Exodus

It used to be a good place to work. Friendly environment, good hours, decent work, shitty pay but hey something has to give and we were fully apprised of the fact. Comfortable, auto-cruise mode and you can understand why some people entered and stayed with a view towards retirement in the firm. I was even guilty of that once. Complacent and comfortable with the pace of things.

But times have changed, competition has picked up and while others are adapting and moving with the times, we seem to be stuck in a rut. Things have deteriorated slowly but steadily over the past couple of years. The laissez-faire attitude, lack of a clearly defined work structure and nelsonian blindness to changes, things which had initially appeared to be strengths of sorts, became afflictions. The absolute lack of system, the dearth of direction, the absence of channels of feedback, the wholly arbitrary and autocratic decision making all coupled to form a debilitating malaise emblematic of everything wrong with the department.

This in turn affected the work coming in, the quantity, scope and complexity of which began its inexorable decline. As one person noted aptly, the kind of work I'm getting and doing these days is sheer junk compared to what I used to be doing when I first started. Add the mind boggling attitude of senior management (i.e. those that mattered) towards the bread and butter areas of litigation, the lack of appreciation and transparency as well as an alarming tendency to ignore and address the problems on the ground, and you had a systemic failure of the system. If the current status of things could be regarded as a system that is.

The groundswell of discontent has hit the roof. What started out as a trickle, the first couple of resignations tendered has now triggered a tide. 6 in the span of 3 months with more to come. And soon pretty much the entire batch of associates will be gone in the next few months. The scariest thing is none of the problems have been addressed, not a single meeting convened, no damage control. All you see are a lot of worried faces, general denial and morale amongst those without plans dropping to an all time low.

You know you have a problem when all your associates are unhappy and are resigning en-masse in the span of less than 5 months. It's even worse when the resignations are not engineered for a walkout to a single firm but carefully considered decisions made to move to various places, united only by the collective conviction of the need to move and to move now. The total inaction and denial of the senior management based in no small part on a very myopic outlook of personnel replacement premised on replacing the seniors with cheap inexperienced trainees is stunning in its stupidity.

No one wants to be on a sinking ship. And right now that is certainly the sentiment on the ground. I'm glad I made the choice, for the path from now while harder, shall inevitably be more rewarding, more personally satisfying with a clear path for career progression. As for them, if nothing is done, they will find themselves with a dead department left to run very soon.

The Birthday Bash

Although the shewolf didn't turn up (phew) due to a sudden and virulent bout of flu and sore throat, the night still turned out to be damn havoc, certainly one of the wilder ones I've had in a while.

To begin with, the Underworld theme which required us to come dressed (somewhat) as either vampires or werewolves set the tone for the rest of the night. Shopping with A. the night before for accessories and what not helped to put me in the mood. Nothing like some proper accessories and a sense of satisfaction with one's outfit to get one prepped and happy.

I went with the slightly campy, vamp in paris look though for some reason the Gang seemed to be fixated on the metallic gothic sword pendant which they claimed was a crucifix and highly inappropriate for a vampire. Which is pure bosh because it's a sword, looks like one and the only similarity between it and a crucifix is its proportions. But we all had fun, even A. as Fluffy, the failed vampire slayer. A role specially invented for her cause she looked like neither a vampire nor a werewolf.

Dinner wasn't bad. I liked my cod though I remember being hampered by the jungle of wine glasses that obstructed easy access to the starters. It was the after dinner party at the Pump Room (Zirca sadly was closed for a private, lesbian party event) though that was damn havoc. Sufficiently sloshed with booze by the time we reached, the ex-PM's Flaming Lambo pushed me to a dangerous high. Another waterfall and I would have undoubtedly crashed, with an almost inevitable trip to the toilet to puke.

As it turns out, I didn't but suffered selective amnesia on the dance floor. Which is probably a good thing on hind sight. Apparently, I danced with half the people on the dance floor, did a lot of acrobatic moves which resulted in a serious wardrobe malfunction, pants that ripped along the ass seams. On the day when I chose to wear my jock straps.

Groped a lot, got groped a lot. Had my most 'private of parts' groped by a particular ahem, vampy, individual in the Gang who apparently leapt on the platform to engage in some serious dirty dancing with your truly. Thankfully, I have no recollection at all of the latter. The Gang got a full view of my naked butt cheeks which incidentally got groped by that same individual.

It is vaguely disturbing to know that she's the only other woman (other than the Mother) to have ever touched my bare ass. Which might explain why I simply cannot recall that part.

But all in all, a pretty damn havoc night. Certainly the first time my pants ever split along the seams from dancing. Which I have to admit was more than vigorous. Thanks for the night though guys, lurve ya!

Let's aim for Zirca for the Saggi - bros' upcoming birthday bash. This time I'll wear jeans.

Tik Tok goes the cock erm clock!



Tik Tok by Ke$ha

Wake up in the morning feeling like P Diddy
(Hey, what up girl?)
Grab my glasses, Im out the door - Im gonna hit this city (Lets go)
Before I leave, brush my teeth with a bottle of Jack
Cause when I leave for the night, I aint coming back
Im talkin' pedicure on our toes, toes
Trying on all our clothes, clothes
Boys blowing up our phones, phones
Drop-toping, playing our favorite cd's
Pulling up to the parties
Trying to get a little bit tips-eeerw

[CHORUS]
Dont stop, make it pop
DJ, blow my speakers up
Tonight, Imma fight
Til we see the sunlight
Tick tock, on the clock
But the party dont stop no
Oah-oh wah oh
Oah-oh wah oh

Dont stop, make it pop
DJ, blow my speakers up
Tonight, Imma fight
Til we see the sunlight
Tick tock, on the clock
But the party dont stop no
Oah-oh wah oh
Oah-oh wah oh


Aint got a care in world, but got plenty of beer
Aint got no money in my pocket, but Im already here
Now, the dudes are lining up cause they hear we got swagger
But we kick em to the curb unless they look like Mick Jagger
Im talkin' bout - everybody getting crunk, crunk
Boys tryna touch my junk, junk
Gonna smack him if he getting too drunk, drunk
Now, now - we goin til they kick us out, out
Or the police shut us down, down
Police shut us down, down
Po-po shut us - down/deerw

Dont stop, make it pop
DJ, blow my speakers up
Tonight, Ima fight
Til we see the sunlight
Tick tock, on the clock
But the party dont stop no
Oah-oh wah oh
Oah-oh wah oh

Dont stop, make it pop
DJ, blow my speakers up
Tonight, Imma fight
Til we see the sunlight
Tick tock, on the clock
But the party dont stop no
Oah-oh wah oh
Oah-oh wah oh

DJ, you build me up
You break me down
My heart, it pounds
Yeah, you got me
With my hands up
You got me now
You got that sound
Yeah, you got me

DJ, you build me up
You break me down
My heart, it pounds
Yeah, you got me
With my hands up
Put your hands up
Put your hands uh-a-a-a-a-a-a

No, the party dont start till I walk in

Dont stop, make it pop
DJ, blow my speakers up
Tonight, Imma fight
Til we see the sunlight
Tick tock, on the clock
But the party dont stop no
Oah-oh wah oh
Oah-oh wah oh

Dont stop, make it pop
DJ, blow my speakers up
Tonight, Imma fight
Til we see the sunlight
Tick tock, on the clock
But the party dont stop no
Oah-oh wah oh
Oah-oh wah oh

Dinners with the Family.

Tonight was the customary belated birthday dinner. Not for me but the Sister rather. Whom my cousin noted with malicious glee was fast approaching the dreaded "sell-by date". Don't ask me why the average straight male view single women past a certain age as being less desirable simply due to their age. I'm sure I'll take an interesting, reasonable and mature (as in the way he thinks) man past the "sell-by date" over a hot but precocious twink anytime.

But then again men don't seem to have "sell-by dates" and I'm gay so that makes it moot. I digress. So dinner was at Tung Lok Signature at Central, that disgustingly haphazard mall which I never fail to get lost in. Just attempting to navigate the maze of little shops at the basement is a veritable nightmare. Dinner was good but as usual the conversation was highly superficial, a banter I seldom partook in.

In case, you haven't already realised by now (duh) I'm not chummy with the Family. Sad but true. Of course it's always been hard to be close to family who view homosexuals as depraved mentally disturbed individuals who revel in activities as "enjoyable as shoving a straw up your nostril." (Though how that NMP who made that ludicrous comment was any authority on the joys (or lack thereof) of anal sex is quite beyond me)

Anyway it was "Family Time". You know the time where people who have absolutely nothing in common are supposed to grin and suddenly converse with great gusto. Which I fail miserably at. Entertaining clients is one thing, making conversation for the sake of filing up the silence is another. But as usual they were having none of that.

