Professional relationship doesn’t have to be transactional
During the early stage of the Covid pandemic, when Malaysia was under movement control order, I received a Whatsapp message from a number not saved on my phone. At that time, I had just lost most of my contact numbers after accidentally dropping my old phone and I had to …
Teamwork
“I don’t think it’s that simple. Go and read this book. Rethink your answer,” I told my colleague after reading her draft reply to a client’s question for a corporate exercise. The question touched on procedural matters under company law. There are cases on interpretation of the relevant section under …
What does “success” mean to you?
“Don’t forget me when you are successful,” I jokingly told my friend after sharing my experience of being a partner of a law firm upon my friend’s request. “Define ‘success’,” my friend said. I paused for a moment and thought about what success would mean to me. My reply: To …
Practical empathy
Practical empathy. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵, 𝘥𝘰𝘯’𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺. I heard Seth Godin mentioned something along these lines …
Do you understand why we are doing it this way?
An investment banker once told me this: “I am happy to share credit with my team members for a job done well. But if anything goes wrong, it will be my responsibility. It will be on me.” The investment banker shared a story on how requests to other team members …
What, how & why
As a junior lawyer, you would be told 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 to do. Carrying out tasks requested by your employer/clients/ colleagues is part of the job. If you have good colleagues, you would be guided on 𝒉𝒐𝒘 to do the work. You may get helpful information on what issues to look out …
Lawyering and introversion
As an introvert, I used to dread picking up the phone to call a stranger. I preferred emails over phone calls. I am fine talking to someone outside my circle of friends if there are things we need to discuss. However, I rather not do small talk in social settings …
Not all clients are the same
Not all clients are the same. The legal counsel of a corporate client thanked me for the advice I gave. I thought it was very nice of this legal counsel as I was merely doing my job i.e. providing legal advice. The matter was pretty straight forward but it went …
The Practice
I am taking a page out of Seth Godin’s book “The Practice: Shipping Creative Work”. According to the book, the image below is a meme based on an old comic instruction manual on how to draw an owl. Step 1: Draw two ovals and a line. Step 2: Draw the …
The Authentic Lawyer Manifesto
I have been told a few times that I am too idealistic. I have always thought that maybe I should just keep my idealistic thinking to myself and do it my own way, however futile that may be… …until I read The Authentic Lawyer Manifesto by Build Your Book. It articulates …