clean linen

I have been in practice for close to 1.5 years now. I have yet to conduct my own trial or Assessment of Damages hearing that involves proper cross examination of the other party's witness(es).  I have been to Court numerous times though, although it's more the Subordinate and Family Courts as compared to the High Court. Anyway, one thing that impacted me today as I went to the Sub Courts for a short Summons For Directions hearing, was the nice way the security guards at the security scanners of the entrance would smile and recognise me as a lawyer. There are 1 or 2 particularly friendly guards who would ask me questions like "have you had breakfast/lunch?" Or "how are you?" This afternoon, I smiled at the guard as I was waiting behind a visitor to the Sub Courts. He was emptying his pockets of everything. At the same time, the guard looked up at me and returned my smile. Then he said to me, "Oh! I just realised it's you because you chan...

(Just to be clear that I've given all credits where they are due, let me state at the outset that this is the link where I copied this from:  http://www.singaporelawwatch.sg/slw/headlinesnews/25851-it-took-four-years-to-learn-im-no-lawyer.html?utm_source=email+subscription&utm_medium=email#.Ua1fu6el8Fw.email ) I really like this article, written by Oo Gin Lee, published in Straits Times yesterday (2/6/13): "My heart skipped a beat when my hand grasped air instead of wood. Then I realised that the next rung on the wooden ladder I was climbing to board a ship had given way. I was only 24, one year into my work as a lawyer, and facing a real prospect of tragedy at sea. I had come to arrest the ship which my client had a claim against, which meant making my way to the ship's bridge and sticking the court papers on its windscreen. To this day, I still believe that nothing short of divine intervention helped me to pull myself up and board the ship. Before I became...

Yesterday morning, I attended a summons hearing with uncle Edwin so that I could be granted an Order of Court to be part-called. This morning, I went to the Subordinate Courts by myself , and handled 4 files that had Court Dispute Resolution (CDR) sessions to be adjourned or attended. What an experience and an exciting landmark in my life! I now have a voice in Court. Before, I was just a shadow to lawyers, only taking notes and following them, carrying files. Now, it's different. Ok, let me try to explain. When I am fully called to the Bar, it means I have officially become a lawyer. I can represent clients in open court, which means it's in a more formal setting and most of the time the public can sit in. To be part-called means I am not a full lawyer yet, but I can attend sessions that are in chambers. To be in chambers means it's somewhat like a more personal setting where it's just the judge and the lawyers in a smaller room that can be known as the office ...

My results for my final Law Part B exams were emailed to me at 12:20pm today. It was the most amazing thing ever to not only see all the "pass" words, but that one longer word staring back at me, that amazing "distinction". It's the most amazing thing for me because I never thought I could ever get a distinction for a Law exam. I was always happy enough with passing and doing adequately well. THANK YOU GOD FOR THIS: I think now is the EASIEST time to say this: It's DEFINITELY the year of the Lord's favour!!!:D

My first exam yesterday, Civil Litigation Procedure, was alright. The question was relatively straightforward, but ridiculously long. All of us were scribbling away furiously because there were just too many issues to tackle in the 2 hours given to us. I should be able to pass this paper, which is really good enough already, since I'm assessed on a pass-fail-distinction basis. Tomorrow, the Part B Exams continue. The second paper: Family Law Practice. At 10am. And we are all boxed up! God, please let everything go well tomorrow! Especially when I have to call a cab to get to the exam venue!

Tomorrow, I begin the Part B Exams. The first paper: Civil Litigation Procedure. At 10am. I am ready (for the Civil Litigation Procedure exam)! Just look at how I've packed it all into my 'box'! BRING IT ON. (Not liking the exam venue though... Victoria School... Sigh, if only it was somewhere more central!)

At 1pm today, my last lecture as a Law Student ended. Now begins about 3 weeks of a study break before the Part B exams begin on 28 November. 17 weeks of Part B classes have really passed by super quickly! Although the first half of it felt like it was passing by really slowly. Once the middle portion of it was over, it just kept speeding up, until, I suddenly find myself here, at November. At my last lecture ever as a student. If I ever attend another lecture, it'll be in the capacity of a "working adult". Thank You God for bringing me through the past 17 weeks. It was really great getting to attend classes and hang out regularly with my friends who graduated with me from University of Nottingham. LET THE MAJOR PANIC-MODE STUDYING BEGIN.

