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Opening New Vistas for Legal Eagles | Answering the Call to Serve |  What the Readers Said ...

Opening New Vistas for Legal Eagles

A Look at De-linked Practising Certificates

On 4 January 2003, our President, Mrs Arfat Selvam, announced the initiative of the Law Society to de-link practising certificates (‘PCs’). This essentially was a proposal to enable a lawyer to be issued an annual licence to practise law which he could hold and use, if he wished, as and when he wanted, in the course of a practice year.

If you wish to practice, all you need to do to ‘activate’ your licence is to obtain professional indemnity cover and join a legal practice.

Under the present system, if you wish to obtain a licence, you have to find permanent employment with a law practice or be a proprietor or partner of a law firm or a director of a law corporation. You cannot obtain a licence and decide if you wish to practise law on a part-time or locum basis.

The Practice Structures Committee (‘PSC’) of 2002 worked on the proposal to de-link PCs. The idea was mooted and discussed as it provides a flexible working arrangement for lawyers who wish to choose a lifestyle that allows them to continue their career in law in a specialised and limited way, or for others who wish to take a slower pace and offer their wealth of experience as locums to a proprietor or partner of a small practice.

As Mrs Selvam in her address at the Opening of Legal Year described it, we see the following benefits in having de-linked PCs:

From the perspective of management of human resources, de-linked PCs will provide legal practices with the flexibility of engaging additional lawyers for a period of time to help them complete a particular project or conduct research for them. Law practices will have a pool of lawyers to draw upon for specialised talents as and when they have work in that area.

Furthermore, a small law practice will not be hampered by costs and manpower constraints that prevent them from taking on major projects as they can put together a specialised team to do the work and dismantle the team upon the completion of the project.

With a de-linked PC, you, as a lawyer with specialised knowledge, are able to provide or offer your specialist services to any number of law practices.

With this scheme, we hope to attract a pool of qualified lawyers who have left practice because they are not able to work full-time under the current system. We recognise that this scheme is not a cure all and cannot attract back lawyers who have left the profession for the reason that they did not enjoy the practice of law or saw other negatives in pursuing a career at the Bar.

The idea is to restructure our profession in a manner which protects the public and at the same time offers many alternatives to lawyers to practise law.

Guidelines will have to be drawn up and relevant amendments made to the Legal Profession Act (Cap 161), practising certificate, professional indemnity and ethical rules.

The Law Society may have to consider if it can act as a registry for lawyers to sign up as locums or indicate their areas of practice to provide support or specialist services on a project basis.

Work has already started in earnest in January on the implementation of this scheme, alongside consultation with the relevant authorities.

Yasho Dhoraisingam & Chu Sooi Yoon
Law Society of Singapore

Answering the Call to Serve

A new year often brings with it new challenges. Meet six fellow members of the Bar who have bravely taken up the gauntlet to become new members of the Council of the Law Society. Read what Leslie Chew, SC (‘LC’), Tan Siah Yong (‘TSY’), George Tan (‘GT’), Mohammed Lutfi Hussin (‘MLH’), Michael Chia (‘MC’) and Sean La’Brooy (‘SLB’) have to say about Council work, life and the practice of law.


Leslie Chew, SC
Tan Siah Yong
George Tan

Mohammed Lutfi Hussin
Michael Chia
Sean La'Brooy

Q: Tell us a little about yourself.

LC: I am a 50-year-old lawyer who still loves the law very much. I enjoy reading and dining. I read mainly non-fiction and specifically politics and strategic studies. I am married and have a daughter who is studying in Cambridge.

TSY: I had a local education and have always been, in one way or another, involved in activities organised by the students’ body and the Society. I do a bit of pro bono work with SAFRA, the Legal Aid as well as CLAS.

GT: I graduated in 1980. I was in general litigation practice for a while before I ended up specialising in building and construction. These days, I also do a fair bit of arbitration work, both as counsel and arbitrator. I have been married for 19 years, with three children.

MLH: I was fairly active in law school, with a soft spot for the annual Freshmen Orientation Programme. I feel privileged to have been asked to serve the legal fraternity through representation in the Law Society Council.

