THOUGHTS ON THE PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS AND ETHICS COURSE

If you can remember I gave my 2 cents worth on the Ethics requirements about a few months back; this is my update. So, here goes:

I attended the Professional Standards & Ethics Course in Penang from 22/05/09-23/05/09 at the Bayview Georgetown Hotel. The course spanned two days; the lectures themselves were held on the first day while the dreaded ethics examination was held on the second and final day. There were six lectures in total and they were presented by the Penang Bar lawyers.

Lectures :

The lectures themselves were just a brief overview of the respective topics as there was certainly not enough time to go in great detail. Looking around the room, I saw some genuinely interested faces while others were aching for that morning coffee to provide that much needed energy boost. If you are by any chance wondering in which particular category I fall, you shall be disappointed as I am keeping mum. Maybe that might provide an answer? The lectures covered all the topics in the Ethics materials; the lectures were definitely meant as a refresher for those who had studiously read the materials, while providing a succinct overview of the individual topics for those who had maybe left the reading until the very night before. From my observation, some chambees had already neatly tabbed the relevant pages of their materials along with highlighted sections, while others possessed materials that looked brand new without a single marking on them. It really depends on what sort of individual you are because there is no single study tactic for all. No one size fits all in that sense. There were some topics that I felt could have been covered with slightly more depth notwithstanding the time constraints. Also, a helpful suggestion would be to potentially utilise audio-visual aids to present the topics as this would certainly capture our attention and be a more effective way of teaching. However, of course it is understandable that lawyers may not have the luxury of time to indulge us chambees in this way. After all, we are meant to have done the necessary reading before the course itself. Either way I am sure that we were all grateful that these senior lawyers took their time off on a Friday to present lectures to us.

Chambees:

I was seated beside two friendly Penang chambees and was soon introduced to the rest of their cohort. From my brief observation, the Penang Bar is much akin to the Perak Bar in the sense that they are a closely knitted community and at the same time very welcoming to members of the profession outside their immediate area. I felt extremely at ease and was soon happily chatting with them about my chambering experience and the Perak Bar. Rest assured that it was all good things in respect of the latter. Due to the fact that I did not attend a pre-ethics session, which was meant to brief chambees about the requirements and structure of the ethics examination, I asked the Penang chambees about what was said. They were certainly kind enough to share the necessary information with me.

Examination:

I wish this day had never come. Certainly no one enjoys sitting for exams? We were provided a new set of materials to ensure that everything was standardized. If we were to use our own set there would definitely be ‘extra’ information scribbled along the way. We had a total of 3 ½ hours to complete a list of questions. We were frantically writing and referencing the Ethics materials for fear that we would not have enough time. All I can say is that by the time I finished, my fingers were in a permanent state of shock and numbness. Never had I written so fast and so much for a long time. The examination was simple enough in the sense that all the necessary answers were already contained in the materials themselves. All that we needed to do was to extract the relevant information and apply them to the questions. It was straightforward enough and there were no red herrings in the questions. The difficult part was allocating just enough time for each question and moving on as quickly as possible due to time constraints. My practical advice to all those who are about to take the ethics examination is this: READ & KNOW your materials. Can you pass the examination if you read the materials just the night before? Possibly. However, can you take that risk?

Conclusion:

The Ethics Course and Examination is in no way a comprehensive guide on how to be ethical. This will be something that will be left to a lawyer’s good conscience and thorough understanding of the governing laws and rules on ethics e.g. Legal Profession Act 1976, Legal Profession (Practice and Etiquette) Rules 1978, Legal Profession (Publicity) Rules 2001, Bar Council Rulings etc. One thing that I have learnt from the Ethics course is this: the importance of preserving the integrity of the Malaysian Bar by adhering to certain professional standards and yardsticks. Ethics is not just another term for being a ‘saint’ or ‘goody two-shoes’ but about respecting fellows lawyers, the Bar itself and the sanctity of law. Jokes abound about disingenuous, unscrupulous and dishonourable lawyers and often time we laugh together when such jokes are told. However, do these jokes have a substance of truth in them? Is that why the humour is so effective? Jokes aside, lawyers should zealously guard this noble profession by upholding the highest professional conduct and principles; this is something I truly believe and I hope others do too.

Submitted by Julia Tang