DHAKA TRIBUNE

Career

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Slick and smart: Corporate lawyers in Bangladesh

Nakibul Hoq and Naiian Yazdani n
American courtroom dramas portray corporate lawyers as immaculately dressed folks with a superior intellect and a scything tongue. Is that what it is really like? Is it what happens in Bangladesh? Well, unlike many developed countries, suing for the smallest of things is not the standard norm in Bangladesh. However, in the past few years a career in law has had a major makeover in this part of the world. Many new private law firms dealing with all sorts of services have sprung up, making it easier for those seeking legal services. In Bangladesh, commercial lawyers practise privately under seven major scales: civil, family issues, criminal, corporate issues, writ petitions, arbitration proceeding and immigration. These are further categorised into several subclasses, and into even further subdivisions. Corporate lawyers serve all sorts of clients in various scenarios. They may be involved in upper class company litigations and land brawls between different parties, or they can also serve as advisors to boards of directors of the listed firms to oversee and advise on legal compliance both nationally and internationally. According to Sameera Mahmud, a barrister at Sadat Sarwar and Associates: The scope of a career in corporate law in Bangladesh has increased drastically in the past few years. The current scenario is such that you get more jobs in the corporate field. It is also much easier to get into because most of the companies are always looking for new lawyers. The industry is growing and opportunities are emerging. There are two pathways if you want to become a lawyer in Bangladesh. You can become either a barrister or an advocate. A barrister is one who fights cases in the higher courts for either the defence or prosecution. An advocate on the other hand is a lawyer who pleads cases in any court. If you want to become a barrister, you need to hold a law degree from one of the recognised law schools in the country or abroad. Then you need to pass the bar exam in order to become a licensed practitioner or rather, a barrister. quires corporate lawyers to have sufficient knowledge in finance and accounting, especially when dealing with banks and financial institutions. A single mistake can cost their clients millions, so once again the importance of detail will come to the fore. Corporate lawyers play various roles from agonising over the terms of a business or asset purchase, consulting with marketing teams prior to campaigns or commencing litigation for breaches of contract and claiming damages. Without doubt, lawyers have to be extremely proactive and energetic about what they do. Quite often, they have to sit with tonnes of research work to study and pour through past cases and laws in order to fight a case for their clients. This requires enthusiasm and energy, and a committed devotion to a career that requires only curious minds. Contrary to what we see in the media, lawyers are not necessarily braggarts or snobs. Rather, they are personalities with extremely high intelligence. They are sticklers of detail, substantial speakers with highly proactive attitudes and an enthusiasm unmatched by other professionals. These virtues are not spurred in a day. It requires commitment, discipline and a lot of diligence from the individuals part. However, once you get into the habit, you will never look back, because the world that will beckon you is exciting, enthralling, and as American media can confirm, full of some nice fitting suits! l Nakibul Hoq is a Research Analyst at GradConnect, an international career information and advisory firm. You can email him at nakib@grad-connect.com. Naiian Yazdani is the Director of Strategy at GradConnect. You can email him at naiian@ grad-connect.com and find more career information at www.grad-insights.com and www.grad-connect.com

Lawyers have to be extremely proactive and energetic. They have to sit with tonnes of research work to study and pour through past cases and laws
The bar exam has to be passed from abroad at present because it is not offered in Bangladesh. Since Bangladesh follows the British system most of the corporate lawyers and barristers appear for the bar exams in the UK. Sameera for instance passed her bar exam from Northumbria School of Law in Newcastle, UK. Another option is to become an advocate, which is more straightforward. You have to pass exams administered by the high courts in the country. Once completed, you will need to undertake an apprenticeship to become a successful advocate. As with most industries, it is a long way to the top and some serious hard work is required. Initially you have to practise as an associate at one of the private firms. From there you can rise up steadily with your effort and acumen. There is potential for growth and a lawyer can become the senior partner of that particular law firm or even move on to form one of his own. Either way, this will only be the beginning of a career of enormous fulfilment and satisfaction. There are certain skills that are a part of a lawyers armoury. A law student has to work a lot on self-development and be able to manipulate by talking. As Harvey Specter and Alan Shore from the TV shows Suits and Boston Legal respectively have emphasised, it is all about having a great chat a euphemism for the lawyers ability to talk. Not just talk, but talk fast and think seamlessly to make people say what you want to hear. All lawyers are debaters, and you must be able to convince your audience with in-depth analysis and articulated thoughts. Aside from interpersonal and communication skills, attention to detail is critical. They have to go through notes, documents and depositions tirelessly in order to find out incongruities and sore spots quickly and efficiently. The minutest detail may be of the utmost importance. Being able to see through words and meanings and written documents will be the foundation on which a lawyers career is built. In todays world, a high amount of importance is placed on a persons ethics and moral principles. While there is a joke that lawyers have none of the aforementioned principles, in actuality that is far from the truth. For example, attorney-client confidentiality is one of the most cited; no matter who your client is or whatever he or she has done, as the individuals or the companys lawyer, your job is to act in the best interest of your client. Your absolute loyalty to the party you represent until the court hearing is unquestionable, so you must have a trustworthy, faithful personality. Working in the private sector re-

How well do you understand your employment contract? Career Desk n

Assessment Evaluation of ones abilities Background EdBIZ Vocab ucation, qualifications, experience Bonus - Additional