MC: I graduated from the University of the West of England, Bristol (formerly known as the Bristol Polytechnic) in 1996 with a LLB (Hons) degree, was called to the English Bar with the Middle Temple in 1997 (in absentia due to the PLC) and was admitted to the Singapore Bar in 1998.  Out of the four-odd years I’ve been admitted to the Singapore Bar, three of those were spent practising with my current firm, Sankar Ow & Partners. I am one of four partners in this firm. I am married with two children. My wife, Cecilia, is a lawyer as well but is not practising at the moment. My daughter, Kimberley, is three years old and my son, Gregory, is about to turn two.

SLB: I have been in practice now for about two and a half years as a litigation lawyer. I decided to run for last year’s election and am grateful for the support shown by my peers. As is the case for many others in the profession, it is common for the work to spill over into the weekend. When that doesn’t happen, being an avid soccer fan, I try to set aside Saturday nights to catch the televised soccer matches while Sunday is set aside for family.

Q: Is there any particular area or pet project that you will be concentrating on during your term in Council?

LC: During my term I will try to contribute in whatever areas the Council deems fit as best as I can. Personally, I will continue to be heavily involved in advocacy training.

TSY: There is no particular pet project or area that I will be concentrating on. This is my first term and I hope to be able to contribute in my own way towards the more general purpose of the Society. The members must be able to appreciate and realise the benefit of membership rather than only perceiving the statutory duties of the Society.

GT: I would like, if permitted, to concentrate on multi-disciplinary practices (‘MDPs’), since I spent the year 2002 chairing the MDP sub-committee. I have had the privilege of working with a remarkable group of diligent, vibrant and competent committee members who discharge their tasks with both professional rigour and élan. I therefore hope to make my humble effort during my Council term to bring the results of this work forward. However, I also recognise that I have to play my part as a Council member and will therefore have to be appropriately engaged with regard to the issues of the day.

MLH: I am also ‘chairing’ the Muslim Law Practice Committee this year and the Committee hopes to work closely with the Syariah Court, members of the Law Society, Family Court (where appropriate), relevant committees of the Law Society and others to make this area of practice an even more dynamic one.

MC: I wouldn’t call them ‘pet’ projects. This year, I will be serving in the Finance Committee of Council and as the Council Representative in the Civil Practice Committee. I will also continue to serve in the Advocacy Committee as well as rejoin the Criminal Practice Committee. However, my focus would probably be on the Finance Committee.

SLB: I was fortunate to be part of a committee last year that reached out to young lawyers by organising activities like the Project Generation X Dinner Series. I would like to be involved in more of such activities so that I may better understand the views and concerns of those in the profession.

Q: What do you hope to achieve by the end of your Council term?

LC: My aim is a modest one — by the end of the term, I hope my fellow Council members would have found me a team player and helpful in Council projects in general.

TSY: Dare I say that one term may not be enough? However, I hope that by the end of the term, the members’ perception of the role of the Society will change and they will become more involved and participate in the activities of the Society. With a better sense of belonging, the members will not only strengthen the resolve of those who have been involved, but also help themselves manage and overcome the changes and their impending consequences.

GT: I don’t think that it would be fair to pretend that I can achieve anything magnificent given that I am really a neophyte where Council work is concerned. I hope that at the end of my term, I would have: (a) brought forward the proposals concerning MDP significantly;  (b) contributed informed, sound and properly reasoned views and opinions on matters brought before Council; and (c) discharged to the best of my ability any tasks assigned to me by Council.

MLH: At the end of my term in Council, I hope to gain experience and understanding on the workings of Council in advancing members’ interests.

MC: I shan’t be too ambitious at this juncture by talking about achievements. Quite frankly, I am a new kid on the block and my immediate goal is to learn the ropes of the workings of Council from my seniors before I begin charting my course.

SLB: To have encouraged a greater number of young lawyers to play a more active role in the Law Society by providing feedback and participating actively in the various activities which are organised.

Q: How do you juggle your professional work with that of Council work, family and other commitments?

LC: Not very easily, but obviously sacrifices have to be made. Efficient use of time is important.

TSY: I must admit that it is not going to be easy but it would mean that other than my family commitments, I would have to be more discerning in how I spend my time and energy on my other commitments.