So after having absolutely no headway with the "Why are you playing computer games again? You spent FIVE hours just on that game (Warhammer), no good you know" talk, they went back to the newest pet peeve. My Work. "Are you still doing matrimonial work?"
"Mainly and my old commercial cases."
"No good you know, cannot just do family work, your brain cells will die."
"Oh please what rubbish"
"Well but it's boring right? all the children, fighting couples. It's sinful you know"

Now everytime someone mentions sinful and roll their eyes or make little tut-tutting noises, I automatically tune out. It's the kind of "Must stay married till you die" mentality which pisses me off. Why you mean marriages don't break down? And if they do and parties want to leave, you're going to chain them together physically till one murders the other? It's all very well to have your own moral/religious view. It's another to see to impose your view or what you deem is acceptable on others.

So I took a little perverse pleasure in informing them that, no Matri work wasn't a bore. In fact, matri work (sans the painful and tedious aspect of having to deal with clients and the other parties) is quite interesting. From the salacious (husband ran off with china woman 2 years older than my daughter) to the saucy (wife engaging in cyber-sex with ex-boyfriend over msn) to the downright scandalous (wife caught husband in bed with another man - whoops).

I think I horrified them sufficiently gauging from their scandalised faces and I was able to finish my dessert in peace. But seriously all the "but your work is so sinful" kind of crap is just goddamn annoying. Screw you and your goddamn morals.

On a happier note, I had a good chat with the Punkette at last night's Law Soc Dinner at the Fullerton. Been like 3-4 months since we last talked and it was good catching up. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that she was now doing Matri work too which means I'll be seeing her in Court a lot now.

Work is still piling up, I'm getting the hang of things now and sooner or later I'll need to kick start my non-existent love life. (Perhaps I should be less ambitious and settle for working on my sex life first. Which happens to be non-existent too. Argh. ^^)

Aunt Aggy.

Having done matri for almost 5 months now, I’ve gotten used to the strange kinds of calls I get from clients. From the usual ‘My husband ah, is too much. Today ah, you know ah, he suddenly discontinue my daughter’s giro school account. This man is too much! I want to put him in jail.’ To the more frenzied ‘My husband/wife ran away with the kids!’

You would think ‘matrimonial matters’ is a catch all aunt aggy phrase for ‘call the lawyer when any thing crops up’. But I’ve never gotten the ‘I think my son is gay. Help!’ kind of call. Until Friday that is. The client, one of the more inquisitive ones (till she sees the bill), called again sounding more than a little frazzled. To be fair, her call wasn’t entirely off topic, it related indirectly to a tit for tat PPO application her husband had filed against his teenage son in retaliation for a PPO the client had applied for on behalf of her son, a handsome 17 year old chap, after he was set upon by a rabid father.

Client sounded more frazzled than usual. “Er I don’t know how to say this but the computer repair man came over the other day to repair my son’s computer and he found some er strange photos which he passed to me.” ” I looked at them and they were really strange but maybe is nothing you know.” Which naturally piqued my interest.

“What kind of photos were they?” Another Pause. “Er its really quite disturbing and when I saw one of them I really had a heart attack. There was this photo where he was holding something in his hand and putting his mouth around it and he was looking at the photo and…..” That definitely got my attention. “What thing?”
“ It turned out to be a hotdog but the way he was putting it in his mouth and not biting it, for a moment I really thought he was doing something else…” Her voice died off. I knew she was a staunch Christian so I just couldn’t help probing further. “So you thought he was giving a blowjob to another guy did you?” “Ah!” She exploded, “I really thought he was.. gay.” With the deep concern and mild consternation one would reserve for a family member or close friend who suddenly ended up at IMH. ”He looked like he was doing it you know. I was so scared but there was another photo which zoomed out and showed the background. So ya it wasn’t that thing but still I had a shock when I saw it.”

Whereupon I informed her that the ’hotdog’ prank was an old one, albeit done by cheeky horny straight boys easily amused by anything that looks remotely phallic and can be portrayed in a sexual matter. The Crush in jc even did stuff like going down on other guys crotches and blowing on them whereupon he would proudly declare that he had just given a 'blowjob'.

She sounded relieved at first “Yes boys at this age are just naughty, nothing wrong, right?” Wrong I thought, mentally adding up my sexcapades at the not so virginial age of 17. But the hotdog prank has been around forever and I saw no reason to agitate her further if that was all it was. But it wasn't.

The doubt quickly crept back into her voice.“Er but there's something that really worries me you know. I prayed about it but I don't know what to do. So I thought I should ask you in case his father finds out.” The irony of it all. Panicky devout Christian mother asking her gay matri lawyer for advice on potentially gay son. But a job is a job and charging a client to play aunt aggy isn't too bad.

Without waiting for me to continue, she went on, frantic and breathless, “ But I saw this other photo. And this one really really really gave me a shock. My son was kissing another boy and they were smiling at the camera. And it was in his room! And that boy just came over the other day!” At which stage she sounded like she was hyperventilating and semi hysterical, so it was time to use the “Rein in distraught, emotional client' SOP. “They're just playing around right right?” She queried.

“ Well boys at that age tend to be rather playful... Was it like a simple peck on the cheek or a full kiss?” “They were kissing with their lips locked, full kiss, I was so shocked, I still am. Is he gay? Is he? Oh god.” she wailed. Tempted as I was to give her a earful on so what if your son is gay, I resisted. Professional decorum must be maintained at all times. Which was the same reason why I didn't say well I could conduct a closed door interview session with your son just to ascertain whether he's gay, you know guy to guy talk (or guy on guy action rather hur hur) and uttered a sympathetic and purely professional 'oh dear'.

Distraught client once again sought confirmation on what she wanted to hear, that her precious boy was just being precocious and is in reality as straight as an arrow. An assurance I refused to give and indeed took a little perverse pleasure in informing her in no uncertain terms that her son might very well be gay. Two straight guys do not 'liplock' and smile at the camera unless they're actors and paid big bucks to do so or stone drunk and on a dare. 'But the guy didn't stay overnight, he only came in the afternoon and left later.'

I figured the ' They don't need to wait till night to have sex you know' retort would be too much for her to bear. It's amazing how genuinely distraught and prejudicial some parents get when they learn their child isn't straight. I guess ultimately that is the litmus test after all you know people who are fine with other strangers or even friends who happen to be gay but god forbid their children to ever disclose they're gay. The schizophrenic dichotomy akin to the perennial debate over the we have the law (S377A , Penal Code) but choose not to enforce it conundrum(or enforce it when 'deemed' to be necessary).

Parents' concerns are understandable in the sense that most parents would like to have their children grow up and have a family etc but at the end of the day treating your child as if he/she has a mental problem simply because of his/her orientation doesn't help the kid at all, much less endear him or her to them. Not to mention the boatload of ludicrous pre-conceived notions about homosexuality and what it entails.

In other news, between the different classes played and the hours spent on Warhammer, I've finally decided on starting a Dark Elf Disciple of Khaine character as my first character when headstart starts in a little under 9 hours.

Apart from the lithe and aesthetically pleasing body and movements, there is something particularly vicious about a Dark Elf Disciple. From the wicked curved swords to the way they carve up enemies like Thanksgiving turkey to the utter disdain they have for their opponents. Vemyra (the Disciple character I played) occasionally uttered 'Scum' in a voice dripping with contempt when she dispatched a mob or a enemy order player or screeched , “How dare you!” when taking a beating from a particulaly annoying mob or player.

It's a game with character, now an additional avenue of destressing includes picturing particularly annoying client's at the receiving end of Vemyra's blades. ^^

Shopping, Sweat and Sluts.

If the Great Singapore Sale is the time when Singaporeans decide to head out and raid the malls to restock on necessities or just for some hardcore shopping therapy on account of the significant discounts/offers; the annual PC show must be the time when 75% of Singaporeans decide it's time to get a new desktop/laptop/printer/ (insert random gadget) and head on down to Suntec City Convention Halls. That's not including the geeks or tech-savvies who make their annual pilgrimage down to the jam packed exhibition halls without fail and inevitably end up with something ("oh look, a new thumbdrive!") regardless of whether they actually need it.

I never liked crowds, certainly not the kind you'd find at the PC show, where one would have to literally shove and elbow your way through the teeming mass of humanity just to reach the desired destination or flee. In terms, of PPS (People Per Shove), the layman's no brainer indicator of human density and potential stampedes, an outing at the annual PC show is only second to the horrific human jam of screaming party-goers and grope happy bangala workers that was the Millenium Countdown in '99.

Which is why I usually avoid the Show like the plague, unless
(1) I need a computer desperately (negative)
(2) Someone special (to me then) needs(ed) a computer desperately. (Check)
(3) I feel morose after having to come in to work for the third consecutive Sunday and decide to go 'see see' and grab something. (Check)

So I headed down after work at what turned out to be the worst possible time, the last two hours
before the Show ended, which meant the floor was strewn with downtrodden and crushed pamphlets, exhibitors were yelling hoarsely about the latest discounts and last minute special offers like auctioneers on crack while the crowd swelled and jostled with frantic determination.

After wandering aimlessly for some 15 mins, I eventually settled for the Samsung P2 mp3 player after toying with the idea of grabbing the Samsung I-770 pda phone which while smart looking with decent features, left me with the unshakable impression that it wasn't quite there yet, as in something better and more worthwhile would come out soon.

But more than that, it was the startled recognition of the rate at which I was burning through the hard earned moola. Not that the outflow was no longer sustainable but having run through the reserves with the various rounds of compulsory treats and substantial shopping therapy and starting on the actual salary meant it was getting uncomfortably close. Which naturally made me slightly finicky.

Settled for the Samsung P2 which on hindsight wasn't a bad decision at all. Nope, considering Samsung launched the very cool and functional Samsung Omnia and Starhub had a crazy offer which was simply too good to let up. I know I'd be cussing myself to the high heavens if I'd plonked down $700 bucks on an outdated and decidedly inferior I-770. So I had no qualms digging in a little more for the Omnia and going over to the green side. Even if it means I need to exclude Soup Spoon and the Sandwich Shop plus varied other ATAS outlets from my daily lunch menu next month.

I mean it's decidedly better to be sitting in Maxwell and using an Omnia than having lunch at Soup Spoon and trying to get the increasing erratic Sony Ericsson phone to function normally and not dissolve into a meaningless jumble of numbered alphabets. To avoid the expected torrent of abuse at my unabashed banality (Shopping therapy is not philosophy. Shopping= New Things= Happy before thinking of bills. It's banal. Face it.), I move on.

I signed up for Hot Yoga, Bikram Yoga to be exact at one of the specialised yoga studios near my workplace. After all, I hadn't been exercising regularly if at all for months and the thought of working up a sweat and burning a ton of calories while getting all *ahem* flexible was highly appealing. Now the 50 class card did cost a veritable bomb but the first three classes in that week and I felt great thereafter. Nothing like working up a good sweat.

Basically, what this hot yoga thing entails is performing yoga in a room heated to 40'c which is good cause you stretch and sweat more and can be more than a little tiring because you sweat like a pig and feel like a baked piece of meat half the time. All for a seeming eternity of 90 mins. So yes, some forms of torture like the aforesaid are actually good for you. Won't be a human pretzel for the foreseeable future but the workout is good.

Now Sluts. I'm sure everyone has heard the tired joke about the village bicycle, you know that one which everyone just loves to ride? Well love them or hate them, sluts are here to live. Hell, you may even be one too. I've been encountering a fair share lately due to the nature of my work, just not the kind or sex I might be remotely interested in taking for a ride.

From Husbands who complain about their wives and their purported infidelity ,"She's been sleeping with men!" Long pause. "Other men, I mean." (I'm glad you noticed) to Sluts who complain about other sluts and/or their husbands. "So what if I got a boyfriend, you know how many women he has in Batam??" She waves both hands for emphasis, the numerous rings clinking in disapproving tandem.

But really, I couldn't care if the client is a slut or the client's husband/wife is a slut. All that really matters is that the client, slut or otherwise, pays the bills on time, furnishes the requisite deposit and not scream about how rude my secretary is, when you woman have a seriously screwed mindset. Good lord and you wonder why I need shopping therapy.

Show me the money

I don't know why but I still find it a bit mind boggling when the amount I bill in a single day is a little over half the monthly salary.

Perhaps it's still the dormant lay man that remains confounded by the concept that one can and does bill clients a seemingly obscene amount of money for a single day's work (though when actually doing the work, it doesn't seem so obscene). Or perhaps the startled employee that uses his salary as a general yardstick and remains just a little disturbed that technically speaking, his entire month's salary can be accounted for with two days of work. Or perhaps both.

Billing is all nice and dandy but as any lawyer worth his bill salt knows, what really matters is getting your clients to pay the bill on time and with minimal hassle. After all $1,000 on hand is a whole lot better than $10,000 in a bill which client (or rather the soon-to-be erstwhile client) simply refuses to pay.

Which is why when the time comes to bill (and the modus operandi is to bill often and progressively rather than hit the client with a huge chunk at the end and face the prospect of him/her running off without paying a cent) my personal observation and experience is that corporate clients tend to be more compliant, paying the bills on time, less likely to press for discounts and often promptly provide further requested sums for anticipated work to be done.

Individuals, by and far, tend to be more problematic when it comes to bills. Which in a way is understandable because an individual (assuming they're not the dirt rich and/or principled ones) feels the pinch of having to foot the bills more keenly than say a corporate entity which is faceless and arguably has a greater capacity to pay. But understanding where they might be coming from doesn't make the job of asking for moola any easier or less necessary.

In fact, the converse is usually true. Because you know there is a chance that Mr so and so won't pay either because 1) he indicates to you that he wants a discount or 2) wants a lot of work to be done but hems and haws when it comes to footing the bill, it becomes all the more imperative that you call the bugger and bludgeon him into paying the said bill.

Which is one reason why asking clients to pay the bill for matrimonial matters can often be a tedious, draggy affair that ranges from gentle cajoling to outright pay-or-we-discharge now over the phone, correspondence etc. Thankfully, with the exception of a few particularly nasty cases, the 'pay or discharge' cases tend to be few and far between.

And for matrimonial cases, clients usually want an inordinate amount of correspondences, meetings, telephone conversations, urgent applications to prevent spouse from bashing them/running off with the kids/threatening to set the flat on fire, etc etc. And when the time comes to pay, they (some not all, thank god) whine and snivel over the phone, ( But why so expensive huh? Only divorce ma. Yes ma'am only divorce and your 58273281 pages of correspondence), ask for discounts, try to reduce the further deposit sum and haggle over things like 'Er, next hearing how much? Maybe you pass me the documents you want to use, i go out and photocopy.' Add the inherent emotional undercurrents that are ever present in matri cases to the concoction and the outcome can be singularly unpleasant.

So sometimes you talk very nicely, in firm, measured tones and sometimes you scream at them. Haven't had to opt for the latter yet, though a number were certainly told off in no uncertain terms that a price had to be paid for proper legal advice and service, a price that was fixed and agreed from the onset, certainly not to be haggled over the phone like a housewife buying fish at the local wet market.

Billing, unpleasant perhaps but wholly necessary. I mean come on la, think about it this way if it helps you, we're providing a service, you pay for the service, the said sum from the bill isn't pocketed by the Associate whom you may be haggling with over the bill. At the end of the day, it's a job. So if you like/desire/demand good and prompt service, you should be prepared to/jolly well pay the said bill on time.

Then your lawyer will spend more time doing your work and less time trying to elicit some moola from you for work done on your file. And of course we won't need to have to bill you for the time we spent on the phone with you while you bargained/raged/screamed at him/her for a bill we are expected and required to issue to you. Chew on that ya?

The Day in Court

So this week has been really hectic yet interesting, certainly the busiest by far, it's still a little surreal. That kind of slightly breathless feeling one gets when everything seems to whizz by and one is left a little disoriented. Or perhaps its the lack of sleep and copious amounts of coffee and tidbits the seccie has been plying me with.

But I certainly never envisaged myself having to hold the fort against weepy clients, get a DIY crash course on PPO proceedings, go for my first hearing in chambers and make submissions in open court by the second week from call, let alone in the span of a week. Everything went by in a blur which is good I guess, gives you less time and opportunity to freak out.

The PPO hearing was totally unexpected, I'd been expecting the contested custody hearing in 2 weeks time, time enough to get the affidavits and relevant plans out, etc, so it was kind of a shocker to get a call from the client whose file I'd just taken over from the departing partner and learn that an EO and PPO had been taken out against the client and her mother by her psycho husband and was up for hearing in 2 days.

It didn't exactly help that no one left had ever done a contested PPO hearing. It was strange blundering about, figuring out what the procedures were and then deciding on impulse to do brief submissions with a semi-proper bundle of authorities even though it was strictly speaking a mentions stage in open court but with the ability to raise issues.

To cut to the chase, I thought I was late when I arrived, being 20 mins past the scheduled time but thankfully as is usually the case for Sub and Family court (but not Supreme Court) the judge was later. The start was almost an anti-climax, yours truly was nodding off when the summons number and names of parties were called. So after the usual formalities were dispensed with I first obtained leave to make the brief submissions then referred the judge to the relevant subs and the bundle of documents and wanted to launch into the oral submission. But he indicated that he wished to read the subs first.

Whereupon the usual background titter amongst the lawyers and the odd person in the gallery immediately died down. Which made for an awkward 10 mins or so as the judge read thru the subs and flipped through the tabbed documents and I kept alternating my line of sight between my own set of documents and the judge, just to get some indication of when he was done. After a while, my neck started to ache and I settled for staring at some non-discript white panel a little above his head.

