The Practice of Law
What is a lawyer? Very simply, the word “lawyer”, with its agent noun suffix, suggests a person who “does” or “practises” the law. And what exactly is the practice of the law? Let me suggest an answer that only a lawyer knows how to give without sounding ignorant: It depends.1 It is perhaps in this spirit that this ambitious 25-chapter collection of contributions, together with an addition of an epilogue and prologue from 27 different practitioners of law was assembled. The book’s title is The Practice of Law and it attempts to answer the question implicit in its title with a resounding “It depends on whom you ask!”
The first indication of the book’s target audience is found in the fact that the prologue was penned by a one-year-old legal associate searching for his or her own “north star” in the legal profession. Similarly, the type of advice dispensed and the tone of their delivery in some of the chapters leave no doubt that the authors’ intended audience are the graduating law student, and those who have recently graduated from law school, who are considering their options in their fledgling careers. Indeed, as I will elaborate upon below, The Practice of Law delivers strongly on this count. However, before one dismisses this book as relevant only to the undecided and folly-prone young, let me suggest that those who are perhaps contemplating a late change in career, yet still wish to remain involved in legal work, will similarly find this book to be of value.
At the outset, I must begin my review by commending the General Editors Tang Hang Wu, Michael Hor and Koh Swee Yen, and LexisNexis as the publisher, for having successfully persuaded all 27 authors to each contribute a chapter detailing their areas of practice and sharing their wealth of experience with such enthusiasm. It is no secret that many a successful lawyer often relies on his or her brightest and most eager underlings to draft most of their written work.2 However, the personal anecdotes and the intimate details of the respective practices contained within the chapters make it abundantly clear that these contributions are the personal labours of their respective authors.
From the delightful caricatures of corporate lawyers painted by Stefanie Yuen Thio in Chapter 2 to being tailgated by local thugs in a neighbouring country in Cyril Chua’s battle against the counterfeit trade in Chapter 3; and from how Rajan Chettiar single-handedly embraced the government’s initiative to encourage re-employment for the aged (by hiring none other than his own father as his “secretary, despatch, office and finance manager”) when he set up his own firm in Chapter 5, to Alfred Dodwell’s stunned reaction in Chapter 9 when he met the long-suffering wife who came so dangerously close to doing the unthinkable as she held “a knife over her husband as he slept on the sofa”, there are plenty of personal anecdotes that make this book a thoroughly entertaining read as the reader cannot help but vicariously live through the authors’ personal experiences.
Beyond the entertainment, The Practice of Law does a tremendous job in providing the young lawyer with the span of all the possible options one is able to pursue (with the one exception being that of a Supreme Court Judge, which I suspect some of you secretly harbour aspirations of becoming). While contributions from the usual categories such as Litigation, Arbitration, Corporate Practice, In-House Counsel, Public Service, and Criminal Law practice are to be expected in a book such as this, I was pleasantly surprised to find that there were specific chapters dedicated to more esoteric career options or choices such as “Pro Bono Work” (Chapter 11), “Law within Government” (Chapter 17, which introduces policy-making to the reader), “Teaching Law in the Polytechnic” (Chapter 21) and “Practice in the UK, New York, Hong Kong and Shanghai” (Chapters 22 to 25).
While the book is to be commended for its wide selection of topics, the editors, authors and publishers must be lauded that this was not pursued at the expense of detail and accuracy. From my own limited experience in the Public Service sector, I have to say that the descriptions given by the relevant contributors in the Public Service are spot on, and it is this level of accuracy, I suspect, that will ultimately prove to be the most valuable to the reader who is seriously contemplating a career option detailed in the book (and which will probably also render this book outdated in a few years’ time).
In reviewing The Practice of Law, I have come to appreciate the candidness displayed by the many authors that could only have come from having arrived at a position from which they can frankly assess their selected career paths and, more importantly, are able to recognise and appreciate their individual roles within a wider and larger framework. Interestingly, a significant number of contributors readily admit that they did not originally plan or set out to be where they now are (something that younger readers might wish to ponder upon).
I end this review by commenting that it is difficult for me to imagine any other profession of which so many of its senior and experienced members would readily pool together and contribute to a book meant solely for its younger members. Again, what is a lawyer? A lawyer is also known as counsel, an advocate, a counsellor, and a defender; and it is heartening to know that such lawyers are still well and alive in our profession.
► Lim How Khang
Deputy Public Prosecutor/State Counsel
Criminal Justice Division
Attorney-General's Chambers
* The Practice of Law will be launched by the Attorney-General, Mr Sundaresh Menon S.C. at the SAL Junior College Law Programme 2011 on 28 November 2011.
Notes
1 For an example, see Chan Seng Lun SC’s contribution in Chapter 8 “Shipping – Pirates and Phantom Ships” in which Nadia, a shipping lawyer, dispenses legal advice to a frantic client.
2 A nugget of advice for young lawyers which is not found in the book: delegate whenever you can but do so selectively and wisely.