An epiphany to the legal world
This is my first time ever working in a law firm as I had decided to start my voluntary internship at Alex Chang & Co on the advice of my dearest friend. The experience I’ve gained here is indeed mind altering, something that one can never buy nor get anywhere, something that I truly treasure especially in preparing for the future in this legal field.
My first time attending open court hearing
On my first day of internship, I was invited to join the team at Seremban High Court for pre-trial case management. Indeed, I was beyond elated as it is my first time entering a courtroom and hearing a trial from real lawyers. The scene is still vivid in my mind, the presiding judge in open court at that time was his lordship judicial commissioner Tuan Mohamad Haldar bin Abdul Aziz and there were 6 counsels present for the first session as well and ours was the second session. As a law student myself, I would be lying if I say that I never watch any law dramas and movies, as I was attending the hearing I was amazed on how different they portray the hearing in the dramas as it is significantly different in real life, in the sense that the hearing in real life is much exciting and the vibes is different yet indescribable.
Expanding research
During my internship, among other tasks that I am required to do is research, not just on legal matters such as case law and statutes, sometimes I need to do research on random videos occurring in the other part of the world or public announcement on certain issues. Doing research on the said matters has indeed improved my research skills especially on the acceleration of time used to do research, I’ve become faster and more particular in researching information, I’ve become aware of the tools that we can use to do research faster and effectively.
Developing new skills
As I am researching case law and statutes especially within a particular time, I realised that I’ve developed new skills in quick reading, identifying salient points and swift understanding in a case or statutes. During my short time here, I would proudly say that I’ve read many decisions revolving around company law, land law and rules of court. As I am just in my second year while doing this internship, these 3 areas of law are something that I’m familiar with and have no clue or whatsoever on it. Notwithstanding my unfamiliarity with the areas, reading a high number of decisions in a short time has not only helped me to understand the areas quickly and also to identify which parts are most pertinent in a case. Furthermore, fortunately while I’m here I got the opportunity to be involved in the preparation of documents for the upcoming hearing. The preparation has truly changed me to become a more meticulous person, especially that I need to reread numerous documents to ensure that there are no errors at all.
Conclusion
My experience here is definitely indescribable in a few words and I would not trade anything for these memories, lessons and my time here. Not to mention that my dearest colleague and superiors have tirelessly helped me to resolve my confusion even on the simplest things like scanning documents despite my clodhopper attitude. I have indeed retained an abundance of information and lessons that I can never obtain anywhere and it has definitely helped me to improve myself in becoming a better law student as well as a practitioner to be.
Nuha Bt Najib
