Prelude to my musings

Have you completed your Bar exams, i.e. Law College exams and dreaming of becoming a Lawyer in Sri Lanka? or

Have you been called to the bar and officially donned the black gown and have begun to call yourself an “Attorney-at-Law”? or

Have you been dwelling as an “Attorney-at-Law” for a couple of years?

This may be for you; may be not. Up to you.

I was called to the Bar, not so long ago. I am the first Lawyer in my Sri Lankan middle class family. When I stepped into the hallowed spaces of Hulftsdorp, I was clueless. It took a while for me to figure out what’s what.

Let me cut to the chase.

I was one of the lucky ones — yes it’s mostly luck, to get a place in a wonderful Chamber under the mentorship of a brilliant Silk — or PC how most in Sri Lanka would address a Silk.

The first things I learnt being an Apprentice at a leading PC’s chamber is that it doesn’t matter you passed your undergraduate class or Law College finals with a first class, or even whether you have an LL.M. or a Ph.D.

Practicing law is quite different to academia.

It is not just about what you know, or how much you know, or even how much smart you are. It is more than that.

I decided to write this series of snippets, to share the knowledge, and the experience, I gained in my first few years in the Bar.

I am not here to pontificate about how you could become a great Lawyer, or to present you with the road map to some sorcery that would make you the best in the profession.

I am just sharing my two cents. I am sharing things, which I wish I knew earlier in my career. I am sharing things, which any second or third generation Lawyer might be accustomed with even before donning that black gown.

Yes, it is called a gown. Stop calling it a cloak.

Yes, it took me a several months in to the profession to know that it is called a gown and not a cloak.

So, my endeavour here is to share. This may be for you; may be not. Up to you.