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Civil Litigation: Sabah phenomenon

Letter To The Editor

Dear Sir,

Not a day goes by without the newspapers in Sabah carrying pictures of grinning lawyers standing next to their Clients.

This is a scam by lawyers who “lose” 90 per cent of their cases except where they are photographed grinning ear to ear outside the courthouse with their Clients.

The purpose of the picture in the newspapers scam — the photographer/reporter concerned usually gets at least RM 200 from the lawyer concerned — is to attract even more Clients.

The real story is that Clients who don’t appear in the newspapers with their lawyers invariably “lose” their cases.

This is because the lawyer will do a deal with the other side and do a number on the Client who will eventually be sacrificed after being fleeced over many years.

The truth is stranger than the fiction.

Ninety per cent of civil litigation case don’t go into Court — in most cases because the lawyers do a number on Clients after taking money — or for Trial.

Clients must not rush to see a lawyer the moment that they have a civil litigation problem.

A lawyer is the LAST person they need to see.

It’s better for Clients to file their own cases in Court after drafting them with the help of someone who knows how to make submissions. Such help need not be a lawyer but someone who knows how to draft very well and can therefore make out a compelling case.

Most lawyers have very poor language and drafting skills and rely on oral submissions or cross examination in Court. They can’t even draft a simple letter in English or Malay.

Clients need a lawyer only to appear in Court after a Trial date is secured and to make oral representations for an out-of-court settlement or to take the matter to Mediation Court or failing both approaches, prepare for Trial. Here, lawyers are needed for citations re the law and authorities.

Lawyers will generally claim that they have to do a lot of legal research but this is just bullshit to fleece Clients. Legal research is available online at the touch of a button.

Lawyers are not allowed to be present in Mediation.

Contrary to popular belief, Courts don’t determine the direction of a civil litigation case or its outcome but they can help by way of Order for Directions.

Under our adversial system in Court, the parties to a conflict determine the direction of a case and also determine the outcome by the manner in which they draft and file submissions.

The Court merely draws the outcome of a case from the submissions of the parties in conflict.

Besides Mediation Court, lawyers are not allowed to be present at the various Tribunals which sometimes are held at the courthouse. These include Land Office, Immigration, JPN, Customs, Income Tax, Labour, Industrial Relations, Housing, Consumer, Small Claims, Marriage, Arbitration (lawyers allowed with permission but not necessary) etc etc

Get hold of a copy of the High Court and subordinate court rules for reference and study them.

Thank you

Adichan Pudichan

30 comments:

  1. The people must be careful when choosing their lawyers, not based on how many times they appearance on the newspapers but based on their credibility and good name.

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    Replies
    1. Betul tu..lawyer ni mungkin ada juga yang tipu2 minta bayar lebih pada client apa lagi yang dari kampung2.

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    2. There are many lawyers out there overcharge their clients especially villagers who come seek for an advice from them.

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    3. Lawyers shouldn't take advantages of the villagers, especially those who are literate and not well informed.

      sabah-go-green.blogspot.com

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    4. Lawyer pun ambil kesempatan? Siapa lagi rakyat boleh harapkan?

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    5. Harapkan peguam boleh memberi perkhidmatan dan bayaran yang berpatutuan.

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  2. Thanks for the exposure, Adichan Pudichan.

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  3. Pernah jumpa lawyer yang tak layak jadi lawyer.betul2 tidak pandai berhujah.

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    Replies
    1. bukan semua lawyer hebat.. dorang bila ada sesuatu kes, baru nk rujuk buku akta..

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    2. contohnya macam peguam Roderick di mahkamah Sabah..

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  4. Dengar2 buka fail saja pun sudah RM1k..betulkah kerja lawyer lumayan?

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    Replies
    1. There are many lawyers who tend to talk big but when it comes to executing their job, they tend to be slow.

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    2. Maybe they are not lawyers but 'loyar buruk'.

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  5. Some of the lawyer did not have good attitude but some of them are okay to get in touch with.

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  6. Lawyer must be not do something for a money, they should help the people not because of money.

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    Replies
    1. Nowadays, everything is money. If we are lawyers, then we will know the real situation.

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  7. As a lawyer they should be more professional.

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    Replies
    1. Betul tu, tanggungjawab mereka adalah untuk menegakkan keadilan, bukan mementingkan keuntungan sahaja.

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    2. sebagai profesional mereka perlu bersikap baik dan tidak mementingkan duit semata.

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  8. Kadar perkhidmatan peguam mahal gila. Siapa yang mampu bayar.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Penguam bela tetap akan disediakan kepada mereka yang tidak mampu untuk mengambilpenguam peribadi. Jangan ko risau.

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  9. They are here to suck the people money.

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  10. Rakyat kurang faham dengan prosedur dan bayaran peguam.

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  11. Sebagai satu bidang profesional seharusnya perlulah berpegang dengan pendirian sebagai seorang penguam yang seharusnya.

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    Replies
    1. tugas harus dilakukan dengan profesional dan jujur.

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  12. Mungkin peguam perlu lebih menjelaskan dengan terperinci akan cara pembayaran sehingga jumlah yang sepatutnya untuk dibayar. Jangan menimbulkan kekeliruan kepada pelanggan.

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  13. jika memerlukan perkhidmatan peguam, pilihlah yang ada rekod dan imej yang baik.

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    Replies
    1. setuju, pilihlah yang ada rekod dan imej yang baik.

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  14. lakukanlah tugas dengan penuh tanggungjawab dan jujur. itu yang penting.

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  15. "lawyer" kadang2 boleh jadi "liar"..

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