I volunteered to be witness for my friend's trial advocacy on Monday. It was held in Allen and Gledhill, one of the big 4 law firms in Singapore. This is my first time to one of the big 4 firm, and I was eager to see how such a firm looks like. I was indeed quite impressed with the decor of Allen and Gledhill. It bore a resemblance to the law firms in the law-series American dramas I have watched on television such as Boston Legal and Suits. It had a clean minimalistic feel, a spacious layout. Quite a contrast to the cramped, stuffy work environment I saw when I interned at Martin and Partners. We waited at a boardroom for my friend's trial advocacy tutor who was playing the mock trial judge. There was a large oval-shaped boardroom table in the room. "Do you know what these two metal traps on the table are?", my friend asked. "Dustbins?" I replied. "No, they actually conceal power sockets. Cool huh? Short of being laptops." One of the walls of the room was made of glass and I could see through it the landscape of the Central Business District area from the heights of the office.
It sure must feel good to work in such a cool firm. I could only imagine working in such a firm as a lawyer, and peering out over the city from the confines of my office after a hard day of work. The feeling of prestige that it gives. Reminds me of the colourful character Denny Crane played by William Shatner in the show Boston Legal. As he overlooks the skyline of Boston from the balcony of his law firm, he muse to himself, "This is my city, my domain". The ancient men were not very different. In the book of Daniel 4:30. King Nebuchadnezzar was walking on the roof of his palace in Babylon, and he said to himself,
"Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty" As with Nebuchadnezzar who was struck with madness, so was it with Denny Crane, whose Alzheimer disease dwindled him down to a shadow of a man he once was.
The trial advo tutor of my friend who played the mock trial judge was a man by the name of Jason Chan. A partner of the firm, in his 30s, bespectacled, crew hair cut, a mild moustache, and a distinctive upper class Singapore English accent. My friend told me that he won the prestigious Jessup cup when he was a student at NUS law school. The year 1 girl who played the witness for my friend's opposing counsel was totally gushing about him after the mock trial. "Oh, he's so sharp...so eloquent......so successful at so young an age....I think he is just in his 20s?....and he is already a partner of the firm at his age...do you think he is married?"
The mock trial proceeded apace. I rattled out the information as a witness for the Examination-in-chief segment from the script my friend gave to me. And then I was cross-examined. I tried to make things as difficult for the opposing counsel. "It was 3am in the night, and you said in your confidential statement that you could see the loots the robbers were carrying?", "There were street lights", I replied. "You said you were certain that the 3 men were robbers, yet you did not tell your sister whom you accuse of harboring them about it?""I say that I am certain only in retrospect". I think I did a fairly good job playing an adverse witness.
I am afraid I can't say the same about playing prosecution for my own mock trial. I encountered the same problems that I did when giving my criminal law presentation and delivering my moot at the preliminary rounds for the AG cup. I found it hard to do more than one thing at the same time, whether it is to listen to opposing counsel and note down what he says, or to read from my script and internalize what I am saying, or listen to the opposing witness testimony during cross-examination and adjust my case theory. It doesn't help that I have been suffering from a bad chronic tension headache which makes it difficult for me to think. I don't know why I find it difficult to hold on to my train of thought. I stammered, had trouble flipping my notes to the correct page, had attention lapses of what the opposing counsel was saying, was straining to think out the correct words to say. I was a wreck.
Professor Lim Lei Theng played the judge for my mock trial. I told her that I had similar problems with mooting. She was understanding, gave me feedback that she could observe that I had the innate ability to articulate, and I could organize better by using ring files and tabbing the documents, that I should try out more trial advo and mooting competitions, and that I could join a toastmaster's club to learn to be a better presenter. I suppose I am contented with passing with a C+ for trial advo. I don't think I could have done any better, and the grades could have been worse.
Sigh....I hope that God has a plan for me in life. I think I will join the toastmaster's club.
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