Meeting the kinds of people you’d never meet in real life is the whole point of writing online, so escape the lukewarm middle and write for one obsessive person.

David Perell | Write of Passage

One of the big reasons that keeps me writing week in and week out, aside from erecting weekly creative challenges for myself to overcome, is the opportunities for serendipity through the people I am blessed to meet.

Those who read From the Bar Stool (FTBS) are primarily from the domestic legal community. I’ve acquainted myself with some, befriended a bunch, moved a few calls, and had teh tarik with a handful. Then, there are the rare ones that I had the privilege and pleasure of cultivating a satisfying and meaningful friendship. One that exemplifies that latter experience was when I met and befriended Tang Qi Wen.

We began as formal LinkedIn connections. We didn’t know each other beyond that. I checked out his profile once when he added me as a connection. His description read ‘Head of Legal | Chevening Scholar’. Although he had a touch of litigation experience in his first two years of practice, he possessed a primarily banking pedigree. From his profile picture, he looked like a clever, driven and hotshot in-house legal counsel. He had a tenacious and determined look about him.

Eight months after I started FTBS, Qi Wen messaged me on the platform:

Hi Fahri,

I just wanted to say thank you for sharing your stories, experiences and musings on From the Bar Stool. They are illuminating and as a ‘closet-litigator’, have thoroughly enjoyed each and every post – and ‘living it vicariously’ through your posts (if you don’t mind me saying). Have been following your tales and touts for quite a while now and always look forward to the reading the next ones.

Keep it up and keep ‘em coming!

Qi Wen’s LinkedIn Message 6.8.2021

I was terribly pleased with his comment because ‘living it vicariously’ was precisely what I attempted to convey in my writing and reminiscences. I want my readers to feel as if they were right next to me, if not entirely in my shoes – just not my pants, yah; that’s a different legal and creative proposition altogether.

That sparked an exchange of messages between us, leading up to lunch in December 2021 at Decanter, Bukit Damansara. It was lit. Qi Wen told me then that he was recovering from COVID-19. He was so severely affected, death’s scythe missed him by a few hours. If he hadn’t checked in to the hospital when he did, we would not be having lunch. That near miss made him seriously reflect on his life during his recovery.

While recovering, Qi Wen came across my blog. He said it reignited his passion for litigation. He harboured an ambition for it when he started practising. But despite his early brush with it, the opportunities that came his way took him in-house and to banking, where he thrived and rose quickly. He told me how he still longed to have a crack at it. But given his employment track record, he doubted if any firm would take him on for it.

At the time, I was considering running an after-hours advocacy tutorial for lawyers outside of my firm.First, I wanted to see whether I had the time and energy to do it. I already ran a more or less weekly tutorial for my pupils. Secondly, I wanted to do my bit to improve the quality of advocacy at the Bar. But now, I had another reason. I wanted to see how Qi Wen would perform in a training environment. If he did well, as I expected, I was prepared to give him a shot – and ‘get his toes wet’. 

We kicked it off in January 2022. I invited Qi Wen and two other lawyers. My pupils played witnesses. He attended the tutorials meticulously, prepared, and ready to perform. I appreciated that he took our tutorials seriously and professionally. After assessing him in action, I was confident he could get up to speed quickly and had what it took to be in litigation. He would not only be able to run a case; he would kick ass.

Despite my encouragement and his solid tutorial performances, he lacked the confidence that understandably came from a lack of long practice and experience. I wanted to convince him of that, so I invited him to intern with us. He would intern as a litigation lawyer, and I would ensure opportunities for him to instil belief in himself as a litigator. I wanted him to see himself as I imagined him. 

After reactivating his practising certificate and settling the dues to become a lawyer, Qi Wen officially joined us in mid-March 2022. I paid him an allowance we agreed upon before he joined us. It was miserable compared to the five-figure salary he was getting before he joined us. But it was a sacrifice he was willing to take to get a real taste of litigation. I was confident and motivated to take him on and let him loose on it. It had that whole ‘it’s-crazy-but-should-be-fun’ vibe about it.

At the time, I didn’t realise the magnitude of what Qi Wen gave up to take on the litigation internship with a miserable allowance. He was offeredpartnership positions from sizeable firms to manage and grow their banking and corporate portfolio. Those offers remunerated him better, supported him more thoroughly and gave him and his family stability and security. He declined them all to pursue his litigation aspirations. After his brush with death, Qi Wen decided it was time to choose something he wanted instead of what was safe and correct. 

Since he wanted litigation action, I threw him off the deep end immediately. I assigned him my important applications and cases to work on. One of them was a large, sprawling matter which had been going on intensely for the last few years. I estimated it would take someone several months to familiarise themselves with it. Qi Wen tamed it in two months. By the third, he was thoroughly on top of the facts and the file. And, he enthusiastically took on any matter given to him.

By July 2022, his ‘internship’ was converted into employment. In his short time with us, Qi Wen quickly established himself as a formidable litigator, a natural leader, a reliable and caring team player and a genuine all-around good guy. He contributed immensely to the firm’s calm, competent, determined and hardworking vibe. The younger lawyers looked up to him and sought his counsel. He was always ready to lend a hand. Despite his accomplishments and station in life, he had no airs about him whatsoever. He didn’t just fit in with us, he felt like he was always a part of us. 

He quickly established himself as a beast and the firm’s bulldog. Beast because he worked like one. After he arrived, he was often the last to go home. He was highly intelligent, worked hard and learned fast. I don’t think I had to teach him anything during his time with us; I merely saw my role as pointing him in the right direction. Bulldog because he was dogged and resilient. Once he bit, he didn’t let go. And he bit hard. 

If there is one shortcoming of Qi Wen, he works so hard he stresses himself out more than he should and neglects taking care of himself. You cannot fault the man for his commitment. Aside from pointing, the only thing I had to about Qi Wen was to intervene now and then to insist he take it easy, go home, or take time off and not put unnecessary pressure on himself. 

That aside, Qi Wen was not simply a treasure to the firm. He grew to become a good friend to many of us. I was pleased I could bring him along (and he was interested) for a criminal case and an appeal involving constitutional matters, matters far removed from banking and litigation, so he could savour a live ring-side seat instead of just reading about them. 

My highlight of his time with us was when I pitted him against a senior lawyer of almost forty years for two heavily contested applications in the High Court. I left the preparation and the hearing to him despite the high stakes. I merely oversaw his efforts, which assured me that he would succeed. And he did. His work was meticulous. The Judge commended him verbally on his submissions after declaring her decision. He joined us as an associate soon after. 

Eventually, reality, as it always does, intruded into our time together. Although we had a great time and enjoyed working together, his remuneration was glaringly insufficient given his previous positions and lifestyle. His eventual employment with us was serendipitous and completely unexpected and regrettably, the firm wasn’t financially mature enough to comfortably take him on. 

During his time with us, Qi Wen continued to receive employment offers. That was unsurprising. Having had the privilege and pleasure of working with him, I understood why they kept coming: You want Qi Wen in your corner. Eventually, he received an offer that he could not refuse. He was torn. He realised he loved litigation, realised he was good at it and loved working with us, which in his own words, is still the highlight of his career so far. But he needed to provide the comfort and security for his family. After serious and mature deliberation, he accepted the offer.

As I anticipated, Qi Wen didn’t simply coast and take it easy after tendering his resignation. His company wanted him within a month. He negotiated for three months because he wanted to finish all the cases in his care, as much as possible, before he left. He worked even harder in his last months, finishing what he could and groomed his successor to take over his cases. That is the kind of guy Qi Wen is – responsible, respectful and committed until the end. 

Though I cannot deny I was sad that his time with us came to an end, I was immensely pleased I achieved my goal of giving of Qi Wen the opportunity to discover for himself that he had it in him to be a litigator. A damned good one at that. Not many have the courage and competency to get into litigation and within a few months succeed resoundingly against a very senior lawyer. It would have been amazing if we could have kept on working together, but that’s life. It doesn’t give us everything we want. But if we are mindful that we are entitled to nothing, life blesses us with enough. Sometimes, an abundance. 

Some may say it was a shame or a tragedy that we did not continue working together. That’s one way to look at it. Since reading Stoner, I now see it as an opportunity for gratitude; gratitude that Qi Wen, me and all of us at the firm had that opportunity, moment and experience to work, have fun and appreciate each other. The possibility, if not the certainty, of working together in the future remains. That’s a healthier way of looking at things: to appreciate what we had and the possibilities that still remain instead of regretting how much more we could have had.

We are often so caught up with happy endings or owning moments that we forget and dismiss happy beginnings and those blessed moments in between, which are equally, if not more, valuable and vital. I think that is all we are entitled to in life.

Whenever I think back to his time with us, it motivates me to keep writing, challenge myself, be grateful for the blessings of such experiences despite what others may think, and keep track of them.

I look forward to our next catch up.