GT: This is also a question I asked myself and I am not sure whether I have found a perfect answer. I am now assuming that I will have to find some compromise between the different areas of life. I suppose I will have to cut out the luxuries for a while in order to stick to the essentials. Perhaps, some of the free time that I use for reading will have to be set aside for a while. In all fairness, this is something that I would have to do anyway given the number of things I have committed myself to — it has nothing to do with work on the Council.

MLH: Whilst contemplating to accept the offer to serve on Council, I sought my wife’s views as it would mean missing a few dinners at home. I needed support from my secretary too, as she would have the added responsibility of managing the schedule of my Law Society ‘portfolio’. Both were supportive. Where possible, I juggle my baby daughter into my schedule, literally. Already, she comes to the office with me on Saturdays and I look forward to bringing her to appropriate Law Society events.

MC: With compromises and sacrifices, I suppose. One just has to create time. Whilst everyone has the same 24 hours in a day, it is up to each individual to prioritise.

SLB: It helps to work for partners in my firm who are supportive of Council work as well as having family members who have become used to the idea of not seeing me around the home often!

Q: Which is your favourite area of law and why?

LC: My favourite area of the law ... it is difficult to choose. Being a litigator, I am a bit of a generalist. If I have to choose, I would say equitable remedies involving unjust enrichment and the whole issue of economic loss.

TSY: ‘Home Medicine’ has been my practice for many years. To be able to advise on and help with layman’s problems gives me a great sense of satisfaction. However, with the present challenges, I must admit that there is a need to focus, not so much as a favourite area but more as an interest. This is in the area of alternative dispute resolution simply because it is an alternative, if you know what I mean.

GT: My favourite area happens also to be the area that I practise, namely, building and construction law. At this stage of practice, I think I have already acquired some familiarity with the arcana of the subject and its application to the technical realities of the industry. It is fascinating, at least to me, to see how the law in this area develops along with the technology and industry trends. It also compels me to widen my reading outside the law in following the latest developments in architecture, engineering and project management.

MLH: My favourite area of practice/law — ‘Originating Summonses litigation’, no disputes of facts (generally), straight into the law.

MC: Criminal law, because the issues that one has to grapple with are those of a person’s innocence, liberty and future. In the other branches of the law, the ultimate issue is usually just one of dollars and cents.

SLB: I enjoy general litigation as it exposes me to a wide variety of matters. If pressed to name a specific area of law, however, I would say employment law is of special interest to me as it is often said that apart from the relationship of husband and wife, the relationship of most practical importance is that between an employer and an employee.

Q: What in your opinion, are the most difficult challenges facing lawyers or the legal profession today?

LC: The biggest challenge facing the entire profession today is how to be both true to the law and at the same time relevant in terms of business. The biggest challenge for young lawyers is to ponder why they want to practise and what they are personally after. Only when the answers are clear in their minds and their hearts true to their own cause (whatever they may be) will they enjoy practice and have a good career.

TSY: I would say managing change is the greatest challenge facing lawyers as well as the Society. I must admit that the changes faced by us are generally necessary if we are to raise our service level and also compete to satisfy the public’s expectation in a technology world. However, changes within our control should be made incrementally to allow for members of the Society to adapt and adjust to the new demands. The pace of change has been so quickened that even members who are receptive are finding it a little difficult to play catch up. They are breathless and most of the small players seem unable to cope.

GT: There are so many challenges that it is going to be difficult to identify the more important ones. However, if I am pressed on this, I would say there are two broad challenges:

There are no easy answers to these questions and, perhaps, there never will be any answers that will satisfy everyone. However, it is necessary for the legal profession in Singapore to address some of them.

MLH: The most challenging aspect of practice in this present climate to me is — where is the work going to come from and how do we capture it?

MC: The accelerating pace of our justice system and the rising expectations of clients. We can no longer take our own sweet time to get the right answers because the courts will not permit us that luxury. Whilst we have to think and act fast, we must get it right the first time round too because clients today are savvy enough to know the difference and are less forgiving when we get it wrong.

SLB: Meeting the rising expectations that people have of lawyers and balancing family and other commitments with the demands of practice which is something most lawyers have to grapple with.

Q: What is the best advice anyone has given you?

