Having a father in legal practice can make moments more awkward than if I had no legal lineage whatsoever. My father was known in the legal fraternity amongst those of his vintage. He was reputed to be brilliant, independent-minded and articulate. His friends and acquaintances reminded me often enough. Growing up, whenever I was introduced to them, they would tell me, Your father is such a brilliant/intelligent/honest man. He [tells me his story]. I am …
I started From the Bar Stool (FTBS) on 6 October 2020. Today is 9 June 2023. I have been posting my essays every Friday. I haven’t missed one since. It’s been 2 years 8 months 4 days since I started. This is the 204th essay I uploaded. I chose it to congratulate myself for getting this far. Everyone celebrates round number figures: 10, 20, 50, 100, 1000. In keeping with my maverick spirit, I chose …
May it please your Lordship, Fahri Azzat for the Petitioner, Azlina bt Abdul Aziz. The Petitioner is the daughter of Encik Abdul Aziz bin Hussein and Puan Hasnah binti Abdul Razak. They are not with us this morning. In attendance, however, is her husband and anchor, Mr Michael Cawley. My lord, although the Petitioner arrived at the gates of law later in life compared to the usual Petitioners here, her experience and apprenticeship outside the …
I have been told and thanked on enough occasions to finally accept that I am good at moving a pupil’s call. I don’t think I have any particular talent at this. The two things that distinguish me from the run-out-of-the-mill mover are firstly, my desire to give as good a speech as I can given what I have. Secondly, I craft my own speeches. Because, if you want something done just right, you best do …
Note: This was the only call speech that I wrote and was supposed to deliver but could not owing to a very bad back spasm that paralyzed me on the morning of the call. So please warm up before you do your sporting activities to avoid that! A big thanks go to my ever-reliable colleague, Asim Ng, for stepping in at the very last minute. I called him frantically at 730am and his response was, …