Oh woopee! First REAL entry! Let’s berbogel!

I have a question. When you did your pupillage, when assigned a work task, did you have the privilege to say — “Eh cannot lah. Damn busy now.”?

I am not sure if I was the only dumb one who took whatever shit that got thrown at me, or if everyone went through the same thing.

Reproducing 30 land titles (which until today I do not understand what the bloody hell for when you can bloody scan the title into your computer — but last time stupid, just do what you’re told), conduct a watching brief and ‘take notes’ (padahal damn dunno what you are supposed to look out for), transcribing when you are not even involved in the matter (THIS ONE I STILL CANNOT UNDERSTAND HOW COME ONE MINUTE OF THE TRIAL WOULD TAKE AT LEAST 15 MINUTES TO TRANSCRIBE. SHOULDN’T IT TAKE THE SAME AMOUNT OF TIME? Ok maybe not the SAME amount of time lah, but at least the difference should only be about few minutes and not like 3 hours), etc.

Anyway, I remember saying “OK” to everything despite having four other Partners breathing down my neck for the research I promised a week ago.

Today, it’s different! I feel cheated. I feel like I have been living a lie. Like my whole life has been built on this belief that WE, as pupils, had no say in anything! ANYTHING!

Last week I asked a pupil “Hi, Your Royal Highness of Alaska (I don’t know why I chose Alaska), do you mind (I also another one lah go and ask if he minds or not. Sure la mind. BUT I DID NOT EXPECT WHAT HE SAID NEXT) helping me out with this file? I will guide you through the entire thing.”

His response: “Er. Cannot lah. Busy. Hehe.

… let me try to brain this.

CANNOT. LAH.

B-U-S-Y.

HE-HE.

You. Win.

Okaylah maybe it’s because I am not a Partner (or am I? wtf). Anyway, after that incident, my colleague told me that the same pupil told her to give him a task that requires him using his brain. Fuh. Offended, ya’ll! I THINK I DESERVE THE RIGHT TO NOT BE OFFENDED!

So not only did he reject me, he also thinks that my job is a no-brainer, he was also implying that I am dumb. Okaylah a bit too much assumptions. BUT DON’T CARE! I am a sensitive person! Okay, dramas aside.

I also had the same mentality when I was doing my pupillage. I would complain about the job given to me being a no-brainer, and that I did not study four years to do this brainless task and some other stuff that pretty much sums up to — “I am too good for this.”.

Today, I wish I knew then what I know now. Do you know how important these ‘no-brainer’ tasks are? Let me tell you.

  1. When you ask your clerk/sexytary to do something, the chances of her/him bullshitting you about not being able to do it or give you some bullshit excuse for the delay would be highly unlikely.
  2. When your clerk/sexytary goes on her/his maternity leave, work can still be done.
  3. When your pupil tries to bullshit you and say she/he is busy doing something else, you would know right away how ‘busy’ she/he is.
  4. Damn tiring having to always she/he her/his but if I don’t do this, later people say I sexist wtf.
  5. Basically, knowing these ‘petty’ stuff will prevent people from bullshitting you in the near future.

I am not saying that you should take on tasks despite already having your hands full. I would not want you to give me shit work and then I have to buat dua kali kerja.

But get rid of the I-am-too-good-for-this attitude because it will not get you far in this profession.

Merely attending law school and passing your CLP does not necessarily mean you will be a kick-ass lawyer. You can be a first class student. You can have the prettiest CV. But it is your work attitude that matters most.

Okay, done nagging.

Please go sit in a corner and reflect on life now. Draw circles if necessary.

LoyarBogel is 32/m/kl. He enjoys cycling and reading. He also... no wait. LoyarBogel is a lady. She has been in the legal field for about three years now. Or has it been nine? Confused? Me too. LoyarBogel...

4 replies on “#LoyarBogel: The Importance of Small Tasks”

  1. General rule/guideline in such circumstances is to say "I am currently attending to A, B, and C. Thus, I would only be able to attend to this on [date] and most likely revert to you by [date]. – Everyone is mostly happy with the result.

    1. Agreed! Definitely the best is to ask "when are you expecting this?" And continue to explain what you have in your hands ATM so that the person knows when and what to expect.

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