Still that strange silence was a little unsettling and as I noticed the female Sikh lawyer beside me looking up from time to time and smiling, I just leaned over on impulse," People hardly ever make brief submissions at this sort of mentions eh?" Whereupon she smiled and said,"Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen it being done at this stage. Certainly not with documents and written subs." Smile. "You representing that little old lady and petite one beside her?" she asked. "Yep, client's psycho husband took out the EOs against them, it's crazy and he's the one harrassing them." " I can see that, oh he's the husband, he's got quite the reputation (cuz the bugger was discharged by all three previous lawyers) " Smile.

It was strange having such a tete a tete in the middle of the proceeding, with the judge reading the subs and us talking in muted tones, it was almost like being in school, sneaking a moment to chit chat with one's classmate while the teacher was pre-occupied. Though here the rest of the "classmates" were old birds and I think I was the only one younger than 35.

So again to cut a long story short cuz i'm damn tired, the oral submissions itself was strangely relaxed, certainly no where like that moot session as year one students, where making a case to the teacher 'judges' with one's back facing the students, had me feeling like a nervous wreck, my knees feeling like they would give way any moment.

So at the end the Judge basically said while the case was convincing, he could not deny an extension of EO just based on evidence that was untested in a trial and unless the guy's complaint is so incredible and spurious, he would have to give the madman the benefit of the doubt till the actual trial. though he did state that the EO would not be held against my client nor would it be taken into account at trial.

With that, Judge adjourned the next mention to a later date as the sod said he would be getting a lawyer to represent him and gave further directions. The lawyers beside me were surprisingly friendly thereafter, enquiring about a partner, etc. On hindsight, the submissions wasn't necessary but still i'm glad in a way i did it, rather than just the standard YH, I have just been instructed, requesting XX weeks adjournment to file YYY.

And so now I've been instructed to attend a mediation session and present client's agenda all by my lonesome self. Ah well, hope it goes decently well. Ok shag gonna head to bed cuz tml's client is a #$%^ bed of @#$% roses. They and their It's urgent-you are-only-working on-one(my)-file-draft-4-letters-by afternoon-u got court?-fuck u kind of urgent. bah. Well i get my revenge billing em to the high heavens. F. You.

Day 5: 1 Secretary, 1 Room, 75 Files.

So we got called, received our Practicing Certificates in a record 5 days and we're all set to go and 'be the dedicated litigators/lawyers the firm wants you to be". The increase in workload was definitely expected, the being thrown into the deep end part by being faced with a plethora of mentions and applications certainly envisaged.

What wasn't factored in was the sheer volume and distribution of files from the lawyers who were leaving the firm/department for subjects ranging from matrimonial matters to insurance to traffic accident cases. I don't know how anyone can consider distribution of the said files to just another Associate and I while the other three newly called Associates were not given a single file (with the exception of one who got a few files) as being remotely equitable or sensible.

I know I'm bitching but I think I'm entitled to bitch when I get an extra 40 plus files on top of the 20 plus files I'm currently working on. Having to deal with 75 files, of which some are large files with trials coming up and affidavits to rush out within the next few weeks, and at least 50 of which are active; is damn hard. Being expected to deal with these files efficiently is well nigh impossible.

And that's not even taking into account the upcoming deadlines to watch out and prepare for, when the writs must be issued, the upcoming PTCs, divorce hearings and mediation sessions, etc. Not to mention that some of the areas and procedures are alien to newcomers like us (Insurance-Nima protocol??, Contested Divorce hearing?!!!) which complicates matters when we are given live files and expected to pick up exactly where the previous lawyer left off with gusto.

It's crazy. My secretary whom I'm sharing with another new associate for now jolly well can't cope. So I'll probably raise some objections to the Head this coming Monday after a status conference for some matri matter in the Family Court and for which our defence nearly got rejected as the prior peeps overlooked the instructions and filed it 2 weeks too late.

Having to face a grumpy old bird as the Plaintiff's solicitor and attend the status conference all by my lonesome self on Monday morning promises to be a relatively nerve wracking affair.

On the brighter side of things, I finally have a secretary and a nice one at that, got a room at the cozy end of the office all to myself and largely abolished the need to do tedious administrative stuff like zapping and filing correspondences etc. Still the spectre of unpacked files and tons of work looms and I'll probably head in tomorrow just to clear some.

Then come Monday, hopefully with some persuasion and presentation of the absurdity of the current situation, things will be better. Hopefully.

Mass Call to the Bar -24.05.08

Getting called to the Bar marks the culmination of the almost accidental journey towards becoming a lawyer which started five years ago when I joined NUS Law School with my fellow clueless classmates (some certainly less so than others). I say accidental because I never had this burning, overwhelming desire to be a lawyer from the start (I must confess, the initial choice was Biz Ad, which was subsequently relegated to second choice) though I did put Law as my first choice after musing about it briefly.

I guess the thing about milestone events like these are that they induce a sense of nostalgia and cause one to look back on the past sentimentally, at the people and events that have brought you to where you are today. And inevitably, one always does so with a sense of wonder that can be roughly summed up as thus 'wow I actually had to do all that' and we either give ourselves a silent pat on the back or be thankful/grateful for the company and friends that helped make the journey so much more enjoyable.

I was absolutely bushed this morning when I came for the mass call at VCH due to the fact that I'd gone drinking with the erstwhile Pupil Master and a few Associates till three plus in the morning for what was officially a farewell dinner cum drinking session for one of the Associates but the PM and I ended up teasing and cajoling a very nice, SNAG (sensitive new age guy) senior Associate about his mushy ideals towards girls and relationships in general.

Which meant I only caught about three plus hours of sleep before hauling myself out of bed, bleary eyed and sleep deprived, for the call. Thankfully, I got a lift all the way home from the PM in his flashy car which was en route as he picked up his gf first, saving a bomb on cab fare in the process.

The actual Call procedure was nothing much, highly procedural and though I found myself nodding off at frequent intervals during Justice Phang's speech, the whole affair was thankfully rather short. Then the usual photo taking sessions and lunch and a movie with the family. Such that by the time I reached home around five plus, I concussed straight till ten.

People often ask if I'm excited to be called to the Bar and officially be a fully fledged lawyer. There are mixed feelings, the pay rise of course is a huge boon, work load wise, it'll certainly increase, though hopefully not unbearably so especially since we're actually really busy to start with and handling many aspects of the files/cases (drafting advice, letters, corresponding with clients, etc etc ) so we won't be totally clueless. A lot of the actual nitty gritty of court procedures and appearing before judges for different matters that only lawyers may do, we'll however certainly need to pick up and find our pace over time.

So while not being a peon anymore is without a doubt a good thing, with power and the ability to do a lot more things as a lawyer comes increased responsibilities and duties that one owes both to the court as well as your clients. It's a sobering thought and can be a considerable burden though I feel with time and good colleagues around who are willing and able to help; I'll be able to find that balance such that it becomes instinctive rather than burdensome.

The work's certainly coming in, the numerous hearings, video conferences, PTCs, etc, all of which face us when we return to work on Monday. But I think with good colleagues, a decent secretary and a positive work attitude, things are going to be just fine. Now all I need is to find the time to start doing things I've always wanted to. Like Yoga. ^^

OpenOffice & Weddings

Tired of spending a bomb on all that expensive original software? Open source software, which is becoming increasingly sophisticated, is hassle free and surprisingly stable due in no small part to the fact that anyone can edit the source code, which contributes to its stability. And the best thing, naturally, is that it's free.

I'm a believer after having tried OpenOffice which is the free open source counterpart to the ubiquitous Microsoft Office, its pricy brother which is unfortunately neither free nor perfect. Plus, it's supported by a number of heavyweights in the IT industry like Sun Microsystems and IBM.

So rather then spending a sizeable $200+ on an authentic Microsoft Office or risking one's freedom on a bootleg version, the free, stable OpenOffice with all the similar programs was a very attractive alternative indeed. It comes with a t9 like text input which is still a little surreal but it remains a helpful little bugger.

And on an unrelated note, this delightful piece from Non Sequitur shows just why no one attends a lawyer's wedding. Well except maybe other lawyers.

Hrm

It's probably bad enough to have to handle 17 active files of differing magnitude and constipated clients who think theirs is the only matter you have and that you spend the whole day twiddling your thumbs, at their every beck and call.

It's worse when the only family law partner is leaving and all of his/her files are being split up amongst you and another pupil. I dunno but the thought of having to counsel and deal with weepy clients over matrimonial and custodial matters isn't very comforting. Ah well, we'll see how it goes...

Say that again..

Sometimes, just sometimes, I think that peculiar archaic way in which we so often go about drafting our letters and the liberal usage of linguistic lingo detracts from our ability to converse in simple English.

We elucidate in twenty words what can be said in five and we embellish our conversations, sometimes unknowingly, to elaborate and substantiate the subject matter, because words are free and can be brandied about.

So we sometimes churn out particularly convoluted sentences, wonder why laymen don't get it and realise just how horribly strange it sounds when transposed into normal, simple English. As evidenced by an excerpt of a recent MSN conversation:

Yellow Grass: Yah, work never ends. It's like a torrential downpour of pleadings, letters and deadlines.

Zero Point: Hmm what's new. Tell me about it, 2 upcoming trials and work's a bitch. Any news about XX?

YG: Omg, that guy's fucking completely out of his mind...

YG: Wait, did I just say fucking completely?

ZP: Yep, haha new phrase. He's fucking completely out of his mind.. haha. Too much drafting eh.

YG: Argh probably. Brain fucked by work.

ZP: Lol.

So forgive us sometimes if you chance upon a conversation between two lawyers and scarcely comprehend a word. Chances are it's meant to confound, really.

The Next Lap.

Work really never stops coming in. It's at the stage where I'm at one meeting and get called to attend a second ongoing meeting asap, rush to do so and forget about the client coming to affirm the affidavit in 10 mins. So, swamped but still bearable.

It was a pleasant surprise though, when the head called the liti pupils in prior to one of the aforementioned meetings and informed us after a 15 min inspirational talk that we had been retained. Which was a pleasant surprise since tradition dictated that we were usually one of the last firms (and departments) to confirm the retention of their pupils.

Even nicer was the very pleasant surprise that the starting pay would be pegged at the prevailing market rate (too decent, the head called it), a full $500 more than we'd expected (albeit resigned) to get. Then the clients came and off I went with the head for the frenzied round of meetings.

So today's news while unexpected was pleasant for obvious reasons. It's always nice to be reassured of your position within the company and to be able to look ahead without trepidation.

In a sense, this lap is almost over and the next one looms nigh, presenting new challenges, worries and issues. And one enters with that instinctive tentative hesitation for fear of the unknown, yet I think I'll be looking forward to it for precisely the same reasons.

There's much to be thankful for, good working environment, nice colleagues and superiors who don't snap at you when you screw up. After all, one hears of all the horror stories of various law firms where some partner screams and yells at the legal associate then sends the file flying out of the room. Just like being in primary two all over again.

I don't know about you. But I don't think any fat pay check or 1 year bonus is enough to compensate for the lack of basic civility due to any mature person. So yep, happy with what I have.

On an unrelated note, I love this song. Partly cause it's now stuck in my head thanks to DDR. Hoo but this my friends makes one of the perfect breakup you suck-I don't care about your lame excuses-goodbye songs.



Too Little Too Late - JoJo

Come with me,
Stay the night,
Just say the words but boy it don't feel right,
What do you expect me to say (you know it's just too little too late),
You take my hand,
And you say you've changed,
But boy you know your beggin' don't fool me,
Because to you it's just a game (you know it's just too little too late).


So let me on down,
'Cause time has made me strong,
I'm startin' to move on,
I'm gonna say this now,
Your chance has come and gone,
And you know.


It's just too little too late,
A little too wrong,
And I can't wait,
But you know all the right things to say,
You know it's just too little too late,
You say you dream of my face,
But you don't like me,
You're just like the chase,
To be real,
It doesn't matter anyway,
You know it's just too little too late.

Yeah yeahh,
It's just too little too late,
Mmhmm.

I was young,
And in love,
I gave you everything but it wasn't enough,
And now you wanna communicate (hmph) (you know it's just too little too late).

Go find someone else,
In lettin' you go,
I'm lovin' myself,
You got a problem,
But don't come askin' me for help,
'Cause you know.


It's just too little too late,
A little too wrong,
And I can't wait,
But you know all the right things to say,
You know it's just too little too late,
You say you dream of my face,
But you don't like me,
You're just like the chase,
To be real,
It doesn't matter anyway,
You know it's just too little too late.


I can love with all of my heart baby,
I know I have so much to give (I have so much to give),
With a player like you I don't have a prayer,
That's the way to liiive, oohh,
Mmhmm noo-oo-oo,
It's just too little too late,
Yeaahh yeaaaah!


It's just too little too late (ohh a lil' too late),
A little too wrong,
And I can't wait (yeaah yeahh),
But you know all the right things to say (woah),
You know it's just too little too late (laaa-aate),
You say you dream of my face,
But you don't like me,
You're just like the chase (baby yeaah),
To be real,
It doesn't matter anyway,
You know it's just too little too late (oohh ohh oh oh oh oh).

Yeah yeaah yeaah,
You know it's just too little too late (ohh)
I can't wait no no noooo...


It's just too little too late,
A little too wrong,
And I can't wait,
But you know all the right things to say (yeeah yeaah),
You know it's just too little too late,
You say you dream of my face,
But you don't like me,
You're just like the chase,
To be real,
It doesn't matter anyway

Return

I haven't been blogging lately I know, just a little something called work and getting intimately acquainted with the growing stacks of files that would probably pose a health hazard if I attempt to stack them all together. It's sad when you come back the following morning and remember exactly which tea-smudged tab in a particular file you left off at the previous night. It's sadder when staying till eight in the office feels normal.

It's been a week and returning to an activity that once seemed to be an aspect of daily life, seems strange and stilted. If only because every time I sit down now, all that comes to mind is how to draft a particular affidavit or summons. The task of attempting to give expression to the vacuous thoughts that flit about the recesses of the mind, strained and artificial. Much like flogging the proverbial dead horse if you will. As if by flogging it harder, through focusing ones concentration on the matter at hand some miraculous creative spark would restore the carcass to its former glory.

There is much to be said of the expression that disuse prevents reuse. Some cobwebs can be cleared away, others leave their insidious mark, little infractions that draw ones focus and attention from an area of interest and corrode the attention it once commanded. So whether this spirited return is for good remains to be seen for it is subject to whimsical fancies as fickle as a summer storm.

Who? What? Why? Where? Perennial questions that mark long lazy afternoons over coffee or a prelude to a stormy showdown. Or perhaps just tactful manipulation, as we divert attention away from greyer areas and stir up eddies of intrigue to conceal what it is we so desperately want to hide. And you wonder how people wolf it down, behind those plastic smiles as they pass by, mobile mannequins, their minds a veritable hornet's nest of activity as they process and pick apart the information received from the daily discourse.

But can you stand apart, to look down with disdain at the crowd from your exalted pedestal and say with utmost confidence and not a shred of reservation that you've never partaken in such activities? If so you must either be totally deranged with delusions of self-grandeur or be a saint in which this earthly plane is the wrong one for you. But for the rest of us mere mortals, this is a game that plays us as much as we play it. For by purporting to disseminate information to our advantage, we need to continue its propagation and the interaction with our counterparts' efforts is something we are often unable to predict, much less control.

But still we carry on this charade, this endless riposte, this need for self gratification, uncaring of the consequences that may follow. For as it has been said, deception is the sweetest mockery.

The Price of.

Because it's 11.35 PM, I've just returned from a wedding dinner, the Sis is hogging the toilet and I have 20 more mins before I call it a night, including the time to be spent showering; everything shall be short snappy and concise. Like the standard research opinion on implied statutory easements to pass my shit over your land or any other issue for which research is required. Don't like it? Write your fucking blog.

Lunch with the Year 1- 3 L. Associates today.

Assoc 1 (Upon learning that next year's batch would be paid the prevailing market rate of $2000 for pupillage and $500 for PLC (if there's still going to be a plc for next year)):
What??! That's so unfair. We had to survive without money for ours.

Me: Yep, well we are the last batch who don't get paid for PLC and most firms already pay that amount. They should pay, we're quite broke.

Assoc 2: Well but it does make sense that they don't pay during PLC, you don't work, you don't get paid. Simple.

Assoc 1: Which is why it makes it so unfair that the next batch will be paid.

Assoc 3: They haven't been paying PLC allowances all this while and Pupillage allowance has always been [sum lower than 2k]. Where do you think they'll get the money from? Ah I think we can deduct this sum from this year's bonuses. *Makes shaving action with finger*

Assoc 2: No, you know what's really unfair? It's if the current pay structure remains the same and when you (points at Assoc 1) go to court for some summons or PTC and come up against some newly called rookie from BXB firm who knows almost nothing but who's being paid more than you. That's unfair.

Well but like I told the Blog Master after undergoing his enlightening 'career analysis' test, Big Bucks isn't the top priority, the working environment and people are to me, the most important consideration in a job. And in this regard, I think the Firm does well. Heck, I even have a nice spacious as of yet undecorated room (without a view but I'm not picky) that I share with A.

The work's still heavy, not unbearably so but certainly enough to keep one gainfully occupied for the official working hours if not for more. But it's really Own time own target for now, though I foresee spending more time in the office in the near future. Smell that bracing office air. Ahhrgh. Time to get a decent fan for proper ventilation past 8pm.

Pacnet's Win, Odex's Loss: The Grounds, the Future.

Since many blogs and online articles have already posted the different grounds for District Judge Earnest Lau's judgement in the Odex vs Pacnet case, I'll just focus more on the more interesting areas and the potential future impact it might have. You can read a short summary of the Judge's decision in the Today online article. As of today, there does not appear to be a publicly available copy of the 14 page Judgement and it certainly still isn't up on lawnet yet. NMP Siew Kum Hong's blog contains the written oral judgement of District Judge Earnest Lau's decision, you may find it here. Based on this, these points are the more interesting ones.

