An Insight into My Attachment at Alex Chang & Co

Entering the Firm

My attachment here at Alex Chang & Co this past month has been a fruitful experience. After just ending my first year of law school, I was eager to gain a better insight into the legal industry. I was highly curious as to the operations of a law firm and how proceedings took place in court. However, due to the unprecedented times caused by COVID-19, opportunities were limited and I was getting increasingly disappointed. That was when I stumbled upon Alex Chang & Co and decided to submit an application. I received a prompt reply and joined the firm shortly after.  

Day-to-Day Life

Although I am of limited expertise, I am still grateful that Mr. Alex Chang entrusted me with daily tasks to further gain experience and knowledge. Tasks that I carried out during this attachment included translating documents, writing articles and preparing bundles of authority etc. Throughout all the tasks that I was given, I was always offered support and guidance by Mr. Alex Chang and the other pupils. Although company law was foreign to me, my involvement with the firm definitely helped me develop a better understanding and piqued my interest in the subject.

Attending Court

It was an honour to be able to accompany Mr. Alex Chang and Ms. Lim to court and attend their hearings. This was definitely the aspect of my attachment that I was most looking forward to and I was not disappointed.  I enjoyed watching Mr. Alex Chang present his submissions and viewing the professionalism that he displayed in front of the judge. As I was only used to watching court proceedings on television, actually attending court in real life was quite a surreal experience for me.

Besides watching court proceedings, I also got to submit documents and do file checks in court. All of which I would need to know how to do in the future. Overall, it was a privilege to have been given such an insightful experience.

Most Rewarding Experience

I believe the highlight of my attachment here has to be the mooting session among us attachment students and pupils organized by Mr. Alex Chang. It was such a rewarding experience to read a case file in full and complete a skeletal submission based on that case. We were told to incorporate all the evidence such as witness statements and various documents into our submissions to replicate a court hearing, unlike the conventional mooting sessions held in University where our submissions are based solely on a short passage of facts. It definitely gave me a better idea as to areas I need to improve on such as in terms of my advocacy skills and the ability to think on my feet.

Advice to Future Attachment Students

I think that it is crucial to be open-minded when entering into the program and constantly be willing to learn. All the staff in the office are continuously busy with their own tasks so it is important to always take initiative in order to gain the most out of the entire experience. Be mindful that the working hours are quite long and can at times be tedious, so you will need to be strong-minded and persistent in order to survive working in the firm. However, remember that all the knowledge and experience that you have gained will make it all worthwhile.

Final Words of Gratitude

I would like to extend my utmost gratitude to Mr. Alex Chang, Ms. Lim, Ms. Chow, Ms. Janice and Ms. Elaine for giving me this opportunity and guiding me throughout my attachment. I would also like to thank Jaryne Lam, Ng An Ni and Roxanne Chew for supporting and helping me whenever I faced difficulties and I will certainly treasure the friendships that we have created. It has been a pleasure working with all of you and I do wish all of you the best in your future endeavours.

Lee Nicholas Heng Jin
The University of Sheffield