Hanging with the Seniors
I notice these days that the pupils, interns and fresh lawyers don’t hang out with seniors, even when they have the opportunity to. Or even if they do, they don’t …
Electing No Case to Answer
I felt a deep need to prove myself in my early years of practice. If I could show how clever I was, I would. It was, therefore, fortunate that I …
Extension of Time Agreements and Applications
This is one of the applications I dislike, if not dread. The application appears administratively innocuous. However, the legal implications of losing one can be severe. The basis of every …
A Patron, Witness and Practitioner in the Malaysian Courts
In my lifetime thus far, I have been all three. The only roles I have not been in are that of a prosecutor and judge. Who knows. The future is …
The Seven Qualities of Indispensability
For me, the one quality that gets anyone hired, liked, nurtured, feted and even championed is indispensability. You can make a persuasive case for your hire if you cultivate this …
Will I Ever Argue A Case of Some Importance?
I asked myself that question from time to time in the first few years of practice when I ran the gamut of debt and traffic claims and defences in the …
A short guide to applying for leave to appeal
This is an approach to preparing an application for leave to appeal. An appeal is a request to a higher court to rehear and review the court below’s decision (‘the …
Putting a Price on a Prosecution
From time to time, I wonder how much a prosecution costs. Because there is a cost to it. Time, effort, skill, people, resources, and systems are drawn upon. There is …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …