Lawyers

I like some really old senior lawyers. Sometimes when I met them in Court, knowing that I am very junior, they tend to give me nasihat-nasihat berguna and always menegakkan that a senior lawyer is a mentor to junior lawyer and in this fraternity, we are family. Since we are family, it is the duty of senior lawyers to always guide the juniors.

Tapi ada sesetengah masanya, dalam transition from a young senior lawyer untuk ke arah very old senior lawyer, keangguhan muncul. And this is what happened to me just now.

It was my mistake. I overlooked a file and did not attend the Court which was fixed for Hearing. We, however have instruction to concede liability at 50/50 from our client. Konsep ni mungkin readers tak faham. Since, I did not attend the hearing date fixed, Plaintiff lawyer gunakan peluang ni untuk kenakan Defendant (which I represent). He conceded liability without our consent.

I am young and still learning the ropes of this path, really. This is the same opponent which made me wait for him for four hours (on other case) di mana I tak habis-habis call dia tanya if he is coming. I made it an effort to contact him, kot mana tahu dia lupa dia ada kes. Orang kata bila kita buat baik, di balas dengan kebaikkan jugak kan.

For my matter, he said he waited like fool until 12pm and nobody showed up. If he had some courtesy to call the office, someone could have gone to the Court. But when I humbly and politely put it to him like that, he screamed and said "do you think I am your office boy ke? I have to chase you to do this and that?". So I apologized and admitted it was my mistake, I overlooked the file but I wish to know what happened on the hearing date that I did not attend. He yelled again. This time saying "you expect me to tell you about your file is it? Is this how you conduct yourself as a counsel? Asking the opponent lawyer to tell you about your file?". Isu nya mudah, I was not there when you conceded the liability. My mistake I admit but assist la on what happened on that day. I did not know what happened on that. How much liability you conceded and all. Soalan mudah je. Tapi he tortured me with words sampaikan I literally cried while I was on the phone with him.

Dalam masa yang sama, my heart was breaking when I learned he conceded liability without our consent. What if dia concede liability 100% against the Defendant? Client will go crazy and when client jadi gila, bos takkan gembira dan here in this office, we are not family. We are literally employers and employees so when you screw up, just be ready to pack up your stuff and leave. Boss takkan backing kau atau offer solutions. Nope. Boss will scold you bloody murder and sack you. The damage control will be done after you left. Yeah, real world of "makan gaji". Happened to a colleague. So yeah, I am dead scared of losing this job.

So, berbalik kepada isu my opponent tadi. Suara dah makin putus sebab tahan air mata, I asked again how much liability he conceded. And his voice turned slow. 50/50 he said. Hati lega sangat sebab sememangnya kami ada arahan dari anak guam untuk concede liability at 50/50.

I thanked him and hung up the phone and menangis sepuas-puasnya sebab pertama : takut dengan office; sebab kedua : buat baik kepada orang tidak sama sekali di balas baik. Or may be, di balas baik tapi bukan dari orang yg sama.

I dont know if every lawyer pernah kena sembur macam ni during thier early years as a lawyer because some of them could be really arrogant. Some very senior lawyers are very humble and polite. However it is, this is a lesson for me and I am writing this so I remember how I feel today and I dont ever want to feel like ever, again.

Keep a proper attention to Court's diary and your opponents and colleagues are not your friends, let alone your brothers and sisters in the fraternity. Those are just craps, really.