Lawyer – Singapore

Being a lawyer is one of those famous “tv jobs” – the jobs everyone has an image of from television programmes as being glamorous, highly paid and very interesting. (Jobs that aren’t tv jobs: Auditor, Health & Safety Officer, Printer)

I spoke to a couple of lawyers in Singapore about what it’s like to work there as a lawyer. Being a lawyer is slightly different in each country. For instance, in Singapore people become “lawyers”, a single role, whereas in Ireland and the UK people become either a solicitor or barrister, both of which have slightly different roles in the legal system.

“R” and “X” both work in the corporate law department of a major law firm in Singapore. “X” worked in litigation prior to moving to corporate law.

Below is a summary of conversations I had with them about the career of a lawyer..

What’s the best thing about being a lawyer?
R:
Helping people. I get a sense of satisfaction when clients are grateful for us helping them solve their problems.

How does one typically become a lawyer in Singapore?
X:

• LLB from the National University of Singapore/ Singapore Management
  University OR
  LLB from a list of approved universities in England, Australia, New
  Zealand and Hong Kong.
• Attend the Post-graduate Law Course (6 months)
• Undergo 6 months of training under a pupil master / 3 years in the
  Legal Service

Tell me what you do in your job
R:

I’m an associate working in a law firm. My clients are mostly companies.  My work includes ensuring that companies are following the law in their day to day activities.  I also give advice on employment contracts to clients, who may be individuals or companies. I review contracts and draft terms and conditions in contracts.

The creativity used in contract drafting depends on the circumstances of the matter. Sometimes clients have a particular commercial arrangement that is unique to their situation, e.g. employment contract for a CEO with special terms on profit sharing/liability and you’ll have to draft the entire agreement from scratch. At other times, we will look for similar matters in the past and use those agreements as precedents from which to base the new agreement upon.

Some days I attend meetings with my bosses and take notes, which have to be transcribed when I get back to the office.

Lawyers are infamous for a bad work/life balance. What’s your work/life balance like?
X:

Well I work 50 to 80 hours a week..

R:
My work life balance is pretty satisfactory, but I can’t say the same for some of my friends. If you’re in a big law firm, chances are you’ll have to get used to your time not being your own. I’ve had friends who work non-stop for a whole month past midnight every night and don’t even get their weekends or public holidays off. It helps to schedule regular activities outside of work so that you can have some time to yourself. Also, some people I know bring work home so that they can have dinner with their families, then continue to work. Generally speaking, the more senior you are, the more control you have over your own time.

Why is the work/life balance so bad in legal work?
R:
The clients are one reason. “We HAVE to launch this IPO by next wednesday, so you’ll have to work through the weekend. Oh you’ve got to go for your granddad’s funeral? I’m sorry, but i’m afraid you’ll have to postpone. Market conditions are going to be ABSOLUTELY GHASTLY if we delay the IPO another week.”

Crazily ambitious bosses are the other reason. “Our billing target this month is 2 million. So we’ll take on 5 projects instead of 2. Who’s doing the extra 3 projects? Why, you of course! What do you mean you can’t work until 4 a.m. tomorrow? Because you need sleep? PAH who NEEDS sleep? I’m in the office just like you. Sleep is but a small detail you have to iron out in your life. You’re never going to get anywhere with sleep I tell you. You haven’t seen your family in 3 months? That’s nothing. I’ve forgotten what my wife looks like! Actually I’m not even sure if I’ve got a wife anymore…”

What’s the money like?
X:
The lowest rung minions only get about S$50,000 to S$100,000 (about €25,000 to €50,000) per annum.

After 5 years, it gets a lot better! You’re talking S$100,000 to S$200,000 (about €50,000 to €100,000) per annum.

Is there a distinct career path for lawyers?
X:

In private practice, you slave as a pupil, then progress to a lowly associate, stressed out senior associate, junior (salaried) partner and hit equity partner and then you blissfully retire with a mistress, BMW and golf club membership.

R:
Fresh graduates have to be called to the bar before they can work as lawyers. To be called to the bar, you need to pass a bar exam and serve as a pupil in a law firm. Depending on jurisdiction, this can take 1 to 3 years.

After you are called to the bar, you become an associate, and then a senior associate, then a junior partner and finally a full-fledged partner. The time it takes to progress through the ranks is rather predictable until you reach junior partner level. Promotion to full-fledged partner status depends on the firm and also on individual performance.

