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 litigants will submit to the court in support of their respective cases. There are two dimensions to each document in the CBD. The first is the authenticity of a document. This relates to the existence of that document: Did it really exist at the time? …
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 …
As a litigator in Malaysia, if there is one trait we must possess, it is adaptability. Besides the constant sea changes to court processes, case management and court demands, and usual deadlines, we must also contend with the occasional unique legal innovation imposed on us which finds no source in tradition, custom or practice, or the Rules of Court 2012 (the procedural rules for matters in the civil court). One legal innovation that was the …
It was a defamation case in a High Court up north sometime in my tenth year of practice. The one time I was there was my only appearance, ever. I was assigned to do the trial since my colleague who prepared the case had left the firm. Thankfully, he was the diligent sort. It meant he kept a good record of the file and kept it in a sensible order. That always made take over …
We had a client with a tortious claim for negligence against a government department because they messed up his marriage from which he had children. The incident had a potentially lasting adverse societal impact on all of them. He was very angry and upset about the situation. He was stoked as well because the government agency had treated him in a cowardly and callous manner. ‘I want them to pay for what they have done, …