Malik Imtiaz – Founder of Messrs Malik Imtiaz Sarwar

On the 3.9.2016 the Malaysian Bar’s National Young Lawyers Committee organised a Teh Tarik Session with prominent lawyer Dato Malik Imtiaz (herein “MI”) at Straits Food Company, Bangsar. I was fortunate to be able to attend the event and took home with me invaluable advice and insights.

I write this article here to share what I learned from the event for the benefit of Legal Eaglet’s readers, though I concede that there may be misinterpretations / omissions / errors on what was discussed, which I apologise in advance.

Creating a Presence in the Industry

Most people in the industry are familiar with the achievements of MI, many however do not know how he got to where he is, and thus that was the first topic we ventured into.

When asked how he received the opportunities to advocate at superior courts when he was a junior lawyer (which allowed him to develop his competence now), he gave the advice that one must be courageous enough to offer him/herself i.e. to handle files by him/herself. He said that he would go to partners of his firm to offer to handle “hopeless” cases, which would not only give him the opportunities of learning he wanted but also if out of 10 of these cases he wins 3, he would have impressed the partners.

Additionally, he would also not be afraid to contact solicitor firms to seek for counsel work (advocacy in court), offering a lower rate as an inducement. He said that that was particularly important when he first started his own firm.

Therein, the more files he handled naturally meant that he became better at what he does, and also naturally higher competence meant more files came his way. Moreover, through the frequency of court appearance, he also built better rapport with the judges of the court, and was more “seen” at court. The latter may even lead to referrals by other lawyers who were present and witnessed his excellent advocacy.

With that, once embarked on this positive upward spiral, it is no wonder over time MI became the top counsel he is now.

How did he improve and any tips for the young lawyers?

When asked how he acquired the skills he possesses now aside from actual practice in court, MI said it is by observing in court. Watching and adopting other’s techniques and lines of argument is one way to improve but honest self-evaluation after every case is also necessary.

MI also suggested that if possible, juniors should follow the senior counsel to court even if it was only to sit at the bar without active contribution. This is because it is only through being involved directly and observing from the counsel’s bench that one can really learn, as opposed to sitting at the gallery.

Mistakes of juniors

One of the participants then asked MI what are the common pitfalls of junior advocates. He answered that a common mistake made by juniors is that they are always reading as opposed to submitting and/or talking to the judges. Looking down at your papers and reading not only inhibits the projection of your voice and the persuasiveness of your arguments but most importantly also meant that you are not observing the facial expression of the judges. Consequently, the counsel would not know which part of the argument intrigues the judges and which part annoys or are not persuasive to them. MI says that a good counsel would be able to internalize his arguments and present them in full while answering the judges’ questions as they come.

Success in court

MI then mentioned that judges tend to prefer an easy solution over a ground-shaking, far-reaching decision. As such, a counsel should restrain from pursuing the perfect or idealistic decision, (setting a landmark precedent for example), as they may find themselves disappointed. This is not an insult towards the judges for lack of courage but is something understandable considering their every decision has wide and lasting implications, sometimes lasting decades before it is overruled. Thus, judges being slightly conservative and risk-averse should be expected. As counsel, it is, therefore, better to strategise and reach for the low-hanging fruit, which though it may not be ideal, is in the best interest of your client. Something is better than nothing at all.

Additionally, try to be concise and go straight to the point. Judges neither desire your academic arguments, nor do they think your case is as important like you do. To them, it’s just another case. As such, do not pressure judges and seek to boil down cases into simple issues and preferably 1 or 2 only. This of course is not a blanket rule and is often easier said than done, which is perhaps why MI, who is able to fold 16 issues into 1 when presenting his case, is a top advocate.

Human Rights, Public Interest and Lawyering

Malik Imtiaz then shared his thoughts on activism and human rights. He said he used to be at the front line of activism, for example being HAKAM chairperson. However, over the years he realized that a person being too vocal outside his/her legal profession may affect his/her ability as a lawyer, whether in terms of having less time for work or being labeled as a rebel by judges. As such to him personally, he thought that his highest interest is still to be an advocate in court and therefore decided to focus on activism within the judicial system, for example taking public interest or human rights cases.

Final remarks

There were more that were discussed during that near 3 hours session but to avoid making this post too long, I would round off this article with some of his concluding thoughts and advice.

1. Develop a methodology of reading briefs and research that suits you. This is so that you have a definite system, that you can repeatedly use, tighten, and improve.
2. Advocacy at court is never about yourself, never for your ideals, or for you to look cool. Be practical, and converse with judges. A calm collected conversation is much more persuasive.
3. Be extremely precise and careful in your daily practice, whether in writing letters or when preparing bundles. Cases have been thrown out before due to bad preparation of bundles I.e. not tabbing or not highlighting.
4. Make an effort to develop a relationship with the court officers and interpreters, you need them more than you can imagine.

With that, the discussion came to an end. Needless to say the participants, myself included, enjoyed the session and learned a ton. Dato Malik Imtiaz is no doubt one of our country’s top advocates. I look up to him but definitely hope that one day I can surpass him.

Special thanks to National Young Lawyers Committee for organising this wonderful event.