LC: I was blessed with great mentors while I was a young lawyer. I have benefited from very good advice — lots of them. To pick one — I would have to say the most important thing about the practice and study of law is the grasp of the fundamentals of the law rather than the high sounding frills. If you get your basics right, then in whatever given situation, you will not go too far off the mark.

TSY: The advice was that no one owes you a living. I must say that at the time when it was said to me I thought that it was axiomatic. However, it has since become clear that the statement holds true and remembering it would help one realise that ultimately it is the key to any achievement.

GT: Not to worry about keeping or losing clients. It is better for clients to look for you than the other way around. The person who gave me this advice did not, however, tell me what I must do to achieve this. I had to figure this out by myself. In many ways, I am still figuring this out. However, as a concept, I find that it still holds true despite the frustrating or arid periods that I have gone through in my practice.

MLH: Best advice so far ... I’m in the middle of reading this book and was struck by this thought from the author — we have no control over our birth and we have no control over our death; what is ‘this arrogance’ (his words) which makes us think we can control everything else in-between. One of his themes is surrender and the title of the book is Journey of the Universe as Expounded in the Qur’an, but I’m digressing from the general theme of this interview ... .

MC: ‘Enjoy what you do and you won’t have to work a single day of your life!’ It’s a bit like Albert Einstein’s theory of the relativity of time. If you enjoy what you do, time seems to fly by. On the other hand, if you dread what you do, time seems to stand still. So, if something’s got to be done, do it cheerfully!

SLB: My father used to tell me: do good to people. The ones you meet on the way up are the same ones you will meet on the way down.

Q: What would you have been, if you hadn’t become a lawyer?

LC: That’s easy — a fighter pilot.

TSY: I never thought about it, just like I never thought that I would become a lawyer. However, over time and since some 10–12 years ago after my observation of the profession, I told myself that perhaps I should plan for a second career. I have therefore broadened my skills and am prepared if need be to switch to a career in business consultancy and training or teaching in a business or management course. I am happy to say that the time has not come for me to leave practice and that time will perhaps not be for a while yet.

GT: My early fantasy was to be a poet or something equivalent. That was, of course, an impractical notion.  I would probably have become an economist or engineer.

MLH: I might have become a police officer (no, not an ustaz) as I was seriously weighing that option close to graduation.

MC: A salesman probably. When I was a child, my relatives always said that I would either grow up to be a lawyer or a salesman because of my talkative and argumentative nature. Actually, my relatives were right! In my last life, I was an insurance agent. I sold insurance for several years before completing my law degree. Law is my second career, albeit my insurance career was brief.

SLB: I probably would have been a teacher in a junior college teaching GP and literature.

Q: What would you like to have achieved by the time you hit retirement age?

LC: That’s too far away for me to think about. Hopefully,  I would have proven to be a reasonably good lawyer whose reputation amongst fellow lawyers is a good one.

TSY: To have lived my life to the fullest with my family properly looked after and with the satisfaction that I have done what I am able to do for myself, my family and friends, and society at large.

GT: Personally, I think the concept of ‘retirement age’ is somewhat outdated these days. A year or two ago, I recall young dotcomers talking of voluntary retirement at 35. These days, I am told, it may be involuntary. In my view, if earning a decent living is not an issue, then the retirement age is the age when you no longer feel enthusiastic about your practice. I do not therefore have a list of things to look at and see whether I am achieving them or not because I do not have a visible or invisible deadline by which I must stop practice. It is possible that once I cease practice, I may embark on a retrospective examination of what I have achieved, but at the moment, I am not looking at it.

MLH: Like most people, I would like to be financially secure by the time I reach retirement age (whenever that may be).

MC: Financial independence, I hope! So that I can continue to practise law because I love the practice of law and not because I need to in order to put food on the table. But at the same time, I hope that I will be known as a lawyer who fights for a cause and not just for the costs.

SLB: To establish a reputation among legal practitioners and members of the public as a competent and caring lawyer.

Q: Any words of advice for aspiring lawyers out there?

LC: To young lawyers — the law is a great career even though right now some people worry about the economic situation. Concentrate on being a good lawyer — be disciplined in work, develop a thirst for legal knowledge and have integrity and the rest will take care of itself. Alongside being good substantively in the law — a given — develop a keen understanding of the business which the profession supports. The law will always be a good profession despite its ups and downs.

