Lawyering: Changing practice areas
I was asked whether it is possible for a lawyer to switch to corporate practice from another practice area. I think I may not be the most qualified person to answer this question as I have been a corporate lawyer throughout my career and have not changed practice areas before. …
Is it possible to enjoy doing legal due diligence work?
I get a bit skeptical when interviewees or junior lawyers say they enjoy doing legal due diligence work. My first reaction would be, “Really?” Is it possible to enjoy doing legal due diligence work? The volume of documents to be reviewed, tight deadlines, amount of effort required to get complete …
Reflection
SPM (Malaysian equivalent of GCE O Level) results were out two weeks ago. I was reminded again how lucky I was. I wrote about how a scholarship from The University of Sheffield allowed me to pursue my dream of studying law in the UK. http://ow.ly/xbVb50JJOr2 I know not everyone gets so …
A story on locked box mechanism
A battle of egos is how I remember the incident. I was once involved in an M&A transaction which the consideration was based on a locked box mechanism.* In addition to lawyers, there were also financial adviser and investment banker involved in the deal. All the advisers were in a …
Work life balance-sustainability is the key
I think I have not written any post on mental health or work life balance before. It is a difficult topic. We have different needs. What one person needs for mental health and work life balance is different for another person. With the demand that comes with the nature of …
Maintaining responsibility when delegating
I had my “this is a textbook answer” moment. I requested for research to be done. What happened next is common in law firms- my request was further delegated to another person. When I read the research finding that changed hands a couple of times, I noted that it was …
Use a checklist!
Being meticulous is an important skill for an equity capital markets (“ECM”) lawyer to have. ECM exercise is typically fast-paced and deadlines driven. It requires co-ordination among the due diligence working group members (“DDWG”) as draft documents may be prepared by a DDWG member and commented by the rest of …
Professional relationship doesn’t have to be transactional
During the early stage of the Covid pandemic, when Malaysia was under movement control order, I received a Whatsapp message from a number not saved on my phone. At that time, I had just lost most of my contact numbers after accidentally dropping my old phone and I had to …
Teamwork
“I don’t think it’s that simple. Go and read this book. Rethink your answer,” I told my colleague after reading her draft reply to a client’s question for a corporate exercise. The question touched on procedural matters under company law. There are cases on interpretation of the relevant section under …
What does “success” mean to you?
“Don’t forget me when you are successful,” I jokingly told my friend after sharing my experience of being a partner of a law firm upon my friend’s request. “Define ‘success’,” my friend said. I paused for a moment and thought about what success would mean to me. My reply: To …