I SURVIVED DAY 1 OF THE ADVOCACY TRAINING WORKSHOP! The day's program was scheduled as 8:30am to 5 pm. But we started everything at 9:05am and ended at 4:15pm. Although we started late, we ended much earlier than expected. What do I do at this workshop? It is a very practical 2 days of teaching us skills to conduct various procedures in Court. Today, I had to make 3 4-minute performances that were video taped and reviewed immediately after. The first was a submissions before a judge (no real judge involved) - to apply for a discharge of an injunction. The second was to conduct an Examination-In-Chief - interviewing my own witness on the stand. The third was to conduct a Cross-Examination - interviewing a witness selected by the opponent. I was really dreading it because: 1) We had to prepare to present to a judge and prepare questions as if we were conducting our own trial; 2) I had to watch the video taping of myself, which I don't enjoy because it's always cringe-wo...

I attended the 1st day of my Course today. The Opening Address and Registration was from 10am, and was supposed to end at 1pm, but we were done with registration by 12pm, so we left for lunch. It was so nice to be able to have lunch with my uni friends. We ate at Tony Cafe at The Adelphi, then went to Coffee Club at Funan IT Mall to have coffee/drinks. John and I both ordered the Iced Chocolate Blend, which I thoroughly enjoyed! They had a lot of chocolate balls sprinkled on top of the cream. It was not too sweet, and just thick enough for me. Very nice! The service was very slow though. So if you are in a hurry for time, don't go there for coffee or a meal! Tomorrow, we start class at the Supreme Court again at 10am, and we end at 6pm again.

So I've got two exams down - land law and constitutional law. Today, I've criminal law. Wednesday, I've evidence law. Friday, I've company law. Then, I fully intend to become a couch-potato-homebody-slacker. On my mealtime breaks I have been listing out drama serials, Japanese and Korean ones, to watch after my exams are over - CAN'T WAIT. ANYWAY, I'm now working on my exam notes for Wednesday's evidence law paper. And I think it's time you learn something with me, since you're reading my blog. The Latin term: Res Gestae This is what the legal dictionary has to say about it: '[Latin, Things done.] Secondhand statements considered trustworthy for the purpose of admission as evidence in a lawsuit when repeated by a witness because they were made spontaneously and concurrently with an event. Res gestae describes a common-law doctrine governing testimony. Under the Hearsay rule, a court normally refuses to admit as evidence statements that a witness...

Well, at least no more law exams for now . The studying continues in August when I start the Bar A course. As for the next two weeks, my days will be mainly filled with the studying of Japanese and packing (and by the looks of it, the continuous struggle against the urge to go online shopping and spend money on unnecessary things). I will have to find new "homes" for these law books and all my law notes. At present, I think the options are: 1) Leave with juniors. 2) Donate to thrift shops that collect books. 3) Try to sell them back to bookstores. 4) Donate to the library. 5) Rubbish bin. My goodness, just look at all the trees that have been killed because of the printing of notes and cases and journals, etc.

I had my last Trusts law tutorial at 3pm today, and the end of this tutorial marked the end of my last ever tutorial as a law undergraduate here in Nottingham. It's really hard to believe that, save for 2 more seminars and a few more Japanese lessons, life as a student in Nottingham has pretty much come to an end. Not counting exams, I will no longer need to go to school for lectures, tutorials, seminars, and basically, classes. Time is passing too quickly!

This is one interesting module. But, the readings for each seminar is tremendous. Each chapter of the textbook is remarkably long as well. So, it may be hard to understand/believe, but while it is interesting, it still has the effect of making me fall asleep as I read it - same with any other Law textbook. Anyway, I just read this passage in the textbook that I am going to label my "discovery of the day": "The condition known as 'tardive dyskinesia' may develop after prolonged use of antipsychotics and, very rarely, after a small number of doses - or even just one. The symptoms of tardive dyskinesia are, ironically, those perhaps most closely associated in the popular mind with the symptoms of madness: 'hyperkinetic involuntary movements which are most frequently limited to the face, lips, tongue, jaw and neck, but which can involve the trunk, arms and hands.' The 'mad person', rocking ceaselessly, puckering cheeks, and engaging in other compulsiv...

Former Small Group Reunion... After many texts to find a date to meet up, we FINALLY found a date. Richard was also really generous as to open up his house for us to meet. He cooked as well! It felt a little bit like a 'blast from the past' because the last time we met in somebody's house, it was Richard's. And he was the one who cooked too. We ate loads, talked loads, laughed loads. We brought up things that happened in previous small group meetings, talked about Kieran's 2 goldfishes named Loz and Louise (who are no longer alive, unfortunately), somehow came to some kind of conclusion that I was going to open a Hello Kitty and/or Dear Daniel shop in Nottingham, which led on to the finding out of more information online with regards to Hello Kitty and her boyfriend, Dear Daniel, amongst other things... Anyway, here come photos. Our gracious host, Richard - who refused to 'pose' when I commanded him to: Besides food, Richard provided drinks too, i.e. squash ...

