SINGAPORE – A guide for young lawyers showing what kind of courtroom experience they should have in the first seven years of their career was released on Monday.
Developed by members of the Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) in consultation with judicial bodies and members of the Singapore Law Institute, this guide ensures that young litigators have the right opportunity to hone their oral defense skills. It is intended to
Oral defense, the skill of presenting oral arguments in court, has been identified as the most pressing area of inadequate opportunities for junior lawyers.
Launched by Judge Andre Maniam on the SAL grounds in The Adelphi, the guide shows the milestones young lawyers seek to achieve at three different levels of their careers.
For example, by the end of the first level or first three years, they must have experience as lead counsel at procedural hearings and certain substantive hearings.
Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon said in the introduction to the guide, “As cases grow in complexity and value, clients naturally prefer to have their opinions handled by senior counsel.
“This can pose a problem if junior counsels have less opportunity to take the lead, especially since a lawyer’s skills are best developed through practice and hands-on experience.”
At the inauguration, Judge Maniam said:
“Likewise, raising the bar for junior litigators is good for Singapore as a professional, client, court and dispute resolution hub.”
This guide is tailored to the area where the lack of opportunity is felt most acutely: civil and commercial litigation.
Patrick Ang, managing partner of Rajah & Tann, said that clients in civil litigation matters are more likely to have young lawyers discuss their issues in court because they have more choice among partners in different companies. I said I didn’t want it.
Monica Chong, a partner at WongPartnership, said that as young litigators now know how they stand compared to industry benchmarks, the guide will increase transparency and empower them to He said he would be able to monitor developments.
Both Ang and Chong contributed to this guide. This guide builds on other initiatives to expand opportunities for junior lawyers to represent clients in court.
In 2018, SAL spearheaded a pledge by 21 law firms to provide more of these opportunities.
