From English to Malay
My command of English has always been far superior to my mastery of Malay. Perhaps to my detriment. Despite my tuition, I scored a P7 for my Bahasa Malaysia (Malay …
Dressing for work
At the firm atelier, the lawyers have a dynamic but relaxed dress code. What we have to wear depends on what we have scheduled for the day. If we have …
A short guide to conducting an appeal
This is a way to conduct an appeal. An appeal is a request to a higher court to rehear and review the court below’s decision (‘the original decision’). An appeal …
The Piece of Art known as ‘The Malaysian Bar’
‘The Malaysian Bar’ resides on the 4th floor of the Wisma Badan Peguam Malaysia, 2, Leboh Pasar Besar, 50050 Kuala Lumpur. It was officially unveiled by Marisa R Ng, the …
Preparing Statements of Agreed Facts and Statements of Issues to be Tried
In the preparation of trials, the court orders parties, as a matter of course, to prepare a Statement of Agreed Facts (‘SAF’) and a Statement of Issues to be Tried …
The Basic Skillset of a Lawyer
Marketing, business development, making Tik Tok videos, getting featured or profiled here and there, and such matters are things one does purportedly for attracting legal work. These are not skills …
Preparing questions for examining witnesses beforehand
From the beginning of my practice, whenever I prepared for a trial, which meant the examination of witnesses, I wrote down all my questions beforehand. Whether it was an examination-in-chief …
What Administration Letters/Probates and Fara’id Orders Are For
When a person dies, what remains, from a legal standpoint, is their estate and its beneficiaries (assuming he has them and they are alive). A corpse has no legal personality. …
‘Can he sue me even if he has no case against me?’
I am called upon to advise about this scenario or something like it every once in a while: X never met Y before. They do not know each other. Or …
Part A, B and C of the Court Common Bundles for Trial
In preparation for the court, the lawyers for the respective parties will agree upon a Common Bundle of Documents (CBD). It is supposed to contain all the documents that the …
My Criminal Practice
Even though I have conducted criminal cases for my entire career in practice, twenty-plus years now, doing everything from minor crimes of theft to attempted murder in the subordinate courts …
When our reputation needs no defence
It was a High Court court-assigned counsel case. My client and another were charged with the murder of a man. Although according to the prosecution’s case, the other guy shot …
Upfront and personal
‘How is it you dare to be so upfront and personal on your blog?’ A friend of mine asked me the other day. ‘Really? I’m just relating what I learned …
The Soul of a Litigator
Litigation is a drag these days. For the most part. A primary reason for that is regrettably my colleagues at the bar. Not all of them, of course. There are …