I handle Civil Litigation/ Commercial matters, Companies Petitions, Land Law, Construction, Banking and Alternative Dispute Resolution. Called to the Sarawak Bar in 1992, after having been called to the Victorian Bar in 1991, I practised for 18 years with George Lo & Partners until 1 July 2010 when I opened my own firm, at 48 1st Floor Block F, Kings Centre, Jalan Simpang Tiga, 93350 Kuching, Sarawak. T: +6082 230 130. F: +6082 455 412. M: +6016 868 0071. E: james@JamesLoAdvocate.com.
HIP Cafe at The Spring (same level as MBO Cineplex) organises a series of Monday evening talks on diverse topics aimed at the youth. The latest is career guidance for secondary school students. Last Monday I attended an enlightening and funny talk by Min, one of the partners in Kuching's premier firm of architects, DNA.
Coming up, on 4 Oct around 8pm, I will give a talk about the law, aided and abetted by Gladys Lee, who will field questions on uni admissions and such. (My information on that is only 25 years out of date!) Tell your friends and come along.....
... grind slow, but they grind exceedingly fine, so the old saying goes. It appears however that these wheels are about to be kicked up a gear or three.
When I first started practice, almost two decades ago, it was not unusual for a civil case to take nine years to be concluded. Of course many cases moved faster than that, but nine years was far from the slowest case that I had encountered. Now Chief Judge Tun Zaki is announcing the launch of the New Civil Court in Kuala Lumpur, whose stated aim is to dispose of all new cases filed there within nine months.
You heard me right. From nine years to nine months. Does this mean we're finally a developed nation?
Run, Cary, run!
To my friends at the Bar in KL, my Brothers and Sisters in Law, I wish you well. Such expeditious dispensation of justice is a noble goal... but at what cost?
UPDATED TO ADD:
Today, our judicial officers and judges work very hard. It is commonplace to hear of trials starting at 9 am and going on until 8pm. But judges and lawyers are human. If they are pushed beyond endurance, we may have to build a hospital almost as large the courthouse next to it. While it is important to clear the backlog, it is equally important to ensure that true justice according to law is done. As justice delayed is justice denied, so too is justice buried when hurried.
Gopal Sri Ram, former Federal Court Judge, full speech may be read here.
A first grader in Tbilisi, Georgia, attends his first English language class on Sept. 15. Hundreds of native English speakers joined the first day of school as teaching assistants under an ambitious program to have every child aged five to 16 speak English. English is now compulsory, and Russian optional. (Picture credit: MSNBC)
Veteran lawyer and MP Karpal Singh disagrees with Bar Council president Ragunath Kesavan that the council can monitor only the professional conduct and practice of lawyers and has no authority to look into their personal lives.
“I am somewhat taken aback by the statement of the Bar Council president,” Karpal said in a press statement today.
“Section 94 of the Legal Profession Act 1976 empowers the Disciplinary Board to take action against any advocate and solicitor for misconduct, including striking off the rolls," he said.
Karpal said Section 94(3) defines misconduct as conduct by a lawyer "in a professional capacity or otherwise" which amounts to grave impropriety. It includes being "guilty of any conduct which is unbefitting of an advocate and solicitor or which brings or is calculated to bring the legal profession into disrepute".
"This subsection brings, within its striking range, misconduct in private life."
Full article in the Sun Online by Tan Yi Liang can be read HERE.
Me: "When you've sued someone for RM100 and there is an attempt by him to settle, you cannot insist on receiving RM100. Are you saying you won't listen, to hear if he wants to pay you RM80 or RM90? What if he wants to pay you RM99?"
Irate client: "I won't listen."
Sigh. Some days are better than others.
On a happier note, I attended a dinner talk organised by the Judicial Dept Club, on Native Customary Land and ADR in Papua New Guinea. The distinguished speakers, both Supreme Court Judges in PNG, impressed me with the advanced mediation practices adopted in their homeland. As Justice Ambeng Kandakasi put it, PNG is a third world nation, but I am convinced it has a first class judiciary.
Notice the same colour scheme as our Sarawak flag?
Despite waiting until 9 p.m. for dinner, we were enthralled to hear also about the Constitutional Powers given to Judges to bring their own Motions to prevent Human Rights abuses. Food for thought, said our Chief Justice of Sabah and Sarawak, Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, just before we tucked in to a delicious multi-course Chinese dinner.
SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI to all my Muslim friends.
As we pass through yet another anniversary of Sept 11 amid talk of the burning of holy books, it is indeed important to remember this is a time for forgiveness for any slight caused to body or spirit.
I now hand you over to our modern day philosophers, rappers extraordinaire the Black Eyed Peas, aided and abetted by that old fogey Sting, in this song...
...and let's change on the count of one:
We don't want war – imagine if any prophet was alive
In current days amongst you and I
You think they would view life like you and I do
Or would they sit and contemplate on why
Do we live this way, act and behave this way
We still livin' primitive today
'Cause the peace in the destination of war can't be the way
There's no way, so people just be a woman, be a man
Realise that you can change the world by changing yourself
And understand that we're all just the same
So when I count to three let's change
Got no time for grand philosophy
I barely keep my head above the tide
I got this mortgage, got three kids at school
What you're saying is the truth that really troubles me inside
I'm quite lucky in that my work can be done almost as easily from home as in an office, with a bit of planning and a lot of reliance on soft copies of various documents, but the hardest part about working from home is actually working! Here comes a wiki to the rescue, courtesy of Wired.com.
Of course, if I were to spend less time looking for help on how to work, I might theoretically be able to get more done . . .
The above cartoon is by James Sturm, who wrote Life Without the Web for Slate.com -- essential reading for the internet-addled!
My entirely non-expert outlook on the apparent recovery from the worldwide economic crisis sparked off by the US sub-prime meltdown --which exposed deep systemic flaws in every market-- is that it is illusory. The KLCI has broken the 1400 barrier, but who is actually buying? As far as I can see, the volume is completely lackluster and everyone I have spoken with has little confidence to invest right now. If indeed the index is being buoyed on the purchase of blue chip counters --using our money in the EPF no less-- then the end of this rollercoaster may have a little surprise like in this cartoon here:
