Okay..now I shall tell you about my work attachment at a law firm, Allen and Gledhill, one of the largest law firms in Singapore with about 300 lawyers situated at One Marina Boulevard (NTUC Centre). The firm spans 7 floors of the building! Huge, huh? Well, they have a lot of lawyers! Nearest MRT : Raffles Place.
My work attachment was for 2 weeks from the 23rd of November till the 4th of December. It's under the Junior College Law Programme (JCLP) organised by the Singapore Academy Of Law (SAL).
Our first and second day was a conference at the Supreme Court of Singapore (oohh, scary!=p)
where we were introduced to the world of law. They keep stressing the law in reality is not like what you see on Ally Macbeal or Boston Legal. Now, I've never watched those series before.
I actually never even considered law as an option as to what I want to do in life at all! At least, until now...*shrugs* Have to thank Nick for that. He asked me to go for it in the first place. So, next time if I become a successful lawyer (if I choose to go to the law profession, which seems very highly likely for now) next time, I shall remember to thank him=D
Anyhoo, the office is like 15 minutes walk from the MRT when I'm limping due to the super uberly uncomfortable court shoes we have to wear which gives us cuts and bruises [my poor little toe!=( ]. But, there are a lot of places to eat=) for example, Lau Pa Sat is within walking distance buut, trust me. Don't go there during lunch hours. Really packed and don't expect to find a place to sit. We went there on the first day of work and had to ta pao back to office to eat.
Okay, now I shall retype everything that I have typed on my iPod during the times I had to wait for Nick and Dharlynnie to get off work at the MRT station.
I just tried sending the notes over from my iPod. It works! I love iPod <333>
Okay, so this is all copy and pasted from my iPod.
Here goes!
The pitter patter of heels worn by those rushing to work in the early
hours of the morning heard as it comes into contact with the tiled
floors of the met station. I like those sounds. Reminds me of the time
when I was little and loved high heels because of the sound they made
and it made little me feel big. Clickity clack clickity clack. The
sound echoes throughout the underpass, sound waves reflecting all
over. I bet it would be a nice sight if only we could see those waves.
My phone spoilt and all I had was confidence, as unsure as I was, I
began following the other people up escalators. Upon reaching, I
caught sight of two young girls, no older than myself and decided to
give it a shot. The conversation further confirmed my thoughts. I
later have come to know them as Anne and Jesslin.
After registering with the reception, I was given a visitor's pass
sticker and an ID number. I keyed in my newly acquired code number
into the machine to allow myself into the foyer where the elevators
were. I felt adultish:)
I took the lift up to the 30th floor of the builiding. There were
already other attachees there. The lady at the reception ascorted us
up to the auditorium on the 31st floor. I saw that many other
attachees had already arrived. I took a seat near the front. The view
out of the building rocked! It was spectacular. You could see for
miles out. Buildings sprawled as far as me eye could see.
Then, at about 9.15am, we were given a briefing about the company. It
spans 7 floors of the building given that it was the largest law firm
with over 300 lawyers. The different departments were located on the
different floors. We were then told of the department we were assigned
to. I got assigned to the litigation department. There were 11 of us
assigned there. The rest got assigned to various corporate
departments. We were split into our respective departments and given a
tour of the library , old books aplenty. There were many interesting
things to see in lawyers' offices that told us more of them just by
lookibg through their offices. The offices all had glass windows for
people to look through. It was the firm's open door policy to make the
lawyers feek more relaxed and at home and also o allow people to look
in and see if they were busy before deciding whether or not to go in.
Some offices had Liverpool flags, a framed autographed Manchester
United jersey (I suppose that the whole team autographed it - it got
some of the boys excited!), Star Wars figurines and potted plants -
bonsais, and flowers. Then, we were brought to the 26th floor where we
were going around being introduced to our mentors and buddys. I got
assigned to my mentor, Loong Tse Chuan and my buddy, Koh Bi'na.
After that, we were settled into the pupils' room where the interns of
the firm were located in. But the interns were only going to be back
on the 8th December, but we would be gone by then. We each had our own
desk and, computer!!! We could access websites unrelated to
entertainment (Youtube, Facebook- these websites were firewalled).
Wikipedia, Google etc. were accesible for research. Our computer was
linked to the firm's intranet. I decided to explore the intranet and
read up on the company.
After that, I went to see my mentor. We chatted for awhile and he
asked me to come back after lunch.
For lunch, the 10 other interns and I went to Lau Pa Sat to eat. Man,
was the place packed with the lunchtime crowd! We decided to do take-
aways and eat in the office.
After lunch, I went to see my mentor and he introduced me to his other
lawyer friends. I got to know Jacqueline, Ai Min, Bryna, Farida, *I
forgot*, Ramesh.
To each, he asked if they were goig to court and to take me along if
they were. Bryna said that she had to go to court now and I followed,
borrowing her coat and despite me having worn the wrong type of shoes.
I grabbed my bag and a rushed off. Bryna was in a hurry.
