worried

My upper arm and shoulder muscles are still aching from rock climbing last Sunday and tomorrow I've got to attend the 2nd of 3 training sessions. We are talking about full day training sessions from 9am to 6pm. Rock climbing is strenuous and physically demanding. I am really worried that I will fail the course. The 3-week course is extremely intensive and in my opinion, it should be spread out to 6 weeks. I mean, how can we possibly be expected to be fit enough to climb up walls (of a certain level of difficulty) for 8 hours straight (1 hour deducted for lunch). Exams will be conducted next week and I am genuinely concerned that I won't make the grades. In fact, I've never felt so concerned about the possibility of failing any exams before. Perhaps it is because my fitness will be THE determining factor in whether I pass or fail the course and I know that I am unfit. I guess I'll just have to give it my best shot and hope for the best. Wish me luck!

ludicrous

What a joke! Last week, we issued a piece of correct advice in writing but ended up with an unhappy client. Why I hear you ask. Well, the client took our written advice as meaning constructive knowledge for which he could not ignore. What was that supposed to mean? That had we just gave him oral advice, he could have ignored it and continued doing what he shouldn't be doing because oral advice does not constitute constructive knowledge? How ludicrous! And this is a seasoned legal counsel we are talking about!

More and more often I notice that nowadays, a lawyer's role is not merely to give legal advice, rather they are expected to alter their advice to suit their clients' needs. People go to lawyers to hedge their risks, legal advice is nothing more than insurance to them. If anything goes wrong, blame the lawyers, sue the lawyers. Perhaps this shift in culture has something to do with the high fees that lawyers charge. Unlike in the past when lawyers were respected and clients without question altered proposals to fit the legal advice that they received, these days, the tables are turned, clients rank supreme. Lawyers are expected to make things work for the clients, to come up with solutions to make the clients' plans work. That's what clients are paying lawyers so much money for, not just to be told whether something can be done but rather, how can it be achieved.

playing darts

Last Friday, I attended a social gathering with members of a club I belong to. The evening started off at a sports bar where we played darts. (To be honest, I only attended this particular gathering because of the darts. I have been a Hong Kong club member since July and this was my first appearance at any gathering.) Although I played darts in my bedroom back in Australia, this was the first time that I have played darts for real. Needless to say, I had trouble achieving accuracy. Some of us then proceeded to dinner at a nearby restaurant at approximately 9:45pm. It was here that I concluded that these gatherings are rather unlike the ones in Australia. The active members in Hong Kong are relatively young compared to the members in Australia. On this night, the Hong Kong members I was amongst were loud and disruptive (although alcohol from the beer they drank at the sports bar probably contributed to this behaviour). By the end of the night I was not sure that I would ever attend another one of these gatherings. I am just not the type despite the fact that we all have something in common hence our membership in the club.