Asia One .com reports that the Singapore Academy of Law has published new reference guide entitled A Civil Practice – Good Counsel For Learned Friends designed to help “awyers should behave and conduct themselves professionally” according to Singapore’s Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong.
Asia One.com write
LAWYERS, take note: Always drink water from a glass or a cup – never a plastic bottle – if you must have a drink while addressing the court.
And avoid “dramatic reactions” such as sniggering, nodding, sighing or shaking your head when evidence is presented.
Here’s the report in full
http://news.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Singapore/Story/A1Story20110311-267469.html
Describing the 93-page booklet as “small but substantial”, Chief Justice Chan said that it “spells out in plain English a proud tradition of the English Bar which our own Bar has preserved”.
It was the Chief Justice himself who provided the impetus for the book, having mentioned on Jan 7 last year – during his speech for the opening of the last legal year – that he hoped to see lawyers maintain the dignity of the profession.
He said yesterday: “Ethics and etiquette sometimes overlap, but they are not the same.” The event was attended by 120 law practitioners and law students.
The academy will hand out copies of the booklets to its 8,000 members and new lawyers called to the Bar this year.
The Singapore Institute of Legal Education will also give free copies to its students this year and next year.
Five experienced law practitioners – senior counsel Vinodh Coomaraswamy and Stanley Lai; Mr Adrian Tan; Mr Anand Nalachandran; and Ms Teh Hwee Hwee, Senior Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court – contributed to the booklet.
Associate Professor Locknie Hsu of the Singapore Management University’s School of Law furnished 10 illustrations.
The booklet is written in a tongue-in-cheek manner, and its cover resembles that of the Singapore statute book.
Mr Tan, 44, who also penned the hit 1988 fiction novel The Teenage Textbook, said that the publication was intended to be more of a “prevention than a cure”.
He added: “We received feedback from all types of legal people, including the judiciary and practitioners and the Law Society.
“I don’t think there’s another book in the world that tells you how to drink water in court.”
Second-year law student Shiah Zi Han, 22, from the Nationa l Uni v e r s i t y of Singapor e , agreed that the booklet would come in handy. “A new lawyer generally learns about courtroom etiquette from his seniors at the firm. But how would you know if a certain way of doing things is etiquette and not preference? That’s where a guide comes in handy,” said Mr Shiah.
The booklet is priced at $20 (before GST) and will be available in major bookstores from Monday.
