My Internship experience at RWY – Cheah Yee Ling

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.