Grounds of the decision & other interesting points:

1. Odex is only the sub-licensee and not the exclusive licensee. It only appears to be the exclusive licensee for one title, that of mobile suit gundam seed. The Copyright Act only allows either the Copyright owner or the exclusive licensee the right to commence a civil action against the copyright infringement.

2. Odex was not directly authorised by the Japanese animation companies to go after the illegal downloaders. The party they authorized was AVPAS.

3. Standard for releasing subscribers' information was pegged to that for a civil application for an Anton Piller order which requires stringent criteria to be fulfilled and a strong prima facie case against the defendants. In this case, the Judge felt that Odex could not prove that it had 'an extremely strong prima facie case against the wrongdoers'. This standard is thus pegged very high.

4. Evidence filed by Odex was found lacking. There was no concrete proof that Odex had hired BayTSP and there was no evidence from BayTSP in support of Odex's claims. Taking information off the website and submitting it is insufficient in a court of law.

5. Dicta (not a ground of judgement): The Judge noted that while Starhub, at least, had contested Odex's application to compel them to release customer information, Singnet failed to engage lawyers to resist Odex's application and had consented to releasing customer information without a fight.

What this means & the potential impact(points addressed in the order they were raised):

1. The previous legal analysis in Odexed? 8 Things you should Know was based on the premise that Odex was the exclusive licensee for all of its titles which it licensed and that analysis would remain correct if that was indeed the case. However if the finding of fact by District Judge Earnest Lau is not overturned on appeal (as findings of facts seldom are), it would appear that Odex is only a sub-licensee and on the face value of the Copyright Act would not have the right to commence a civil action for copyright infringement.

2. Well this does clarify things further. We get a glimpse of the three tiered structure, Jap animation companies authorize AVPAS, AVPAS authorizes Odex (with or without the active knowledge of the Jap Companies), Odex commences the operation. This does appear to reinforce the notion that Odex was in fact not directly authorized by the copyright owners, the jap companies themselves. Though it would appear from the tenor of the Judge's decision that even if Odex was directly authorized, that would be insufficient as he is of the opinion that only the Copyright owner and exclusive licensee can commence a civil action.

3. This is certainly an important substantive legal point that will need to be determined on appeal by the High Court. First, is the standard for compelling a company to release customers' private information pursuant to alleged copyright infringement pegged to the very high standard required for a civil Anton Piller order? Second, if not what should the standard be and the necessary factors involved in determining whether such a standard is satisfied. As expected, Odex will be appealing against the Pacnet decision and the outcome of the appeal in the High Court will be eagerly awaited.
   It remains to be seen if the appeal will end at the High Court level whichever way it goes, though if the appeal fails at the High Court for Odex, they will almost certainly need to appeal to the Court of Appeal. The decision of which would be binding and would set a precedent for future cases. After all, Odex has everything to lose if it fails to appeal. On a side note, it is highly unlikely that Odex will continue sending out the settlement letters for now, at least until their appeal succeeds because their legitimacy and authority to commence any civil action to protect against copyright infringement have been severely undermined by the grounds given in the Pacnet judgement.

4. This is pretty much an evidentiary issue which could be easily corrected if Odex has indeed really hired BayTSP. Though it does portray Odex as not having all the requisite evidence at hand. This issue is a lot less important than their lack of authority and failing to satisfy the high standard required that were raised earlier. Remedying an evidentiary issue would be of no use if there is a fundamental error with regards to a substantive point of law (that of their authority, lack of locus standi, etc.)

5. The Singnet issue is of course a sticking point. I believe someone made a comment in the previous post that Pacnet shouldn't have contested the Odex court application since the downloaders were infringing copyrights. Let me clarify something, Privacy is certainly NOT a defence to copyright infringement or any kind of offence for that matter. However, it would be equally wrong to state that because Pacnet contested the order out of concern for their customers' privacy this means that they support copyright infringement.
   That is an erroneous logical deduction. Companies have an obligation to protect their customer's confidential information and privacy and should actively do so. The aggrieved party/plaintiff alleging wrongdoing on the part of the Company's customers is entitled to go to court and compel the company to release private information if it can show on the balance of probabilities that it has a good case and has the necessary evidence to back up its claims. A court order will then be obtained.
   

Giving in or not even attempting to contest the plaintiff's application for a court order to compel the company to reveal customer's private information is a dereliction of that obligation and shows that the concept of 'Valuing our Customers' Privacy' is unimportant and only given lip service. By failing to discharge its obligation to its customers to protect their privacy within reasonable limits and be seen to do so, a company loses credibility with its customers who will be understandably unhappy.

And when that happens, the company loses their business. For good.

Update: Singnet's Response: We didn't 'consent'! Ya right....

Pacnet's win over Odex: The Implications.

So Pacnet has pulled off a surprising upset in the ongoing Odex saga, what lies ahead next? Today's papers, notably The Straits Times, did not really elaborate on District Judge Earnest Lau's grounds of the decision but simply added on a short tag to last night's breaking news article, quoting the Judge as pronouncing that privacy was no defence to the offence of Copyright infringement. Which is obviously true.

What is a whole lot more interesting especially to those whom law is a part of their lives, if not to the average anime fan (which they should because it has an important bearing on the entire saga); is the Judge's ruling that Odex is not the correct party to bring the application to force PacNet to release its subscribers' information, even though it had authority from the copyright owners, the Japanese animation companies. This is important because if Odex is not the correct party to bring the action, it means that it has no locus standi or legal interest to commence action or demand settlement for copyright infringement; at least with respects to the titles it does not license.

This surprising ruling and turn of events had the usual gang from law school and I discussing the implications of the case as well as certain other legal aspects. If Odex does not have locus standi, who then is the correct party with the legal interest to commence an action for copyright infringement? The Japanese animation companies as copyright owners certainly have the rights and interest to do so. AVPAS which comprises of the copyright owners and Odex would likely have the requisite locus standi too.

But until the judgement is extracted, the exact grounds and basis for the decision will continue to remain unknown. Lawyers like NMP Siew Kum Hong (as seen in the Today newspaper, 24 August 2007) have generally been surprised by the decision because even though it isn't a case of stare decisis and the Singnet & Starhub decisions were made by the same court, not a higher court; the facts and situation surrounding the two cases are similar to Pacnet's case and we expected the outcomes to be the same too. However, the general consensus is that Odex would appeal and as I've stated earlier, Odex will need to appeal to establish that it is indeed the correct party to commence an action as the legitimacy of their operations thus far have been based on this very premise. That they are authorized and possess the necessary legal interest to enforce the copyright owner's rights on their behalf.

Before the appeal is lodged, the judgement will have to be extracted and we would be able to obtain a clearer picture then. While it is too late for Singnet and Starhub to file an appeal against the court order requiring them to release customers' information based on the IP addresses submitted, they can and should resist subsequent court applications by Odex seeking further releases of subscribers' information especially if this holding on the Pacnet case is not overturned on appeal.

This is yet another reason why Odex will in all likelihood appeal, they have no choice but to do so. Admitting defeat and getting either AVPAS or the Jap animation companies to send out the letters and commence an action would not help their cause because it raises further thorny issues. The most pressing of which would be the money paid by those who have settled so far and any legal recourse they might have against Odex. If Odex does not have the locus standi to commence an action, they would not have the necessary legal interest to send out those letters threatening legal action. Accordingly, it would mean Odex had no right to request/collect settlement from the downloaders.

Can this defect be corrected simply by passing the buck to the Japanese animation companies? These are real issues that will be raised and would need to be settled if Odex either fails to appeal or fails on appeal. Some other interesting pieces of information on the ongoing Odex saga, booest, an admin of the VR-zone forums, had a meeting with Stephen Sing on the 21st of August 2007 and shared the information he obtained from the man himself regarding the ongoing furore at this thread. Here's what's new (text in italics - my comments):

1. The operation monitoring illegal downloads is not a one off operation but rather an ongoing one. This much is not really new, most netizens have already suspected this for sometime.

2. They couldn't place a fixed figure for settlement fees at the time of action and hence came up with the sum of $3000- $5000 to reflect their costs though they are unable to give a breakdown of the costs. This is a major gripe amongst the community, no transparency as to costs, no indication as to any formula or otherwise to work out the settlement sum for different cases. The sum of $3k-$5k was really just decided upon.

3. Odex is currently holding on to all letters, even those that are ready and waiting to be sent out until a better solution( nicer letter or smaller sum?) can be implemented. After realising how unpopular the letters were and the violent reactions accompanying them, Odex appears to be rethinking its moves. Do note that the letters can be sent out at any time.

