About Legal Skills: A Complete Guide
Legal Skills: A Complete Guide, available in Hardcopy and ProView E-book, and consisting of 5 Parts and 13 Chapters.
As part of our ongoing efforts to fill the training gap for law firms and lawyers in Singapore, our Founder, Ms Sim Khadijah Binte Mohammed, published Legal Skills: A Complete Guide (Sweet & Maxwell, 2019), the first comprehensive guide on legal skills written from the Singapore perspective.
Legal Skills: A Complete Guide is organised into 5 major Parts, covering virtually every aspect of lawyering.
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Part I focuses on legal research, case analysis, statutory interpretation, legal strategy, and written advocacy, including how to prepare research memorandums, legal opinions, pleadings, affidavits, written submissions, and criminal representations.
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Part II explores both first instance and appellate oral advocacy, paying special attention to dealing with questions from the Bench, dealing with stage fright, dissecting and analysing a first instance judgment, and attacking or defending the judgment at the appellate stage.
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Part III shines a light on ADR, the different roles that Counsel play in negotiation and mediation, how to prepare for ADR, and what to do when ADR fails.
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Part IV addresses general skills in legal practice, including client care, time management for lawyers, and self-care for professional longevity.
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Part V is a bonus section containing additional guidance for law students on surviving and thriving in law school, and the application documents necessary for transitioning from law school to legal practice.
A special feature of the book is the availability of Quick Guides that provide legal practitioners and law students with swift and informative guidance at a glance. The book also contains helpful samples and precedents for each topic. It is crafted with the legal practitioner and law student in mind, and written from the unique perspective of one who has argued as Counsel, decided as Judge, assisted parties in ADR as Counsel and as Mediator, and trained professionals and students as Legal Skills Instructor.
To purchase an autographed copy of Legal Skills: A Complete Guide, please complete the following order form.
Book Launch – Legal Skills: A Complete Guide
Our Founder and author of Legal Skills: A Complete Guide, speaking at the book launch.
On 9 October 2019, in partnership with the National University of Singapore (NUS) Faculty of Law, our Founder, Ms Sim Khadijah Binte Mohammed, launched her book Legal Skills: A Complete Guide (Sweet & Maxwell, 2019).
The book launch was attended by faculty members, students and guests. Professor Simon Chesterman (Dean, NUS Law) opened the event with a welcome speech highlighting the unique and comprehensive subject matter explored in the book. This was followed by an introduction by Associate Professor Eleanor Wong (Vice Dean, Student Life & Global Relations and Director, Legal Skills Programme, NUS Law) who discussed the significance of the book written by her former student.
The author then explained the inspirations behind the book and her overall objective of producing an easy-to-read guide containing all the foundational skills necessary for young lawyers and law students to survive and thrive in the profession. She emphasised the importance of ensuring that such guidance is available across the board, and expressed the hope that the book would form the basis for a standardised syllabus across the three local law schools in future.
The audience also had the privilege of listening to guest speaker, Justice Steven Chong (Judge of Appeal, Supreme Court of Singapore) share his thoughts on the book and its author, whom he had known since she was a young pupil practising at his firm, Rajah & Tann LLP. Justice Chong also gave a riveting speech, in which he shared his tips on having a successful litigation career and many “war stories” from his time as a young lawyer.
The event ended with a lively Panel Discussion and Q&A session, chaired by Associate Professor Eleanor Wong. Topics discussed included skills training support in the Singapore legal market, challenges faced by young lawyers today, and the personal experiences of both panellists as students and as young associates.
The audience, consisting of faculty members, students, and guests of the author.
The author giving a short speech on the inspirations behind the book, and a brief explanation of its contents and structure.
Students of the author in the audience, enjoying her jokes.
Guest speaker, Justice Steven Chong, Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court, giving a speech on his tips for a successful litigation career and sharing “war stories".
Panellists Justice Steven Chong JA and the author, with Chairperson Associate Professor Eleanor Wong, during the Panel Discussion and Q&A.
Dean Simon Chesterman and members of the audience enjoying the panellists’ answers to some cheeky questions.
Associate Professor Eleanor Wong congratulating her former student on the successful publication.