11 May, 2016
This article was submitted by the authors of the book.
“Justice, Courts and Wigs” — That is what most of the bright eyed high school graduates would think about our overglamourised profession with the proliferation of dramas such as Damages and Suits. This perception translates into a generation of law students who got into law school and instantly realised that this profession is not for them.
And what happens to them in law school? They turn into automatons — memorising and regurgitating case law and statute alike, all while having no idea of the skills and expectations employers have when they eventually graduate (hopefully within 5 years!). Is there a wonder why the law firms polled by the Bar Council in 2012 said that the quality of the majority of first year lawyers were “shockingly low”?
Kenneth Chung decided that he was going to do something to change this and started the Hotshot Series.
Review of the Book
The project started with a bang, with the conception of the idea and pilot stage winning the 2012 Youth Leadership Academy, as the best social entrepreneurship award organized by McKinsey & Co. Along with a team of three other law students/graduates (New Su Ann, Andreanna Ten Maven, and Nabila Hussain) and a good 2-3 years of hard work later, a guidebook was compiled and published by Lexis Nexis Malaysia.
“The Hotshot Series: The Legal Line” is the ultimate compendium for aspiring hotshot lawyers, answering the questions we as authors had when we were students. It consists of over 50 interviews with practitioners and non-practitioners in the legal line, condensed in 300++ pages of content packaged in witty writing and sarcastic humour! It is accessible because it was written by a group of students, who quite frankly just got bored with the usual boring career guides out there, which were neither here nor there in terms of comprehensiveness of information, and sounded like some boring documentary on Swiss cheese.
“The Hotshot Series: The Legal Line” is the first of its kind in the market — giving an end-to-end (from picking a law school to Chambering) advice on how to be a lawyer (or consider other professions with a law degree), and is relevant to students deciding if law is right for them, students picking a law school, and law students looking forward to practice.
The book is split into three parts:
Pre-Studies
During Studies
Beyond Studies
There is special emphasis given in the book about professional development, rather than just being informative — we listed the top key skills desired by employers among recent graduates, action items for students to understand the key skill, develop it at an early stage and learn to display it during interviews and in their resumes! It is hoped that students, armed with this information at an early stage, would have an idea of what awaits them in practice and start accumulating the skills that they would need in the future.
The content is completely neutral — students won’t be bombarded with unwanted advertisements. Plus, there is little to minimal “buttering up” of the picture painted of practice / law school experience. We, the authors made a point to stress both the good parts and bad parts of law studies and practice, so students are completely clear on what they are getting themselves into.
The Hotshot Impact
Additionally, as part of the team’s social impact plan, part of the proceeds of the book will be rechanneled to contribute complimentary copies in support of the Teach for Malaysia programmes, to aid students in High-need schools. This is done because the team behind the book believes that making such information easily accessible is part of providing equal opportunity to all students, regardless of their socio-economic background, and this is vital in the long term, to re-invigorate the quality of law graduates in the future.
Reaching out to the team
The Hotshot Department is interested in working together with you to reach as many potential and current law students to ensure that Malaysia has a steady and sustainable pipeline of outstanding legal professionals. So please recommend us to your friends and family — essentially anyone who might be in contact with the next Hotshot lawyer.
Any individuals/firms, who are interested to donate more copies of the book through the Hotshot Impact, can drop an email through kenneth.chung.yk@gmail.com. This is the first step in a long journey to revitalize the quality of our law graduates, but hopefully with the support of the legal fraternity, this will be an impactful first step.
The book is sold at RM49.90, and can be bought through the following channels:
MPH Bookstore (nationwide)
Kinokuniya
Pustaka Minerva Bookstore, Jalan Tar
Various University Bookstores
Lexis Nexis Online Bookstore
