Ever wish you were Mike Ross, or if minus the photographic memory, that you would possess the indispensable research skills of Rachel Zane? We all may have felt we have crashed into walls on some days doing research for our bosses and/or clients.
Fret not, experienced lawyers and academicians across different specialisations were engaged by the KLBC Pupils Committee to give the pupils a helping hand via a very relevant Legal Research Workshop.
Tsu Sheng giving the welcoming speech
Word had it that there was overwhelming response to this workshop and that seats were almost wholly filled on the second day of registration!
The first half of the workshop comprised 2 sessions to cover areas such as research methods and resources and how to effectively use tools at hand. The second half of the workshop went further to guide pupils in the presentation of search results and concluded with a session to hear about research from a practitioner’s point of view.
Dr Pathmavathy Satyamoorthy, the Malaysian Bar’s Librarian with esteemed research accolades commenced the session by introducing the legal history of Malaysia which dictates the various forms of citation formats as seen across primary and secondary legal resources. She expounded on the branches of legislation that exist in Malaysian legal sphere, ranging from Acts of Parliament to Rules and Notifications and taught the pupils how to identify the updates made to legislations accurately.
Dr Pathmavathy giving her presentation
Dr Pathmavathy’s session then moved on to explore the various sources of legal materials available in Malaysia in terms of primary and secondary resources. Aside from identifying the exact resource i.e. LexisNexis or textbooks, Dr Pathmavathy also provided guidance on how to read a law report effectively, how to find the relevant case according to different categories and more importantly, how to reconcile the use of primary and secondary resources for to aptly meet research objectives.
After gaining a better insight into understanding the form of the legal materials before the practitioners, Ahmad Hamidi Bin Abdul Rahim, a research specialist with LexisNexis took the pupils on a ride to effectively navigate through the predominant research tool across Malaysian legal spheres. This personal training from Ahmad Hamidi could not be more apt in light of their recently implemented next generation research platform Lexis Advance.
.Co-chairperson of the Pupils Committee - Rajsurian Pillai, giving Mr. Ahmad Hamidi a token of appreciation
The pupils on the day that were far from being unfamiliar to this research tool eagerly participated in this hands-on workshop. Every pupil logged onto the research portal to experiment Lexis features on the go as Ahmad Hamidi introduces navigating features that aim to enhance the research process. Such features include amongst others, focused research process via the headnotes, catchwords, subjects and legal synonyms. Pupils also had the opportunity to ask questions regarding technical difficulties encountered during the research process and sought personal guidance to either resolve them accordingly or alternatively to obtain an explanation from one of the men behind the software itself.
After being informed about the extensive legal resources available and a crash course on how to navigate through LexisNexis, Surendra Ananth, legal associate from Messrs Malik Imtiaz Sarwar led the next session to teach pupils how to reconcile these research ideals with realistic expectations and circumstances we face.
Surendra Ananth giving his tips on research
Young researchers tend to dive right into LexisNexis and cram the relevant search bar with the given research question. Instead of doing so, Surendra emphasized the importance of accurate identification and a thorough understanding of the subject matter before attempting to answer the specific question in concern. Pupils were taught to break down the specific research question into smaller concise questions that target all areas of the subject matter. Surendra took the pupils through 6 practical steps to enhance the research process in order to effectively meet the client’s needs.
The last session was conducted by Nizam Bashir, the Founder and Managing Partner of Nizam Bashir & Associates with more than 20 years of experience, Nizam shared his take on what “research” should look like and took the pupils through the art of presenting legal research.
Nizam Bashir sharing his experience
It is trite that extensive legal research without effective delivery to the appropriate target audience can be counterproductive. Pupils were taught with an essential skill of producing legal memorandums with excellent quality that reaches the correct audience within the given deadline.
The workshop was concluded with a panel Q&As before presenting Certificates of appreciation to the esteemed speakers who volunteered their time and experiences.
Top Row : Rajsurrian Pillai, Kuhan Raj, Vivian Kuan, Kee Hui Yee, Tsu Sheng
Bottom Row: Surendra Ananth, Nizam Bashir, Dr Pathmavathy Satyamoorthy,Ahmad Hamidi
- Report written by Christabelle Yap and edited by Louis Liaw, members of the Publications Committee.
If you are interested to attend KL Bar seminars for free as a reporter, like Christabelle did, join the Publications Committee here. Terms and conditions apply.
If you are interested to attend KL Bar seminars for free as a reporter, like Christabelle did, join the Publications Committee here. Terms and conditions apply.