4. Again Odex reiterated the line that the court orders were to force ISPs to reveal the subscribers' information based on 1000 IP addresses and not for 1000 subscribers per se. It's interesting to note that while Odex has maintained the orders were for 1000 IP addresses, the newspapers have continued to report the court orders as applications to release the names of 1000 subscribers for illegally downloading anime. Makes one wonder what the truth really is.

The ball is now in Odex's court. And I don't think it'll be long before we see some response. At any rate, whatever their move, you can be sure it'll have a substantial impact on the whole saga. Perhaps even beyond that.

Breaking News: Apparently District Judge Earnest Lau anticipated the ripples his ruling would cause and released his 14 page written judgement to the media today. This extremely rare legal move along with a few details has been reported in the latest news section of the online Straits Times and may be found at this article. More details will be available tomorrow.

One interesting point to note: a rather damning piece of information that Singnet consented to releasing subscribers' information without even contesting the Odex court application and also the fact that their lawyers didn't even turn up to contest the hearing shows just how much Singnet values its Customers' privacy. Which from the face of it really doesn't look like much at all. At least Starhub contested the application. You can expect a lot of enraged Singnet subscribers. I personally won't be renewing mine when my contract ends.

According to this article, the Pacnet ruling would have far reaching implications if it is not reversed on appeal. The District Judge compared the request for a subscriber's information to an Anton Piller request (basically an order which allows the applicant to enter someone's premises and search for incriminating evidence in a procedure that can take days). The criterion and threshold to be fulfilled are extremely stringent and would also require a strong prima facie case.

This holding over the point mentioned above is a substantive point of law and it would remain to be seen if the superior courts endorse or reject it. More information on this and Odex's lack of locus standi due to the reason that it is a sub-licensee(previous legal analysis based on the precept that Odex was the exclusive licensee for the titles it has licensed) will be examined in greater depth tomorrow. Stay tuned. [added on 24 August 2007 , 11:55 PM]

Update: District Judge Earnest Lau's written oral judgement. A closer look at the grounds and future implications.

Odex vs Pacnet - Pacnet Wins!!!

It's been officially confirmed. What started out as excited rumours on the various forums regarding the outcome of the case between Odex and Pacific Internet has been verified by the official news channels. This has been confirmed on the 9.30 PM news on Channel 5 and reported on the online Straits Times latest news section in this article. PacNet has successfully resisted in court, an attempt by Odex to force it to reveal its subscribers' information based on the IP addresses of the alleged downloaders. In a court proceeding the outcome of which, most observers myself included, had suspected to be a foregone conclusion in favour of Odex based on its success in getting Singnet and Starhub to reveal their subscriber's information in similar court proceedings; the decision has indeed like the newscaster put it, raised a few eyebrows. I for one, am happy to be proven wrong.

More details are as of yet not available on the ruling though it will definitely be reported in tomorrow's newspapers and an update and detailed analysis will be posted on this blog then. Suffice to say this court decision does provide a psychological boost to anime fans and netizens unhappy with the way Odex has been conducting itself and this saga. I would however caution against celebrating just yet until we find out the grounds for the decision, whether it is based on a technicality (ie: failure to follow proper procedure) or if based on a substantive issue of law.

If Pacnet's victory was due to a failure on Odex's part to observe the correct procedures or file the necessary documents, it would be temporal as all Odex would need to do is to correct the technical irregularity and refile the suit which would then be tried on the substantive issues. The online Straits Time article does however shed some light on the grounds of the decision.

Apparently one of the grounds for the dismissal of the application by District Judge Earnest Lau was that Odex was not the right party to make the application, despite having the go ahead to prosecute on behalf of the Japanese anime distributors. This basically means that in the judge's opinion, Odex does not have the locus standi to commence an action despite being authorized by the Japanese anime companies and this is undoubtedly a substantive issue(regarding Odex's authority) even though it may be fixed by having the correct party bring the action. If the court doesn't recognize the party as having the locus standi or the legal interest to bring a case to court, that party is unable to pursue the case.

Which means the correct party to commence an action would either be AVPAS or the Japanese companies themselves. It remains to be seen whether AVPAS actually has the resources and time and effort to do so, I personally doubt the Japanese animation companies would attempt to commence an action here. This certainly has greater implications for the anime community and downloaders in general.

As to the discrepancies between the PacNet outcome and the Singnet and Starhub court orders, the cases were heard by different judges and both ISPs declined to reveal what legal arguments they used in court. So what will Odex do now? It's highly likely that they will appeal if the grounds of the pacnet decision is indeed that they do not have the locus standi to make an application to force Pacnet to reveal its subscribers' information. Do note that the decision was made at the Subordinate Courts level, there is still the High Court and Court of Appeal which outrank it in superiority. So until a final decision is made by the Court of Appeal (if the appeal goes that far), nothing is set in stone.

Personally, I believe Odex would have to appeal and they must do so. The entire legitimacy of their operations of sending out letters demanding settlement or to face the threat of legal action is based on the premise that they have been authorized by the copyright owners to commence action against downloaders and is the legally recognized party to do so. If they fail to discharge this responsibility, their entire basis for sending out the dreaded letters and threatening legal action is wholly and substantially undermined.

It remains to be seen how the other two ISPs will react. Starhub at least appears more pro-active, saying that they are reviewing their options. Singnet doesn't appear like it's going to do anything other than reiterating that they released the information pursuant to the court order. That's kind of like covering themselves from potential liability and saying 'Hey, even though Pacnet won, we had no other choice.' I believe Singnet subscribers would want a little more action to prove that Singnet is really serious about protecting its customers' privacy. But as the deadline has expired for Starhub and Singnet to lodge an appeal, there appears to be little they can do, at least with regards to the current batch of customer's information that was released.

Anyhow, stay tuned for more updates and analysis on the unfolding legal saga as the story unfolds and more issues come to light. On a wholly unrelated note, one wonders if the District Judge Earnest Lau is an anime fan himself.^^ Food for thought eh?

Update: Pacnet's win over Odex. The implications and other new pieces of information.

Odexed? 8 Things You Should Know.

So you've received that dreaded Odex letter. What now? Xedo Senshi the founder of Xedodefense, an online community that provides support to Odexed anime fans and explores different avenues of handling the crisis, raised 8 pertinent questions on various legal issues in a comment on the Showdown post. I will attempt to address and answer these questions to the best of my abilities in this post because they are relevant and will assist you in your decision on how to proceed.

Before I begin though, the standard disclaimer. These answers are answered to the best of my knowledge after some legal research but are not meant as a substitute for professional paid legal advice. If one intends to pursue legal avenues to settle this issue after reading this article, please by all means consult a lawyer(s) and get their second opinion on these and other issues. After all, you will be paying them. With that I'll proceed to answer the questions.

1. Although the general impression is that Bit-Torrent requires uploading, it is not necessarily so. In view of this, is it considered an offence if the accused only downloaded for personal consumption and not for distribution?

• Alright, correct me if I'm wrong about the technical aspect of how Bit Torrent works. But from what I understand, when you start downloading a torrent file from Bit Torrent, you get connected to other peers and seeders online and your IP address is publicly visible. As you download the file, the data is obtained in parts from the various online peers and seeders. At the same time, parts of the file that you have already downloaded are uploaded to other peers who are on the same torrent. It is this aspect which in my opinion, is sufficient to satisfy the 'distribution' element under the Offences Section 136 of the Copyright Act.

• If it is really the case( and you can prove in a court of law) that there was no uploading when downloading the file on bit-torrent, Odex would have failed to prove the distribution element. This means they would not be able to haul the downloader to court for Copyright infringement under Section 136(1),(2),(3) or (6). It is still an offence under Section 136(3A) which is extremely broad and simply requires that the copyright infringement is
  1. wilful (ie: deliberate downloading = wilful) and 2. that the extent of infringement is significant or that the person does the act to obtain a commercial advantage.
  Your strongest argument for an offence under S 136(3A) would be to dispute that the extent of infringement is significant. Of course if you downloaded say 7 or more episodes, you can be sure that the infringement would be regarded as significant. S 136(7) might be a helpful indicator of how many episodes would be regarded as significant. It basically provides that if a person is found to be in possession of more than 5 infringing copies of any work, shall be presumed unless otherwise proven to be in possession of the copies for purposes other than domestic or private use or for the purpose of sale.

• I won't go into the debate about what constitutes copies, etc. Suffice to say, the Court has explicitly stated there is no fixed formula, they will look at the circumstances of the case and determine. So basically, no, EVEN if you are simply downloading and not distributing, you can be guilty of an offence under Section 136(3A). Do note that the defence in Section 114 for recording TV shows DOES NOT apply to downloading anime, mp3s, etc.
  

2. Given that a single IP address can be the exit point for several computers, i.e. the father, the mother, the sons, the daughters, the maids etc. Is it actually legal to simply sue the father because the account is under his name? Would that not imply that the owner of a residence can be charged for murder if the evidence only points to the murderer being one of the six in a house?

