During my summer holidays I had the
opportunity to intern at RWY in the month of September. I am extremely grateful
for the opportunity given to me for the reasons which I will espouse below.
Mr Yip unfortunately was away for roughly 3 out of 4 weeks of my
internship. However, that did not affect my internship as there were plenty of
capable lawyers at the firm to guide me through tasks. While it could be said
that the time I chose to be at the firm was unfortunate due to the lack of
cases being heard at court, I would argue otherwise. While Mr Richard was
extremely apologetic that several cases that were scheduled to be heard at
court were adjourned, I have no regrets with joining the firm as I still had
the chance to attend several court hearings. This was extremely valuable as it
exposed me to how the court functions, and how a lawyer is to conduct oneself
in court, as opposed to what has been popularised on television, where lawyers
stroll in and argue a case. It has also taught me that there is a lot of
background work that has to be done before an argument can be won, or even to
determine whether an argument can be made.
During my time with the firm, besides watching court proceedings, I
managed to transcribe cases, attend meetings with clients, observed how Mr
Richard gave a presentation to a room full of potential litigants on the
strengths and weaknesses of their case, assisted the sorting out of documents,
and even helped in the organising of RWY’s very first sports law conference,
where I was even allowed to tag along to a meeting with the Sports
Commissioner!
I also learned how to do the more “trivial” things as some would
call it, such as photocopying, faxing and mailing letters. However, I must say
that these tasks were actually extremely eye-opening as I have never came
across a situation where I had to utilise a fax machine or send a letter, what with
the existence of e-mails. I’ve learnt that these tasks, though seemingly inconsequential,
are actually vital to the smooth running of a firm. These are things that are
never taught in a classroom and can only be learnt through experience.
One other aspect that I was extremely grateful for is how I was
treated as an equal. Mr Richard, as well as all the associates treated me as a
lawyer, and not just an intern. While my knowledge of the law was still rather
shallow at the time of my internship (having just finished my first year of
legal studies) everyone at the firm was very patient and took time out of their
busy schedules to explain to me the facts and issues of a case, and what legal
principles could possibly apply in those situations.
All in all, the brief one month
spent at RWY was definitely time well spent for me. The things that I picked up
from this internship were things that just are not taught in university – they
are skills that can only be acquired through hands-on work within the field. I
would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at the firm for accepting
me, and for allowing me to gain invaluable insights into the many complexities
of the legal world.
