It is my pleasure to summarise what I have gained from my internship/ attachment at Alex Chang & Co.
Even though I could not spend a longer period of internship/ attachment here, nevertheless my experience in Alex Chang & Co. was truly eye-opening. These experiences cannot be found by attending lectures or reading textbooks in Law school. The scale of this law firm is not big, as such, to my benefit, I was able to learn more and get personal attention from the lawyers.
To intern (undergo an attachment program) in a law firm is a preview of what lies ahead of students studying law. I learnt how to conduct research using the online research platform, such as the Current Law Journal “CLJ” online and I was subsequently exposed to Malaysian authorities for the first time. Also, I was taught to read the cases in full instead of merely obtaining the information from the headnotes.
Apart from that the mundane reading of the authorities and files, I was exposed to practical training in various courts, for instance the High Court of Kuala Lumpur, the Seremban High Court, the Court of Appeal at Putrajaya, just to name a few. After a few visits to the Courts, I am now more familiar with certain Court procedures. I was shown how Submissions, Witness Statement were prepared and thereafter presented in Court.
While I was watching the proceedings I observed that the Senior Judges can be harsh and unforgiving in words towards the counsel. Therefore, as a counsel, we have to be well prepared before appearing before them.
On the practical side, I was shown skills unique to Malaysian lawyers, translation of documents.
On the personal side, I was trained to be punctual and to observe the due dates during my entire internship/ attachment experience so as to follow the rules of court to the letter. During my internship/ attachment experience in Alex Chang & Co., I have learnt how to allocate my time on matters which are more relevant to my career in the near future.
Lastly, I am sincerely gratuitous for this opportunity given to me to be an intern at Alex Chang & Co.
Tasha Lim Yi Hui
University of Liverpool
Post Graduate Comments
It has been a few weeks since my Barrister Professional Training Course (BPTC) has commenced, and I must say that my attachment/ mini pupillage/ internship at Alex Chang & Co. has been most helpful in my studies.
For example, my syllabus now revolves around witness statements, defence statements, default judgments and so forth. I am so grateful that I was exposed to these legal documents during my internship at the firm. As such, I am confident that this experience has put me ahead of my peers in class. Furthermore, it makes my course much more “relevant” in the sense that I have seen and experienced how these documents actually work in the practical scene.
One day, you are going to be in the class and think, “Oh, I’ve learnt that before!”. It was such a privilege and truly an experience at Alex Chang & Co.
Tasha Lim Yi Hui
Manchester Metropolitan University
Please click here for her admission (long call) speech