• I get your point but you can't draw an analogy like that between the two. Odex is sending letters to the subscribers/account holders because that is the information obtained from the ISPs based on the list of IP addresses after obtaining the court order forcing the ISPs to release customer information. (Do note Odex has just very recently released a clarification on their webpage stating the court order was to release the customer information for 1000 IP addresses and not 1000 subscribers as reported. You can also check out this blogger's comments on it.)

• Should Odex bring the downloader to court, they will need to obtain hard physical evidence because it is clear that IP addresses alone is insufficient evidence to prove copyright infringement. This will almost certainly entail a private search warrant taken out to search the house of the downloader contesting the case to obtain physical evidence(computer, CDs, etc).
  

• When the case goes to court, the suit will be against the downloader and not the account holder/subscriber because the subscriber himself(if found to be so during the discovery of the evidence stage) did not infringe any copyrights by downloading anything. The most he is guilty of is perhaps negligence but the copyright infringement charges will be brought against the actual downloader unless there is evidence that shows the subscriber was aware or ought reasonably to have been aware of the copyright infringement but did nothing about it.

• So just like you go after the actual murderer, they(Odex) will need to go after the actual copyright infringer.
  

3. If it can be proven that the IP addresses collected by Odex is not conclusive about the nature of the connection, i.e. no evidence the connection was uploading or downloading, is there still any basis for the charge?

• I assume you're emphasising on the fact that IP addresses by itself might not be sufficient evidence to establish copyright infringement. If so, you are absolutely correct and as I mentioned earlier, Odex will need to obtain hard, physical evidence that is admissible to support their claim that the downloader has actually infringed the copyrights of the work by downloading anime illegally. And they will do that by obtaining a private search warrant and searching your house/premise.

• This question is a little academic though because should the case proceed to trial, Odex being the plaintiff will have to produce evidence to prove their case on a balance of probabilities and they will proceed to do so as mentioned above. Hence, if the person Odexed is really innocent (ie: never downloaded a single episode of anime at all), then Odex would fail to obtain the requisite evidence at the discovery stage. Otherwise, you can be sure that they will not be relying solely on IP addresses as evidence of your copyright infringement. They can't.
  

4. If challenged in court, and no evidence of alleged content can be found on the accused's computer, where would the legal costs fall?

• So they've searched your house, dissected your comp and found no hard tangible evidence of any copyrighted works in your possession. I seriously doubt they'll be foolish enough to proceed to trial on such a basis. They'll probably attempt to settle, paying you a sum of money to mollify you.

• Assuming they do go to trial and they lose because of the lack of evidence, if it is a civil case as it would be unless they commence a private prosecution after obtaining approval from the Attorney General's Chambers, the court usually orders costs against the loser. This is of course at the court's discretion. The court may order full costs against the losing party or simply order partial costs. Where it clear the vindicated party is innocent, it is likely that the court will order full costs against the losing party ie: Odex.

• This means that Odex will need to pay for all costs of the court proceedings, the cost of filing the various court documents and your party to party costs. This DOES NOT mean that the victor does not have to pay for anything. The victor will still need to pay the solicitor-clients cost ie: you will still need to pay the legal fees of your lawyer.

• If Odex is granted permission by the Attorney General's Chambers to commence a private prosecution on behalf of the Public Prosecutor, the trial will be a criminal suit and for criminal suits, all costs lie where they fall. That means no matter who wins or loses, you still have to pay for your share of the legal proceedings, party to party costs and solicitor-client costs. Everything is split except for the cost of your lawyer's fees which is paid by you personally.
  

5. Can the accused persons act as a group in any legal proceeding, i.e. class action suit or must they take on Odex one by one?

• Yes they can and they should. They can proceed against Odex via a class action suit and the well known case is that of the Raffles Town Club case where club members joined together in a class action suit to sue RTC for breach of contract. See the initial case, Tan Chin Seng and Others vs Raffles Town Club Pte Ltd [2002] 3 SLR 345 (High Court) & [2003] 3 SLR 307 (Court of Appeal)

• Proceeding as a class action suit has various advantages, foremost amongst which is that it is considerably cheaper to do so rather than commencing separate individual cases and you have more resources pooled together to fund the suit. One thing to note about Class action suits in Singapore, ours is DIFFERENT from the American style of Class action suits. So don't read up on American class action suits, the procedure and consequence of a judgement in a class action suit is different from our system. I'll touch on this more in the next question.
  

6. If one person takes the fight against Odex to court and proves that Odex did not have a case, whether due to a lack of concrete correlation of IP to person, or lack of evidence that the person was in possession of alleged content, does it mean all who are involved in this situation can rely on this judgement?

• I'll answer this in two parts. First on the face value aspect of the question which says if one person obtains a judgement against Odex, can everyone else rely on this judgement? For obvious reasons, the answer is most definitely NO. Why? Because they are not a party to the suit and hence the judgement is not binding on Odex regarding the other downloaders/people and also because the circumstances of the case are different in each case. There may be no evidence that one guy illegally downloaded anime and infringed copyrights but that doesn't mean that there's no evidence that the other 1000+ (assuming) Odexed people didn't download anime and infring copyrights. This is with regards to the any ruling on evidence ie: lack of evidence that the person was in possession of alleged content.

• Of course if the ruling is with regards to a point of law, say for example that: IP addresses are never, on its own, good evidence of copyright infringement. That ruling on a point of law will affect similar cases until and unless it is overturned by a higher court, the highest court in Singapore being the Court of Appeal.

• Now assume a class action suit is brought against Odex. First things first, as mentioned earlier, the class action suit in Singapore is different than in the USA. Firstly, people who wish to join a class action suit must Opt-In by application to join the suit. In the USA, everyone in a similar class that is affected by the subject matter in question is automatically a member of the class action suit, you leave the suit by 'Opting-Out'. Secondly, the holding/judgement of the court in a class action suit only binds the parties to the suit. Which means that in our case(Singapore), if you failed to 'Opt-in' to the class action suit by actively applying to do so, you would not be able to enforce the judgement or rely on it. In the USA, all members of the class are automatically bound by the decision in the class action suit and can enjoy the benefits(depending on their perspective) unless they have Opted-Out of the class action suit.
  

7. As you mentioned, the quantum of compensation is a sticking point. If it can be shown that
a) such alleged activities did not prejudiced the copyright owner's interest and/or
b) copyright owner did not suffer any significant loss in revenue (imagined or actual) and/or
c) the amount of losses was aggravated due to the the copyright owner's action or lack of
is it possible to challenge the quantum or the case itself on these grounds?

• (a) if you can prove this (and you will need to go to court to show this) then they cannot win a case against you based on Section 136(1),(2),(3). And you can successfully challenge the case itself, let alone the quantum. Do note however that S 136(3A) has no requirement for prejudice, but simply that the infringement is significant.

• (b) this would be a factor possibly in the determination by the court as to whether the copyright owner was prejudicially affected. Which means the response would be exactly the same as for (a). You may attempt to rely on the defence of Fair Dealing in Section 35 as was mentioned in my earlier post and the court will then take into account the factors listed in S 35(2) but this list is NOT exhaustive, which means the court will look at other factors too.

• (c) this is not a ground for challenging the quantum or the case itself. The fact that the amount of losses has been aggravated by the Copyright owner's inaction( assuming that you can even show it in the first place) is irrelevant in the court's decision when determining copyright infringement. Like they say, two wrongs do not make a right. And any negligence on the part of the Copyright owner or the exclusive licensee would not detract from their rights to enforce their copyrights.
  

8. If it can be proven that only Odex is prejudiced by the alleged actions and not the copyrights owners, does Odex still have a case of copyright infringement against the users?

• Yes. Odex has been exclusively licensed by the copyright owners, the Japanese Animation companies. Section 123 of the Copyright Act states that the exclusive licensee shall have, except against the owner, the same rights as the owner possesses and be entitled to the same remedies the owner is entitled to as per Sections 119 -120A which detail the right of the Copyright Owner to enforce his rights by bringing an action and the remedies he is entitled to.

• The fact that Odex is a licensee is irrelevant, it has the same rights as that of the copyright owner. Section 124 of the Copyright Act further provides that the licensee or owner may proceed with an action without having the other party join as a plaintiff to the action unless the court orders otherwise. This means Odex can sue without having the Jap companies join in as a plaintiff. Lastly S 126 provides for the Assessment of damages for the exclusive licensee. When taking into account damages or statutory damages, the court will take into account any liabilities, royalties or otherwise, to which the licence is subject.

Hope this article answers some of the more pressing legal issues and questions people, Odexed or otherwise, might have. Once again for those who have been Odexed or strongly suspect that they will be Odexed, take some time, do a little level-headed research and browse through this article and the others on this or other blogs about Odex. But do not use it as a substitute for professional paid legal advice, especially if you intend to pursue a legal recourse.

Update: A surprising twist in the Odex court order application against Pacnet. Pacnet Wins!