TSY: Life is a challenge. To overcome the challenges facing the profession you have to realise the threats and seize the opportunities and be prepared to relearn your skills. Come and join the activities of the Society and be a beneficiary of the strategies that Council has put in place to help members overcome the challenges. You have to help yourself by coming forward.

GT: You should not equate success with how much money you can make out of legal practice. You may think you are being pragmatic, but it is likely that you would either end up disappointed or disillusioned. It is better to focus on professional competence and integrity and be confident in the fact that once you are able to achieve that, commercial success should follow. If not, does it matter? I suppose it boils down to the question whether you want to lead a life guided by principles or by the usual measures of material success. I would humbly suggest that one’s decision to practise law should not be guided purely by its ability to yield material benefits. This would lead to a cynical world view that would lead ultimately to an atrophy of one’s energy and dedication.

MLH: For young lawyers, I’ve always believed that there’s an area of practice (or even legal service) that suits you. Find it and stick with it. It gets better after about three to four years. In my experience, at least.

MC: ‘Enjoy what you do and you won’t have to work a single day of your life!’ Since that’s the best advice I’ve ever been given, that’s the advice I shall give.

SLB: I’m not sure I have been in practice long enough to qualify in giving advice. I have been told and will in turn tell aspiring lawyers that they should view the practice of law as a calling to a profession for which you should be prepared for a ride that at times may be rough but you should nonetheless keep the faith, because at the end of the day, it can be truly fulfilling.

Sharmaine Lau
Law Society of Singapore

What the Readers Said ...

The Singapore Law Gazette (‘SLG’) is an evolving work. Most of you would agree that the journal is not the same as it was a couple of years ago. In the beginning of 2002, the SLG went through a facelift. The SLG team was keen to garner your bouquets and brickbats on the new look and the continually updated contents of the journal. With these objectives in mind, we undertook the Readers’ Response Survey sometime in the middle of last year.

On the whole, the survey results were heartening, with twice as many respondents in 2002 (103 responses) as 2001. We thought this a good representative sample of the views of the fraternity.

About 91% of the respondents indicated that they read the SLG every month or regularly (see Figure 1). A resounding affirmation that what the journal has to offer is worthy of your attention. The knowledge that many of you out there are scouring through our sweat-stained pages is reward enough for us to keep producing this journal month after month.

Figure 1: How often do you read the SLG?

Most of the respondents polled read the journal for its current and relevant information as well as for the advice it provided on legal practice and development (see Figure 2). The Legal Updates and Features and Focus sections were again commended for being ‘instructive’, ‘informative’ and ‘up-to-date’. Ninety-five per cent voted the articles in Features above average. Equally well-received were the columns in Focus and Legal Updates (both of which earned 93% votes for being above average). The past President, Mr Palakrishnan’s Messages were also highlighted as being ‘well-written’, ‘practical’ and ‘always witty’.

Figure 2: Why read the SLG

The other significant reason that the respondents thumbed through the journal was that it acted as the official voice of the Law Society and the legal profession (see Figure 2).

The SLG team brainstormed and tweaked ideas to arrive at the new look for the journal. And it seems well worth our efforts when 91% of the respondents gave their nod to it (see Figure 3). The accolades ranged from ‘refreshing’, ‘less stuffy’, ‘classy’, ‘more contemporary’ to ‘change indicates moving with the times’.

Figure 3: Do you like the new look of the SLG?


Many of you took the opportunity to let us know what else you’d like to see in the journal. There were consistent requests for international news pertaining to the legal scene and lawyer news. With this in mind, we will be introducing in the 2003 issues new columns: a column on the legal scene in the region, a column by a Senior Counsel, a practice pitfalls column; and others like the practice and procedure column, inhouse counsel column, legal management column, IT column, tax column and a column on the work of Law Society committees.

The survey results have given the SLG team that necessary impetus to work at bringing you a premium journal that you will find useful and relevant to your practice. We thank those of you who took the time off to scribble a few remarks on the survey. As a sign off, please do keep your feedback coming ... it’s only with your input that we can deliver the journal you need to your desk.

Bala Shunmugam
Publishing Manager