So, I've finished the textbook readings required of me for this Thursday's Mental Health Law seminar! 82 pages down! WHOO! Yesterday night, and for the whole of today, I was just reading and reading the Mental Health Law textbook. There were so many new words that I came across as well, such as this word: Vituperative = bitter and abusive I was reading and reading when, last night, it came to a point where my brain wasn't really functioning that well. I read "Evidence a choice" as "Evidence a choke", and for the next 2 paragraphs, I was wondering why there is a section in the textbook on evidencing a choke when it is a chapter to do with mental capacity and the ability to consent and make decisions! Then I realised, it wasn't evidencing a choke, it was evidencing a CHOICE, which makes so much more sense. Mental Health Law is really interesting, but when it's reading for work, it can get really painful. However, the textbook is easy to comprehend,...

My family law exam is looming before me, with my Japanese exam right on its heels. For Family Law, there are four big topics: 1) Marriage, civil partnership and cohabitation 2) Domestic violence 3) Divorce 4) Financial relief Please forgive me for my crudeness, but, financial relief is a big pain in the backside I tell you. There are at least 4 cases of the same name, A v. A, but of different years, demonstrating different factors that the court should take into account when making orders on financial relief. A v. A (1998) : Earning capacity and age Mrs A was 45 years old and had not worked since she married and had kids. The court held that it was not reasonable to expect her to earn a great deal upon getting a job after the divorce, even if she had a degree in engineering. A v. A (1998) : Standard of living enjoyed by the family before the breakdown of the marriage Mr and Mrs A was a wealthy couple who lived frugally because Mr A insisted on it. The court suggested that Mrs A's r...

I've decided on my coursework topic for ICL. So I've started on research. I was just looking at the cases and situations of the International Criminal Court and, out of curiosity, tried to find out if Singapore had acceded to the Rome Statute, which establishes the International Criminal Court. I discovered that Singapore has NOT acceded to the Rome Statute! According to the website : "31 Dec 2005 As of September 2002, it was not likely that Singapore would ratify in the near future. Political will in support of the ICC seemed to exist, but their position was unclear. Singapore did not participate in the Preparatory Commission." Naive me thought Singapore would be all for impunity and justice for victims of wars and conflicts! But of course, there definitely are many political consequences that come out of it and the Singapore government definitely has good reasons for not acceding to the Statute.

The average adult should take an average of 10,000 steps per day over a week (see here ). Tomorrow, there will be an increase in the number of steps I take as compared to any other 'normal' day. As a result of my seminar leader for Foundations of International Criminal Law (ICL) going overseas for 10 days, 2 of my seminars with her have been displaced to the ungodly hours of 5-7pm. The first replacement seminar is tomorrow. The second replacement seminar is in the first week of December. So, tomorrow, I am going to make quite a few trips to school: 1) I walk to school for Family Law tutorial at 9am. I walk back home after my tutorial ends at 10am 2) I walk to school for Family Law lecture at 1pm. I walk back home after my lecture ends at 2pm 3) I walk to school for my ICL seminar at 5pm. I walk back home after my seminar ends at 7pm. Ugh. What a long day tomorrow.

This week passed by really quickly. So far, it has been too hectic for me. On Monday night, I met up with John Gell, my co-leader of my small group. We had dinner, took the chance to get to know each other better, and exchange ideas as to what we would like to do with the small group this coming term, and hopefully for the rest of the school year. On Wednesday night, it was our very first small group meeting of the year. While it was a quiet, simple affair, it was still good for the first meeting somewhat planned by John Gell and I. Thursdays and Fridays are terrible days of my timetable, especially Thursday. I take 2 modules that are seminar-based. International Criminal Law seminars are every Thursday, while Legal Issues in Health Care seminars are every Friday. For both seminars, I have to complete tons of readings of cases and articles to be more prepared for each seminar. Doing the readings is not absolutely necessary, but I do it anyhow because I see it as preparation for the 12-...

While I didn't have a good night's sleep last night because I kept waking up in the wee hours of the morning, and my back felt so very sore, today was still a good day. #1: "International Human Rights in Context", Steiner, Alston and Goodman I've been trying to borrow this book from the library as I need to reach a chapter of it, 150 pages' worth, in preparation for my next International Criminal Law seminar on Thursday. I FINALLY GOT IT TODAY. So the rest of the night is going to be spent with this, eh, lovely book. #2: 1st time of proper cooking For the first time since I returned to Nottingham, I did some proper cooking for dinner for Hong Zhen and I. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a photo of the end product! The potatoes and carrots weren't as soft as I hoped them to be, but Hong Zhen still enjoyed it, so I'm glad, and VERY relieved. #3: Daniel's MSN message After dinner, I returned to my room to see a message from my fellow One-Thirder, Danie...