Essential Skills for Law Students and Junior Lawyers in Malaysia

Studying a law degree programme at the tertiary level in a public university is highly stressful. Apparently, passing extremely rigorous examinations, and completing the chambering period does not guarantee a person to work competently as a lawyer. In reality, final grades are no longer the sole determining factor in deciding employability in a law firm, especially when law firms are keen to employ skilled personnel. Taking into consideration the need to produce multitasking and practiceready law graduates, this article seeks to highlight the need to improve the efficacy of law students and junior lawyers, and then, the essential skills needed by every law student and junior lawyer in addition to the ways to achieve them. To achieve this, an analysis of the general practices of advocates and solicitors in common areas of law such as conveyances, contracts, and civil litigation practice, as well as relevant procedural rules are made. It is suggested that proper training and continuing legal education must be designed to ensure that junior lawyers in the country are equipped with the necessary essential skills for them to have comparable knowledge and skills with their foreign counterparts.