Plough Through

Practicing law is, people will tell you, almost always a thankless task. You'll always get the standard "thanks for helping me release some millions that's been illegally withheld" type of client, who magically disappear without paying their fees. Or the "I don't care if I'm wrong, its your fault if I lose" types. Yeah, it's my fault the Court decides you're guilty of something you actually did do. 

A lot of lawyers complain incessantly about the nature of the profession. Yep, I agree it's hard and it's never easy. But if you take pride in what you do, even the smallest things can give you a quiet sense of validation and satisfaction. It's all well and fine to have a bit of a moan sometimes, but you need to look past the hurt and pain and focus on your goal and purpose. Moaning too much and rolling around in it all day doesn't serve any purpose. I practice law to help people as best as I can, and regardless of these thankless little shits, I tend to remind myself that you don't really need people's gratitude if they choose not to give it to you. Virtue is its own reward. Steel your will and force yourself to plough through the things that will drag you down.

Anyways, I'm not here to moan. I'm here to talk about job satisfaction. This week, I received a surprising little pick-me-up. A partner of one of the biggest law firms in Malaysia called me up to discuss one of my reported cases. We had an intellectual and academic discussion since she is coming up against a similar situation where the opponent is quoting my case as an authority in support. Basically she wanted to know how to defeat my own argument. Imagine that. 

To defeat the monster, talk to its creator to find out about its weaknesses or something. We had a quick chat, I gave her some hints (but I don't give handouts on a silver platter, no matter who you are), and at the end of the call, she told me that I did a good job on that case. 

I somehow found it to be quite a fulfilling professional accomplishment to be acknowledged and given a pat on the back from someone other than myself. Hopefully if I lose the will to practice, I can re-read this post and look back on what I've done and accomplished so far, reported or no, and be reminded that I have actually made a difference, no matter how small or unnoticed.

Well done, me. I love my job.

Sacrificing Sacrifice [part 2]

This is a continuation of my previous rant post: Finding Your Balance

Wow, what a nail-biting cliffhanger in the last post, right? No? whatever. 

Okay. Consider this: Why do babies learn faster than adults? Well, I'm not going to spout out science journals or the scientific reasons for it, but for babies, it's a whole new world out there. They are discovering things for the first time. Everything is new and shiny and pointy and adventurous. And the world doesn't switch off so the baby is constantly sponging in the experience and constantly learning except when he/she's asleep and retaining those experiences. The baby doesn't stop learning just because it's tiring and it's no longer fun. When you get into the real world, you're babies. Forget what you learned in law school, it doesn't prepare you for the big bad. It doesn't. But you 'll have a conscious choice to choose to stop learning. And if you do, you're stunting your own progress.

And if you choose work-life balance when you have not sacrificed at the altar of the law, then you're in no position to demand your due. Forget about good pay, forget about peer recognition. That is the sacrifice that you have to make. To be fair though, it's not so bad of a trade off.

Because all the sacrifice is worth nothing if at the end of the day, it isn't what you signed up for. So ask yourself, why have I picked up this profession? Why? Actually that's a stupid question. No one can really answer why. And even if they do answer, it's unlikely to resonate with you because people have different reasons for staying on.

But to me, it's your attitude that determines your longevity in any career. Those that persevere, will reap the better and just rewards, and at the same time those that tap out will also gain what they want. Is one better than the other? It depends on the person and what he wants. It's not for anyone else to say that the choices were wrong/right.

To be continued...

I used to have a...

blog, which I used to update fairly regularly back in the day (2010). Then life happened and I got busy, and then I forgot the password to my blog. Which is why I have this new one. So recently I looked up my blog, and surprisingly it's still there.

I have no way of retrieving the blog (or I just can't really be arsed), so I think I might just copy paste some of the posts on here. Who knows when it'll disappear off the web for good. Anyway, geez, I wrote some long and deep stuff there. It's also amusing how funny I am, I am still chuckling at my own jokes 6 years ago. I amuse myself. Good going, past self! It doesn't really matter if no one else finds me funny, at least future me will. lolz.

But I also have to wonder, when did I ever have the time to write all this?! Reposts soon!

Hello April 2016!

With the encouragement of a comment on one of my previous posts, I am now motivated to blog further! Thank you my dear reader (singular). I'm nothing without you.

And wow, it's almost a year til the day the Firm was formally named. There has been a lot of challenges and legal drama this past year, too much to count. There's a bit of everything. On the positive side, the Firm has been handling a lot of complex, interesting cases. Oh the drama and stories I could share! 

Handled quite a lot of injunction matters the past year, leading to my "King of Injunctions" moniker given by my small group of legal peers. I prefer Krown Prince (just so the acronym would be KPI - Malaysians are all about acronyms). Actually, I prayed for this during my trip to the Holy Land. I prayed to be blessed with work that is exciting, challenging and enjoyable so that I can continue to work and continue to love my profession - and this is one of my many prayers that had been granted by the Almighty. The other prayers - I believe will be granted in due time. I firmly believe in the law of attraction. You attract what you want. Pray for it, work hard for it, and it will come (when God wills it to).

On the negative side, setting up on my own has exposed a lot of my own flaws and weaknesses that I might have turned a blind eye to, or papered up the cracks to. Now, there's no longer anyone else to blame, no excuses to be made or had (and even if there is, it wouldn't make a difference anyway) and all it's done is that it has laid bare a lot of ugly truths that I have to face, accept and do something about. But the Firm is still going strong. Alhamdulillah.

In the personal sphere - the year has started with a lot of travelling that I might try to blog about (no promises). Langkawi during the new year was much needed after a really hectic end to the year (in which an ex-parte injunction was filed and obtained on the very second last day of the year). Shanghai was a great experience and a much needed rejuvenating holiday. Perth on my birthday was close to succeeding to top Shanghai. Almost. Have also been enjoying a quieter work schedule (work-life balance?). Also, another reminder of my mortality: A nasty food poisoning episode put me in the hospital for the first time in my life and left me there for 6 days. Oh, it's already April but a lot of my resolutions have yet to be put into action. 

But now that I have a reader, I now have a purpoise in life! Yes, I do! Targetting to double it by year's end!