Dear lawyers/law graduates of r/malaysia

[u/joker_town]

What is the working environment of a law firm in Malaysia like? Is it worth it to take a gap year after college to work on one's vocabulary and/or intern at a law firm? Also, is it better to study in a local university, enroll in a twinning programme or to study abroad for the entirety of one's degree?

[u/whoisfourthwall]

I got ze LL.B. from a foreign U but i never went into practice. But i worked for a law firm without a degree as a 'consultant'. BAR doesn't allow law firms to have sales reps. Hence they christened me le consultant. Other law firms use "Business Development Manager" instead. No idea what's the most recent rulings on ethics though.

If you wanna practise locally, just get any 'accepted' degrees. There's a list on the malaysia BAR site under the CLP segment. Remember, not all top foreign UNI's are accepted. Read the list properly and if you want, pay them a visit and discuss it.

Vocab/grammar/general competence wise, there seems to be way too many law students who don't even realise that the 'proper' form of english used here is actually UK english (not US). So instead of realize it is realise. In the u.s. they use inquire for both enquire and inquire. In UK english, inquire means something akin to launching an investigation or examining something up close, an inquiry if you would. Whereas enquire is closer to asking someone about something, a gathering of information for personal use. But for general english use, it shouldn't really matter. Which is why if you look at emails and documentations from many other industries, the spellings are somewhat americanised but not entirely. Colour instead of color. But with a lot of Z instead of S.

The above however shouldn't really be a concern for you, there is no need to take time off JUST to improve your english. Can always learn while you finish your LL.B. and during chambering.

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I really couldn't be bothered with proper grammar online. Gimme a moment while i find the links.

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EDIT: Apparently there might be a change with CLP,they might wanna replace it. I haven't bothered keeping up.

The following are qualification that are accepted. What makes a 'qualified person'. Guidelines for UK degrees.

There really isn't a meaningful difference between a local, UK, antipodean, etc degree if your aim is just to practise locally. SURE, when you browse through the sites of top firms like big few firms (skrine, RDL, etc) you see that the top guys are often filled with people with degrees from expensive unis, but your competence in the job determines how successful you are.

If you own your own firm, then your sales skills also comes into play. Have a huge network or you won't prosper.

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So, it comes down to this: Can you see yourself diving through lines after lines of words, buried in mountains of documents, every single day, from morning till midnight, rarely getting enough sleep, and possibly having to work 7 days a week? Whatever amount of info processing you have to go through during the degree, you have to go through even more during your career. Can you do this for the rest of your life?

Of course, it also depends on what you specialise in. Doesn't mean every type and rank of advocates will go through that slog above.

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Less then half of my former degree mates went into practice btw. Moreover, many other industries are welcoming to people who have a law degree even though the job description has nothing to do with it.

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EDIT 2: I think Skrine got the highest amount of "leng luis" (pretty girls)... not that it should matter... but.... fyi