PETALING JAYA, 21 Jan: The Young Lawyers’ Committee (YLC) of Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee (KLBC) organised a half day workshop with the Law Faculty of University of Malaya yesterday, wherein a group of lawyers, upon request by the YLC, volunteered to meet the final year LL.B undergraduate students to chat and discuss the realities of practice.
The workshop, fully endorsed by the Law Faculty was well received and there is every indication that the workshop will not be the last one held. (Please click here to view the picture gallery.)
The purpose of the workshop was to meet up with the final year students for a casual conversation with regard to the practical aspects of legal practice. By meeting these students who, may in a matter of few months' time, join the legal profession as pupils–in–chamber, YLC wishes to provide our advice and share with these students about the vigours of practice, and the expectations and pressure of the profession as it is also YLC's wish to maintain the high standards of practice among lawyers in Kuala Lumpur. It is hoped that by providing an insight of what practice is like from the eyes of practitioners, these students will be more prepared when embarking on their legal career.
Starting at 10.00 am at the University Malaya’s Dewan Kuliah Dato’ Nik Abdul Rashid, the workshop kick–started with a speech by the Chairman of KLBC, Lim Chee Wee. Chee Wee had given a speech filled with information and statistics. He addressed the need for students to continue updating themselves even after their graduation with emphasis on the current trends of globalisation. Chee Wee also urged the students to take cognisance of the struggles of the Bar Council and KLBC. He ended his informative speech by providing internet links to many websites offering legal materials, and the customary best wishes.
YLC Chairman, Richard Wee then gave a short speech. He told the students that the main aim of the workshop was to assist the students in managing their expectations of practice.
The students were then divided into smaller groups and the volunteer lawyers then commenced casual chats with them.
Many interesting questions were posed. The students were very keen to understand the nature of practice. There were also students who already showed inclination to take up legal aid work and provide service to society. This attitude augurs well for the profession. There were also the customary queries on long hours of work and purported poor salary of young practitioners. Specifics queries on areas of practice were also raised. All these questions were adequately addressed by the volunteer lawyers.
Some students were still unsure of their ambitions, and it is this kind of uncertainty which this workshop aims to address.
At the end of the workshop, many of the students voiced their satisfaction over the workshop and some even urged KLBC or YLC to conduct similar workshops again. Among the comments from the students are:–
Tang Kiah Choon: “this is the first time that we have such a close interaction with a huge group of practising lawyers, although we have had seminars on particular areas of law, such inputs are most valuable.”
Yap Soon Lee: “Perhaps we can do a full day workshop in the near future and organise it by incorporating more areas with regard to different areas of real legal practice”
Chay Chen Choong: “I am interested in litigation work, and these sessions have definitely given me some tips on the expectation.”
Volunteer lawyers gave positive feedback on the workshop and also opined that such workshops ought to be conducted at all other law schools in Malaysia. One of the volunteer lawyers, Yip Huen Weng said the session was very practical and it not only gave the students an opportunity to learn from the lawyers, but also for the practitioners to hear the concerns of these students.
Another volunteer lawyer, Chooi Peng, commented that she found the students rather unsure of their next step in their career after chatting with them, and felt that this workshop is an ideal avenue for the lawyers to reach out and provide guidance to these students to chart their career path.
The YLC wishes to record their thanks to Professor Khaw, Dean of Law Faculty of University of Malaya and Professor Talat, Deputy Dean who supported and assisted YLC in the workshop. YLC also extends its gratitude to Lim Chee Wee and the rest of KLBC for their support of the event.
The volunteer lawyers who sacrificed some sleeping time this Saturday morning to be at the workshop were, Lee Jen Pink, Lim Chooi Peng, Olivia Loh, Hanie Izawatie, K. Shanmuga, Fahri Azzat, Dinesh Kanavaji, Edmund Bon, Desmond Choi and Yip Huen Weng. They were ably assisted by the committee members of YLC who attended the seminar, namely Melissa Ram, Secretary of YLC, Puteri Shehnaz, Razanna Raslan and Will Fung.
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