*one thing I learnt, Lawyers walk damn fast!!! *
We went to the Supreme Court in a taxi, an registered with the Duty
Registrar? We were going to ask for an extension on the client's bank
guarantee that was due to be submitted the next day.
It was a short meeting. One thing I noticed, the judge was damn pretty
and that courts were not like I how imagined it to be. It was very
much technologically advanced, with computers and all.
We didn't manage to get the extension.
After reaching back, my mentor introduced me to my buddy, who was by
now, back in the office (she wasn't there in the morning when we were
having the office tour). We talked awhile and then, she gave me
something to read on a case she was working on about a breach of
contract.
She was going to Beijing or Shanghai( I forgot which) next week for
the case.
After reading and returning it, I took a few pictures, camwhored with
Melissa, Cheryl and Kendra.
Met up with Nick at the MRT station after work. (Sorry for making you
wait so long!!! - He waited for at least 30 minutes) then, waited for
Dharlynnie.
Decided to dine out. Went to Lau Pa Sat again. Ate hor fun. The gravy
was okay. Not too starchy. The kueh tiau sucked.
Then, went back, lepak in the computer lab when Ravjit called us to go
Yassin for a drink. Chatted till it was near curfew time. Went back.
Watched How I Met Your Mother till I accidentally dozed off.
End.
The next day...
Eagerly anticipating the second day. Saw Joanne in the canteen.
Thought I'd try my luck and ask if she had court shoes. Turns out she
does! Yayness!! =) It fits! Muahahah. With renewed confidence, I
happily went of to work. As we were late, we had to walk fast. My feet
hurt by the time I got to the office. It took alot of plasters and
tissue paper stuffed to protect my aching feet.
Soon, Ai Min called me to follow her for an appeal case (I forgot what
it was for!). I followed her to the supreme court. Took nearly the
whole morning to get that done as there were so many people there.
Some cases took a long time, hence, the wait.
When I got back, there wasn't anything to do, really, besides
listening in on my mentor's conference call. Didn't really get the
gist on what it was about though.
Lepaked the rest of the day.
Gonna think twice about wearing court shoes. I think my little toe's
about to fall off! Ouch...
Monday (30/11/2009)
Okay.. When I got up, I decided not to wear court formal today because
I did not think that I was going to court. Plus, Kendra wanted to
borrow my blazer and I already told her I would. Then, a lawyer, Zhuo
Neng (the cutest lawyer I've seen so far) came in to call me. I think
he called me Karen. But because I had earpieces in my ear, Karen
sounded like Carey, so I answered yes. He asked if I was going to
court. I was blur. I did not know I was supposed to go to court today!But anyways, I went with him to his office and there, I met Stephanie. She was in the corporate department, so they don't usually get to go to court. Her buddy arranged this going to court thing for her. Zhuo Neng handed me a summary on the case to read so I get what the case was about. On top of that, he shortened it further by just telling us in his own words what the case today was all about. Really made things easier to understand. We all chatted in the taxi on the way to court. He's really funny and stuff.When we got there, I had to hold onto his robe (the robe lawyers wear in court proceedings). It's black and really flowy. Haha..We went through the usual scanning procedure (like at the airport. Luggage goes through scanner; bag goes through scanner. Metal detectors and stuff). I had to leave my camera for safe-keeping at the counter because we weren't allowed to take cameras in.This trial was quite, how do you say..boring? Cause it was so technical with all the terms like Account Shortfall, Negative Equity and all that. But, I soon got the hang of it anyways.This case was handled by Ang Cheng Hock (the youngest person to become a Senior Counsel), Paul and Zhuo Neng. We were acting for the defendant.Well, what can I say, Cheng Hock really knew his stuff! I was so awed by the way he spoke, his arguments (it was as if he memorised the whole case by heart! Even where to refer to!). It got me thinking that we were winning and that we would totally trash the other party. The witness for the plaintiff kept repeating his answers. Kind of like a circular reasoning! It got irritating after a while. Cheng Hock was so obviously frustrated. But, hey! The witness was Taiwanese! ( He had that Taiwanese accent that Aaron impersonates so well. I wanted to laugh! But, not to mock him or anything.)The case ended for the day at around 4.45pm and I decided to go back to office to wait for Nick and Dharlynnie to get off work.
Tuesday (1/12/2009)
Second day of the case. The tables turned. Today, they questioned the witness for the defendant and I really doubted whether we would actually win or not. I accidentally dozed off on a couple of occasions because I slept too late the previous night. Oops! The policeman on watch had to keep motioning to Stephanie to wake me up. So did the orderly (the guy who attends to the judge, the one who hands the judge documents and announces the judge's arrival.). I felt so embarrassed! But, seriously, it was not because the case was boring (although it was, but it was not the cause for my dozing off!)We were not supposed to sleep in the court. It's a sign of disrespect. Big whoops!Today, we were supposed to go for the welcome forum for us attachees. But, because we really wanted to watch and see who was the witness for the defendant, we asked for permission to skip the forum, which was graciously granted=) Zhuo Neng helped us to ask too. I felt lucky for not going to the forum because the others got to promote the firm to the other lawyers as a challenge. And the lawyers asked stuff like, can we pay in chocolates? T.TThe case ended at around 4.30pm. Did not want to go back to office after that so, Kendra and I just loitered around the unexplored places in Raffles Place MRT. Like, the mini mall where there were lots of food to eat.
