I am currently a bvc student and had done several attachments in law firms in kl. My advise would be to do an attachment for a month or so while in the 2nd or 3 year of your law degree solely to experience the daily routines of a lawyer and what do they exactly do, which isnt exactly glamorous.

Let me start by introducing my line of work again, I am actually an Investment Banking Officer under the compliance dept but under legal.

downside:
There are tonnes of paper work involve, follow ups, human emotions to control and also to ensure that company rules and on top of that exchange requirements are complied with. The last part is probably the hardest to initiate, non-compliance would result in an audit query which would get very ugly.

upside:
One of the most feared dept and of course hated as well, anyone in Compliance practically rain supreme if you know where your footing is. The unique structure of compliance dept is such that we are answerable to the BOD instead of the Executive Dir of the company. We r called the middle office, we can walk between two worlds i.e. Front and Back Office... there is a a principle called chinese wall that seperates this two depts, because of conflict of interests. So the boss basically gives you free hand and independence to conduct your affair, implement programs and fast track to a senior position in the company as well.

I am still doing my CLp at the moment to add on to my batch of academic thropies along the way, but its by no means easy.

It's not as glamarous as being a practicing lawyer but the extra 2 pennies i earn from this job... lol ... I'm quite content. hehe

For everyone's Info...

Btw, its long hours; loads of patience; tempers flaring & guns blazing; this job survives on paper work (how good is your paper working skills depends on how you escape the auditor) and turnover for this position is estimated to be one to two years max.

Compliance Officers are divided in to the following:
1. General CO (does everything under the sun - normally smaller brokers)
2. Risk Management CO
3. Legal & Compliance CO

Job increment is accelerated pace (due to shortage/high turnover) and expect to learn alot about the market in a very short time span, because your boss will always be testing all kinds of rubbish on you (so better have all those rules at your finger tips, otherwise prepared to BS your way through).

Life after Compliance Officer...

It's not merely just in the regulatory (bursa, SC, or BNM) line, having 2-3 yrs of CO experience under your belt opens many doors in the Banking Industry.

yeap... Corporate i guess, but i will start with the basic brush up on litigation first and abit of conveyancing.

how long have you been in practice JChong, don't mind sharing which firm are you with and specialization...?

what is chambering? i can;t fully understand the term. sorry to be a burden. i just want to understand more

Don't know what u meant by Int or ext .

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Added on April 8, 2008, 7:26 pm

Maybe one day... can form a small association instead of always being controlled by the BAR Counsel, higher institution of learning that monopolize the legal market or being kicked around like football by Law firms.

No one gets left out or left behind for once.

I'm planning to have an attachment while I'm studying my degree LLB external in Brickfields. I got no problem with attachment since I will study part time and working for my dad's firm. But, how am I going to convince to my dad that this is what I want , to get ahead and gain more experience in the young age rather than being a 'fresh graduate'.

haha... never mind friend, this topic is to help future lawyers not scare them off. Will set up another topic somewhere else, of course no profession is perfect...

anyway i was day dreaming, its just something to rant about.

Overall its fine.

i just received my LLB final result and it is 3rd class.. i lack tat 2 mark to get a 2nd lower. which makes me disqualified all togother to take CLP.. i am fresh graduate law student... . and now i wonder wat else i can do with this result in order to find a job in a legal fields. .can i be a legal advisor stil? can anywan advise me on this, please?

it seems like he heard of rumours saying that becoming a lawyer doesn't earn so much nowdays . is that true ? i mean after around 10 years experience the salary still remains around 4 to 5k?

dont join the legal profession if u want to work in Malaysia.

That is my advice, I know a 50+ year old lawyer, work really hard, own office own company. Barely making ends meet, one consultant opened a law firm, quite an average sized one. Each month barely even making RM5k.

exactly. jchong, u hit the nail in the head.

i srsly don't understand the logic behind discouraging ppl from doing what they want simply from a few stories they heard from their friends how sthg is impossible to do. just bcoz a few had failed doesn't mean it will be the same for everyone. i don't believe that ppl will not succeed one day when they put in hard work and dedication and passion into their jobs or even a hobby.

everyone shld pursue their own path as they see fit. forget about how much one can earn, esply. think about ur career progressions and what do u want to gain from this lifetime with this career/degree. money is a bonus when u pursue sthg passionately.