Every once in a while, I get the Are-You-A-Specialist-Question. And the question is always in relation to the common run of legal claims that require no special skill or knowledge such as car road accident claims, tenancy disputes, unpaid goods sold and delivered or services rendered, and breach of contract. ‘Are you a specialist in suing for tenancy issues?’ is a typical question. The truth of the matter is not all legal matters require a …
I love fairy tales, folk tales and modern children’s picture books. There is much to love about and learn from them: the characters, the setting, the quaintness, the delightful stories and the beautiful art that accompanies them. What I love most about classic fairy tales (Pinnochio, Red Riding Hood, Three Little Pigs), folk tales (Aesop’s Fables, the Sang Kancil stories, Orang Asli parables) and picture books (modern ones like Chris Riddle, Oliver Jeffers, Anthony Brown …
During the formative years of LoyarBurok (‘the LB’), I tasked myself with the responsibility of discovering interesting local and foreign amateur legal blogs. The purpose was two-fold. The first was to seek the blog writer’s permission to republish their post on the LB. The second was to invite them to write for us. On one of my blog-hunting forays, I came across a local one titled Friendly Neighbourhood Lawyer. It’s not around anymore. It was …
I have been going for regular tennis coaching for almost a year now. My tennis coach is Iranian, Coach Saeed. I call him Coach. He was formerly a national youth tennis coach. He has a few assistant tennis coaches. One that I work often with is also an Iranian. His name is Omid. When I started working with Coach almost a year back, all I had in my mind was for a few tweaks and …
A few years ago, I had my personal epiphany about legal practice and art. Since legal practice is performance and performance is art, then legal practice and law can be artful, and therefore, art. In short, legal practice = performance = art or law = beauty = art. It occurred to me that in moments when we, as lawyers, employ our skills so well that we surpass the expected boundaries of competency, legal performance becomes …