Wednesday (2/12/2009)
Third and final day of the case. It ended around 10.30am. We met Benjamin at court too. He said the others were also coming later to watch whichever open cases were on. Cheryl, Kendra and I left early after the case ended to find shoes for Kendra because her existing ones hurt real badly. We went to Charles and Keith, waited for the shop to open (stood like a couple of shoe-crazy people outside the shop, peering in, then walked away coz even though it was already 11am, the shopkeepers were still busy talking amongst themselves and refusing to open the door to let us in. We came back later of course, after getting a dose of music over at HMV.)
Then, ate lunch at JustAcia. Had the fish covered with cheese and mayo. Damn good...
After that, went back to office to lepak the rest of the day. Played UNO. Haha..
Thursday (3/11/2009)
Followed my mentor to court. Waited like some 2 and a half hours to see the judgee because of unforeseen circumstances, hence, we left the office late and missed the slot. The judge was really scary. Was actually looking forward to having lunch with my mentor, but because we were late and took too much time in court (he has tons of work piling up), he can't exactly make it for lunch.=(
Today was Starbucks Free Coffee Day! Just by donating any amount to the Salvation Army, wwe could get a tall beverage of our choice for free!!! FREE STARBUCKS!!!! *drools*
Supposed to go with Dhar and Nick but Dhar had to get trophies for her farewell party the next day and Nick last minute said he would be late (the free giveaway would be over at 7pm. It was already 6.15pm). So, I decided to go to Plaza Sing to wait for Nick if he even wanted to go get the free drink still.=.= At the same time, I hunted around for presents to give to my mentor and the lawyers who took me to court. Settled with buying muffins and a mug for my mentor. Didn't get the Starbucks. Heard the queue was friggin long anyways. *Shrugs*
Then, at night, chilled with Shing Yee because she was going back the next day=(
Friday (4/11/2009)
Last day of work attachment. Went to office and we started to camwhore and go around giving presents to our mentors and buddies. Took pics with them too.
Went late for the farewell briefing. We Litigation department people earned an infamous reputation for ourselves that day, being known as the "ones who were late". haha..
The speech by the lawyer was really inspiring! I felt myself want to be a lawyer even more!
After that, we went for lunch. Went to Burger King. Then, left for court for the final closing ceremony. Very boring. So many people ponned. There were pretty lame presentations. LOL..
After everything, Nick and I decided to lepak awhile at Suntec despite us having not finished packing our luggages yet (we were going home the next day).XD
Lepaked at HMV for an hour plus, I think, listening to the CDs of Justin Bieber, Michael Buble (I SO WANT HIS ALBUM!!!!), Rihanna, Adam Lambert, Susan Boyle, Glee and other random artists. (Yes, I know! So good right? They let you listen there! I suppose it's so that if you like the music, then you would buy the disc. Like sampling..LOL..But, of course, then there are people like us, who listen, like it, go back and download it! XD)
Then, at Suntec, just outside, there was a dance performance by an Australian dance company. It was sooo cool. Puts our school's dance society to shame. The little kids (I think they were about 4 or 5 years - youngest) were sooo flexible! Their dance routines were superb! There were teens, guys and girls. All really good. We were practically glued there the whole performance! (We started watching halfway till the end.) Then, decided to eat Pastamania coz Nick said there was a discount if we went there at 8.30pm. So we waited...and waited...(I forgot whether this was the time he made me climb up and down the stairs near the Fountain of Wealth like an idiot. LOL...) Finally, we could wait no more and decided to head back instead. (By then, it was 7.50pm.)
Talked about religion on the journey back.
Funny thing, by the time we reached back, it was 8.30pm! Haha..just the time we were supposed to eat PastaMania. Lol..
Packed my luggage. Had boxes of it. Kept going back and forth from Caesar and Shubh's room to get tape and boxes (Thank you for the boxes Caesar!).
Then, after I finished packing, went out to canteen for a chat with Jonathan, Bao, Nick, Shubh, Kevin, Caesar. Also ate Korean instant noodles (2 packets shared between Caesar, Nick and I). It was late, I know...but we were sooo hungry!!!
Saturday (5/11/2009)
Got up early to finish packing loose ends. Went over to see how Nick was coping with packing. Poor guy wasn't even finished yet! Had loads of stuff to carry back! Luckily Shubh was following him to the bus terminal, otherwise, I wasn't sure he could manage all those stuff! He was so packed that he couldn't bring much clothes back!
Left the hostel at about 1 something pm.
Bye McNair! Hello JB!=)
*See Facebook for pics of work attachment!=) Lazy to upload it yet! Haha..will do it eventually..