What exactly does “being called to the bar” mean?
R:
Getting called to the bar means qualifying as an advocate and/or solicitor of the court of a particular jurisdiction. Different jurisdictions have different requirements. In Singapore, you can only get called to the bar if you graduated from an approved school, have completed pupillage and have successfully passed the bar exam.

I’m not so sure about the requirements in other countries. There’s a ceremony at the end during which you’re sworn in by the Chief Justice. It’s all very exciting

What’s the most annoying thing about your job?
R:
Dealing with unreasonable clients. Some will badger you after office hours and still ask for a discount in the final bill!

Did you always want to be a lawyer?
R:
To be honest, I stumbled into it. I decided to study law because I thought it was interesting and I could gain an understanding of how society is ordered, but never thought that I’d become a lawyer.

I wanted to be a foreign service officer, but realised that the constant travelling wasn’t for me. On a side note, many foreign service officers were once lawyers – the skill sets required for both professions are similar.

What’s the most common misconception you get from people when you tell them you’re a lawyer?
R:
That we all go to court! That’s certainly not true for corporate lawyers. I was a pupil in the corporate department of a law firm and did not have to go to court at all. I’d probably run away if I had to argue a case in front of a judge!

What type of person should be a lawyer?
R:
You’ll enjoy legal practice if you like to do rigorous analysis of complex facts and have an eye for detail. Law is challenging, and in some areas of practice you really get to help people and feel like you make a difference.

If it’s money and prestige you’re going for, then try out the corporate department. The work will likely be less exciting than in litigation, but many lawyers who work in the corporate department end up as in-house counsels for large companies. If you like to argue and thrive on conflict, litigation work is probably for you.

Anything else someone might want to know if they were considering it for a career?
R:
Be prepared for long hours, hard work, unreasonable clients and demanding bosses. The intellectual rigour of day-to-day tasks are, however, most rewarding. Pro bono work is also very satisfying.

X:
Don’t be crazy. Go be an investment banker.

Presentation Skills

While I work on another couple of interviews I thought I’d write another soft skills post.

Presentation skills are probably the most universal skill in life and the workplace. Everyone needs to communicate in their daily life. A decent grasp of basic communication skills can help you stand out from someone who doesn’t appreciate the importance of a good communication style.

I believe the two most basic, and most important, aspects of a good communicator are:

1. Practice
   Like taking up a sport, learning a language, or doing anything else you won’t become a good communicator without practice. Before you are giving a presentation, practice it as much as possible until you know your presentation as if it was a natural conversation.
    
2. A willingness to learn and improve
   Everyone has some basic level of communication ability and presentation skill. Some people will even have improved on this through the experience of giving a few presentations in college or the workplace or in clubs. To get beyond this level of ability though, you need to be willing to go out of your way to learn and be willing to listen to the advice of others. In addition, you should be able to think about the way you present and communicate and look for what’s good about it and what’s wrong with it and then act on this information to improve your abilities.

If you are willing to learn there are a few things you can do to analyse your own abilities. Practice your presentations, think about the structure of the presentation, thinkabout the words you use and think about your presentation style (e.g. body language, hand gestures, vocal style, pacing)

Here is a link dump of some resources I’ve found excellent in improving my own presentation skills (which still have a long way to go!). If you want to take your skills to the next level, check these out:

Presentation Zen
This is an excellent blog by a world-class presenter. He writes very insightful posts and this blog alone has helped me massively in improving the design of my powerpoints and my general presentation style.

Create Your Communications Experience
Bert Decker has a biased style of writing which is interesting because he talks about people from his point of view as an experienced communications consultant. If you are not familiar with famous speakers and leading communications gurus, his blog is a good starting point for getting to know about them. He also has great posts like The Power of The Pause which are gold for improving your communications skills!

Alltop – Speaking
Alltop is a web aggregator and this particular part of the site offers a catalogue of some pretty good blogs related to public speaking.

Toastmasters
This is a lot more than a web resource. There is some free material on the website but the real value of Toastmasters is from joining it. It’s a social club which people join with the common goal of helping themselves to become better communicators and leaders. Unless you are a trainer or a salesperson, odds are you do not give presentations on a regular basis. This can make it hard to get the regular practice you need to keep your skills sharp and to improve and learn new tricks. Toastmasters Clubs usually meet either weekly or fortnightly and offer a great relaxed forum for learning many new communications techniques. There are chapters all over the world – you can look for them on the website – and it’s relatively easy to join!

So that’s some tips on improving your communications skills – now get practising! ;o)