As a lawyer, I am fortunate my father is a lawyer too. In terms of age, we’re a generation apart. That means he has thirty years of lived experience ahead of me. That also means he has close to twenty years worth of legal practice experience ahead of me. He was called on 29.11.1979. I was called on 6.8.1999. That’s 19 years, 8 months and 8 days. But hey, who’s counting? The best thing about …
My father stopped going to court in 1988. Save for moving or attending calls or giving evidence at trial, he avoided the courts. He became a ’corporate lawyer’. A corporate lawyer is a lawyer that prefers the boardrooms to the courts because they do not enjoy the latter. Their practice is focused entirely on contractual and corporate advisory matters. Corporate lawyers prowl boardrooms, general meetings and hotel conference rooms. Litigators prowl the courts, tribunals and …
This piece of advice was given to me by my father before I commenced my pupillage. The longer version was along the following lines: Before you go to court, you must always read your file. Read everything in it. Always read the pleadings so you get the essence of the dispute. If there is an application pending, read up on it. Read the correspondence folder and file notes. It tells you what happened before and …
The English language has always been my primary and natural language. Whilst I can read, write and speak Malay with some fluency, the gulf in my command between the two was and remains great. In English, I wield a scalpel, in Malay, I wield a butcher’s knife. I squandered my chance in my youth to learn Cantonese from my mother and her side of the family. My rudimentary Cantonese language education left me with just …
In my twenty-three’ish year career at the Bar, there were two times I wanted to quit legal practice. The first time was after my legal baptism. And no, it wasn’t my call to the Bar. Calls are the formal legal baptisms. They are tame, sterile and at best, daintily pleasant affairs. It is a boat on a placid lake. The real legal baptism is when a lawyer goes through an experience or ordeal so harrowing …