Stop, Think and Choose

Many of us enter the legal profession with high hopes and big dreams. For some, these aspirations are lost quickly even before we complete our legal education.

Lawyers are facing serious survival problems.

‘Law practice has hardened me.’ ‘My practice takes up all my time.’ ‘I have no time for anything else.’ – are some of the cries of lawyers. 

‘When I returned to work a couple of days after our first child was born, my partner told me that I should quickly move on and concentrate on my work. All I wanted was a couple more days of leave to enjoy this new phase of life which my wife and I had just entered. This has seriously made me re-think continuing my practice in Singapore,’ a foreign lawyer lamented in exasperation.

A partner in a medium-sized firm is finding it increasingly difficult to retain his associates or hire new ones, even when the firm is prepared to pay top-of–the-range pay packages.

The legal profession seems to be full of burnt-out, highly stressed lawyers who remain in the profession by default. Their personal lives suffer. Many remain single; the married ones get divorced. Poor health sets in. Some become hardened, impatient and difficult with their subordinates, colleagues and clients. Needless to say, it is easy to fathom the shrinking size of the legal profession against this background.

We need to solve this perennial problem now. How and what are we going to do to help ourselves?

The top hierarchy of law firms needs to facilitate a mindset change. They need to realise that human capital is equally important as clients and profit margins. Time and money have to be invested in enhancing human resource practices and staff welfare benefits.   

Like clients, associates too should be treated as individuals with needs instead of being just another name in the firm’s letterhead. A little attention and concern over their welfare from the supervisors would go a long way in motivating and retaining them.

Many former lawyers whom I interviewed for this column, and friends who moved to other law firms or have left the legal profession, seldom complained about their financial rewards being unattractive. However, most of their pet peeves centred on the high level of work stress, unreasonable demands from bosses and clients, lack of career advancement and the lack of quality of life.

The associate, too, has a role in resolving this problem. Breathe fresh life into your law practice and make new personal discoveries. How so?

Review

‘Work is man’s calling and not only a job. To me, my legal practice is more than an ordinary job. It is a vocation,’ states Colin Kang, 33, managing director of East Asia Law Corporation.

It is useful for us to continuously review our reasons for being lawyers. Why did we become lawyers in the first place? Perhaps the initial hopes and dreams we had can be revisited. Can we resurrect some of these hopes and dreams?

During my teenage years, television programmes such as The Paperchase and LA Law misled me into believing that the legal profession was a glamorous one. At the same time, I had strong convictions that lawyers could solve people’s personal problems and make their lives better. Quitting a well-paid job, followed by a short hiatus from law practice and a journey of self-discovery to India reminded me of my original objectives of coming into this profession. These objectives were important to me and I wanted to give myself another opportunity at being a lawyer to fulfil these dreams. The rest is history.

Take a Break!

Breaks, long or short, allow us time to analyse the course of our lives.

Find the Meaning in Life

Finding joy and meaning in life, in turn, creates harmony in our careers. For many, it can be planning the next long holiday and making expensive purchases. Providing for family and children is a strong pull factor for others. A female junior partner once shared that looking at her children every morning reminds her of the reason for her hard work.

Pro bono work, which is not popular amongst lawyers, offers many benefits. It creates learning experiences outside of work and shows how the practice of law improves the lives of people. It moulds the future of the society we live in. It is a great way to meet fellow lawyers, establish camaraderie and acquire new experiences. 

Build Personal Values and Beliefs

A strong foundation in personal values and principles – be it spiritual or otherwise – can help anchor us. A group of lawyers I spoke to shared that their personal beliefs influenced their practice of law.

A 35-year-old Hindu lawyer feels that his duty as an officer of the court requires him to exhibit qualities such as honesty and integrity, which are consistent with his spiritual values. ‘It helps me to operate better in my law practice. It further ensures that I am accountable to a higher standard of conduct. I think other practitioners find me an honest and reasonable person to deal with, which ensures better outcomes for my clients.’

According to him, people who are truly happy are not the materially successful ones. ‘It is those who have a holistic outlook on the oneness and goodness of life even though not professing any particular creed.’

Colin, a devout Catholic said that his religious beliefs make him a fair and charitable lawyer. ‘I encountered a perceived clash during pupillage and early in my practice about whether a Catholic lawyer can take on a divorce brief. Catholic lawyers are split in their views about this. Some think it is wrong to assist in a divorce and view acting as counsel in a divorce as “assisting”.’ After some nine months of soul searching, Colin found peace in handling such cases.

A friend who is in his early thirties and a partner in a large law firm (whom I shall call Paul) encounters a whole spectrum of human behaviour and emotions in his litigation practice. Buddhism, which he says plays a vital part in his daily life, helps him to understand and appreciate the behaviour of people. ‘Buddhism, when practised, would be useful to legal practice. However, the challenge is always whether one is able to put the Buddhist teachings into practice. One teaching, which extols the virtue of staying calm and focusing one’s mind, helps me to deal with the daily stresses of litigation practice.’

Paul believes that Buddhist values are consonant with legal practice. ‘Buddhists believe in the law of karma. It helps me to know that justice will always be meted out, whether it is through our worldly, man-made justice system or the immutable law of cause and effect.’

Loo Ngan Chor, 52, a partner in Lee & Lee is of the view that Buddhism guides him in the way he acts and reacts to clients, opposing counsel and the courts. ‘Compassion, unmitigated love for all and recognition of when a problem is past recall or impossible of solution can be put into litigation practice. These values have helped me to deal with victory and defeat alike 
in litigation.’

Early in his career, Lutfi, 40, of Lutfi Law Corporation, sought what Islam had to say about lawyers. ‘It discourages half truths and overly verbose language in court. Practised diligently, such scrupulousness can only gain the litigator the trust of the Bench. In Islam, work is a form of worship. To be conscientious and diligent at work and being a fair and good-natured boss to my staff will gain me favour with God in the hereafter,’ 
he explains.

Take Risks

Hard choices have to be made in order for us be happy within and without law. Only then can we marry an imperfect balance of law and a life outside of it.

Recently, Paul remarked over lunch that I have lofty ideals about law practice. I laughed. It is these ideals which make me excited about my law practice when I wake up each morning. Yes, these lofty ideals certainly have a place in our legal profession – they keep the practice of law alive.

Rajan Chettiar

Rajan Chettiar & Co

E-mail: rajan@rajanchettiar.com