence (poisoned cough drops) at the crime scene. My opponent suggests that Edgeworth had the Police investigating to do all of the work for him, but this is false. Edgeworth would be the one conducting the investigation. The police force would handle things which he couldn't (autopsy report, blood analysis, etc). Besides, the Police Force in the Phoenix Wright universe is hardly credible / reliable. Evidence of this is the fact that they were fooled by a Phoenix Wright impersonator with a CARDBOARD badge during the 3rd Turnabout during "Trials and Tribulations." At any rate, during investigations, you'll usually run into the main prosecutor of the game, so this is proof that they investigate just as much (if not, then more) as the defense attorneys. I'll give my opponent the point that Phoenix doesn't always have access to the crime scenes immediately, but he certainly has an unfair advantage during his investigations. Not only can Phoenix have Maya summon his mentor (veteran attorney by the way) at any time through use of spirit channeling, but he can also use the magatama. With this tool, he is able to peer into anyone's mind and get the information he wants. This certainly more than makes up for not having access to the crime scene 24/7. Also, Detective Gumshoe usually provides Phoenix with the prosecutor's information from the investigation anyway. So with the playing field of information being nearly equivalent (although Phoenix having access to the magatama may tip the info in his favor), it's his uncanny intellect which Edgeworth is shown utilizing in the court room. As for Miles having had several opportunities to get a guilty verdict, this does indeed show his intellectual superiority to Phoenix. Edgeworth persuading the judge to continue the trial when he clearly won multiple times is basically Edgeworth giving Phoenix several handicaps; it wasn't Phoenix who could persuade the judge to continue, but rather Edgeworth. Plus, other things should be kept in mind. Edgeworth had no real evidence to suggest that the defendant was actually the one to commit the crime. This is proven later on when we find out that the defendant wasn't even in the room where the murder took place. Phoenix not only had more information than Edgeworth, but there is the fact that Edgeworth had signed up to be the prosecutor of this trial at the very last minute. Originally, Von Karma was going to be Phoenix's opponent. Edgeworth had no way of knowing that she would get shot, thus, we can conclude that his preparation time was extremely limited. In other words, the amount of time he had to prepare for the case was one hour at best; his case was extemporaneous for the most part. As for skill, my opponent points out that Phoenix has also defeated Von Karma, but he has never done this without his mentor's (Mia Fey's) help. In fact, without his mentor always arriving at the last minute, he would have surely been defeated based on the actions of the Judge. As for Phoenix caring about his client getting a guilty victory, this is hardly a relevant objection to the fact that his confidence often dwindles in the face of a seemingly impenetrable argument. There wasn't one point where Edgeworth grew nervous or presented himself poorly. My opponent holds that this is neither a positive or negative for a lawyer, but I insist that is. In any argument, presentation is very crucial. If your audience sees you doubting your arguments, they might start doubting your arguments as well. Expansion of the skill argument: There's also the fact that Edgeworth skilfully sets "traps" in all of his cases. Mia points this out in the 4th Turnabout in Justice For All and Diego/Godot points this out during the 4th Turnabout in Trial and Tribulations. This is done for the purpose of making the defense seem ignorant when it confidently makes a seemingly valid objection. Again, this is the importance of presentation at work. Since presentation is the main aspect of skill, Edgeworth surely has Phoenix beat. Now lets address my opponent's points: Regardless of Edgeworth's intentions, the fact is that he did his job, which was to prove beyond the notion of a doubt that the defendant was guilty. Even in the real world legal system, this is upheld, as justice depends on the capabilities of both lawyers. It is not Edgeworth's fault that the defense could not keep up with him. Besides, in regards to our legal system, I would say that Phoenix was at fault during the end of Justice For All as he was not providing the defendant a fair trial due to the fact that he actually worked against him. My opponent advocates that Phoenix has always fought for Justice, but this isn't necessarily the case. Allow me to elaborate. The game makes it clear that there is no clear path to what being a lawyer is about. My evidence for this is the end of the 4th turnabout in Justice For All. In that trial, there came a point when the judge had decided that there was no reason to continue and that he would pass his verdict. The judge told Phoenix to answer whether or not his client was guilty. Phoenix knew his client was guilty, but also knew that his assistant's life would be in peril if he answered honestly. You (as the player) are then given the option to choose. After the trial ends, Mia Fey will tell you that your choice was what being a lawyer was all about. She tells you this regardless of the answer you pick. Thus, in relation to PW, "doing your job as a lawyer" or "revealing the truth no matter what" are both acceptable paths. We don't know the choice Phoenix canonically chose, so we can consider both as alternatives when referring to canon. In any case, Phoenix not urging to get his client a fair trial or Phoenix getting a guilty man innocent while getting someone else a guilty verdict at the same time make Phoenix no better than Edgeworth in regards to the past. Finally, even if you aren't willing to buy that, Edgeworth's past isn't relevant considering that he ended up changing his ways; the Edgeworth shown in the 2nd and 3rd game is not the same Edgeworth shown in the first game. Now if I had said "Miles Edgeworth was ALWAYS a better lawyer than Phoenix Wright", things would be different. Back to you, beem0r! :D