The Long Call

As I have mentioned yesterday, my Long Call was on 7^th May 2010.

(Long Call is the ceremony where the Padawan is conferred a Jedi status or in my case, to be enrolled as an Advocate and Solicitor).

I managed to get a good friend of mine, a senior partner in one of the biggest firm in KL to move my call. I knew him back when I was a legal executive at the KLRCA. I was indeed honoured when he agreed to move my call.

Briefly, this is what would happen in court.

When a mover moves a call, it means that he will be representing the person who wants to be enrolled as a lawyer (the petitioner) to speak to the judge informing the court about the petitioner’s family and education background, what people thought about the petitioner and whether the petitioner is a fit and proper person to be and Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court.

Apparently, the practice is to prepare your own *angkat bakul* speech and give it to your mover and he will read it for you.

After the speech, the Attorney General’s Chambers, the Bar Council and the local Bar Committee will rise to inform the judge that they have no objection to the petitioner’s petition. The Judge would then instruct the Registrar to enroll the petitioner as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court.

The mover will then call the petitioner’s master to robe the petitioner. This is where the master would walk to the petitioner and take the petitioner’s robe and put it on the petitioner as a symbolic gesture that the petitioner is now an Advocate and Solicitor.

There would be about 10-12 individuals per session.

Lucky for me, I was the last.

I say that I was lucky because I was not informed of the rehearsal session. The rehearsal session is where all the petitioners would get a briefing from a very senior lawyer about the do’s and don’ts as well as the steps and bows needed to be made on that day. Since I was the last one, I just observed the rest and generally got the idea on how to do it.

My mover was the best mover ever. When he arrived, I introduced him to my family. Then he got my draft orders and got everyone’s name and signature for me.

I did not prepare my own speech. When I asked him, he said that all he needed was my CV. I gave him my CV and the personal appraisal that I got from my previous boss. He said that was enough.

On that day, when every other petitioners were running to and fro from their mover correcting their speech, I asked mine if he had any draft. He replied in the negative.

No draft?

Nope.

*smile*

Thanks for doing this for me. It means a lot to me that you are here.

Don’t thank me now. I have not done anything yet. Thank me later.

No worries, I’ll thank you again later.

Well, it will either be that you thank me or curse me later.

Haha. I’m sure you won’t let me down!

*smile*

Apparently he knew the judge as they began their legal career in The Service around the same time. Thereafter he left for private practice.

He was the only one who gave an impromptu speech and his style was by far the best in that session. It was simple, interesting and with style!

He referred me as the petitioner in his speech. I was so thrilled that I had him as my mover!

I’m trying to recollect what he had said about me in his speech. I’ll post it up later.

Till then,

Blog adjourned.