To Champion the Profession and Back to Basics The Law Society’s Workplan 2004

The two themes of the Law Society’s workplan for 2004 are ‘Champion the Legal Profession’ and ‘Back to Basics’.

At the annual workplan session with chairs and members who serve on the Society’s standing committees held on 31 January 2004 at the Bras Basah Room, Raffles Convention Centre, Council shared with 80 members the Society’s vision for the year.

Well before the session, Council’s workplan paper for the year was circulated to each member and chairpersons of the Society’s committees. Thus, the session gave Council an opportunity to not only talk about the workplan but also to discuss with its volunteers issues facing the profession and how Council and committees could help address the same.

The core objective of Council this year would be to help members in their daily practice. The Society was therefore pleased to be invited to be part of the Subordinate Courts’ Workplan. Mr Peter Low, Mr Michael Chia and Ms Malathi Das from Council were tasked to work with Practice committees of the Society on this project. Council of the Law Society hosted the Registrar and relevant judicial officers involved in the workplan for tea at the Society on 16 January 2004.

The President, in his opening address at the workplan session, said he was confident that in the course of the year, Council could rely on its old strength — its volunteers — to work with Council to achieve the objectives of the workplan. The President shared at the session that the new Council was a strong one with past Presidents Mrs Arfat Selvam and Mr Peter Low, and experienced members like Mr G Raman and Mr Loo Ngan Chor and enthusiastic new junior members such as Mr Anand Nalachandran and Ms Jacintha Thannimalai. He also spoke of able fellow office bearers Mr George Tan, Mr Lee Cheng Suan and Treasurer Ms Malathi Das.

Council also shared another ‘back to basics’ focus of the Society, to increase the sense of contribution and pride that each member feels in being a lawyer. This, Council recognised, could be achieved by developing in all members a commitment to the Society’s pro bono work, including through its Criminal Legal Aid Scheme. Strengthening CLAS as its 20th anniversary approaches next year, is a key objective as outlined by the Society at the President’s Opening of Legal Year address. The Society would also encourage lawyers to continue to give back to the community through its law awareness work and voluntary pro bono work that lawyers carry out in their personal capacity in the community.

Mr Loo Ngan Chor, in a passionate speech which is published in this issue, spoke about his vision for the new standing committee of the Society that he would chair, the Small Firms Committee. The President, in his address at the workplan, had said that small firms were the backbone of the profession and in essence a lawyer practising on his own was a key part of being a lawyer and making a difference.

The faith of the Society to be able to rally support from members to serve as volunteers was justified by the strong support for this new standing committee with 20 members from small firms stepping forward to serve. This new committee, formed in early February, met for the first time on 17 February 2004 at a meeting that went on for nearly three hours, past 8pm at the Society’s premises.

During the question and answer session at the workplan, members spoke of ways to improve the Society’s law awareness work by engaging the mass media, especially television media, to spread law awareness messages.

There was feedback on improving the criminal justice system through a process of criminal discovery, or as one member suggested, criminal pleadings.

There were also views expressed that the Society must help maintain the duty of mutual professional courtesy between members of the profession and study the impact of technology on law practice administration and management.

The two and half hour session which ended just before lunch gave Council and volunteers a chance to focus on the objectives for the year as they proceed to serve the profession and the community in the coming year.