How to avoid having your schedule dictate your day

Ahsan Sajid n
Many common time management mistakes are easily avoidable, and yet we continue to make them because we fail to identify and pinYOUR CUP point the mistakes that OF TEA we are making. One of the most effective means we have to improve our productivity at work is to recognise and fix some of these more common mistakes. Once the mistakes have been overcome, we will not only have more time but also have higher job satisfaction and less stress, and not have our schedule dictate our day. When we manage our time well, our productivity levels go up and our stress levels drop. Following are a list of suggestions of common mistakes, which we have all been guilty of at some point or the other. your time well; having a goal gives us a destination to work towards and a path to follow. When we know where we would like to be at the end of the day, week, or year, we can manage our priorities accordingly and allocate our time and resources more efficiently. Additionally, having long-term goals helps us realise what is worth spending time on and what is a distraction.

payment to an employee as an incentive or reward Curriculum vitae - Summary of ones education and experience to date; resume Dismiss - Discharge from employment (to fire, to sack, to let go) Fringe benefits - Advantages offered in addition to salary (life insurance, retirement scheme, company car, etc.); also called perks, abbreviation for perquisites Make redundant - Dismiss for economic reasons Maternity leave - Period of absence for a female employee when having a baby Notice - Advanced warning of intention to leave ones job, to give or hand in ones resignation Personnel - People who work for a firm or company (employees) Personnel officer - Manager responsible for recruitment, training and welfare of personnel (employees) Prospects - Opportunities for success or promotion in a career Recruit - Look for and hire personnel Resign - Leave a job voluntarily Retire - Leave employment because of age Sick leave - Absence because of illness to be on sick leave Staff - People who work for a firm or department; employees Strength - Strong characteristic or particular ability Strike - To go on strike: to stop working in protest against something Take on - Employ or hire Trainee - Person being trained for a job Training course - A course of study to prepare for a job Unemployment benefits - Payments made by the state to an unemployed person Vacancy - A position to be filled Weakness - A lack of ability or a shortcoming in character

Avoid distractions
We lose a few hours daily to distractions such as emails, Facebook, instant messaging, phone calls, helping out colleagues etc. This clearly prevents us from achieving the ideal workflow the work we do when we are 100% engaged in a task. So much as having a chat window open on another tab can distract our mind. To gain control of the day and do our best work, we need to minimise distractions and manage interruptions.

Grabbing the limelight: What my Model UN experience taught me about crowds

Fahmida Faiza n
One of the core lessons that the Model UN experience teaches is to be heard in a sea of delegates each with their own contribution to the conversation. To survive one soon learns how to tackle the issue, and be heard without being obnoxious. For those who have had an experience at the General Assembly committees, the situation is very familiar you barely get the floor in a pool of 150 delegates and one of the most persisting fears is of getting overshadowed by fellow delegates. Personally, I faced this problem countless times, and made several attempts to secure a place at the council while serving as a delegate. There were moments when in the midst of highly experienced international delegates, I hardly got the floor a single time despite raising my placard over 40 times! That is no reason to give up. The competition is not so breakneck at Bangladeshi General Assemblies, but at international platforms delegates often get frustrated at repeated failure to secure a place at the committee and thus losing the gavel. Instead of taking it as a sign to quit, try the following tactics and suggestions that I have gathered from my MUN experience to grabbing the limelight in a crowd. This sort of interpersonal development is not a one-step process but rather a lifestyle be aware not only of the given agenda but cultivate your general knowledge and current affairs, know as much about as many different issues as possible.

Add to the conversation

Try to add to the conversation instead of simply adding to the noise. Rather than regurgitating what has already been said, add something new and the crowd will listen. If the crowd realises that you are not adding anything of value, they will know not to pay attention the next time you have something to say. Think outside the box and choose your words carefully, make them valuable, courteous and important. Be precise and efficient and do not waste everybodys time.

Do not just store it in your head

We have all experienced the sense of foreboding that we feel when the idea that we have forgotten something important keeps nagging us at the back of our heads; it is frustrating and gets in the way of critical thinking. It is surprising that more often than not, this feeling arises from not maintaining a to-do list and just storing all our plans in our head. Significant amounts of time may be saved with a simple to-do list, listed according to priority.

Know the load you can carry

Some of us often enthusiastically take on too much on our plate; this happens more often right after joining a new job. This may come from a desire to impress or an inability to say no to people. Either way, taking on too much can lead to poor performance, stress, and low morale. Another reason you might have this problem is if you are a micromanager and you insist on controlling every aspect of a project. Taking on too much work more often than not results in rushed, shoddy work. l

Communicate congenially
Once your research is up to par, communication is key. This does not only mean speaking well, but also speaking efficiently. In a crowd, you definitely have some allies and some adversaries. Figure out who is who, and speak in a way that you speak for all your allies too, to grab the most attention. The only way to getting as many people as possible to be on your side is to make them feel that your words are in fact their words, and that you stand in the same position facing the same difficulties. Communication is important not just during the discussion at hand but outside of it as well. Good communication expands your network and gets more supporters on your side for the next time you speak up. When speaking among a crowd it is important to tailor your speech in a way to make your words agreeable, and to wean out negativity altogether.

Be clear
Most importantly, make what you say clear and transparent. If people have to struggle to understand what your point is, you will soon lose their attention. Do not try to play it safe and create a grey area where you do not take a clear stand or make a definite argument. Being vague derails the entire discussion and makes succeeding discussions difficult.

Plan point A to point B

Setting goals is essential to managing

Do not try to be everyones friend

This is an extension of the previous point do not make the mistake of trying to take everyones side and agreeing with everyone. It is of utmost importance to be friendly and congenial, but if you agree with everyone all that does is create confusion. Take a clear stand so people know what you are talking about and do not be afraid to disagree with others. When speaking in a crowd, your words are your most powerful ally, and the most important tool to making you indispensable to the discussion at hand. Be yourself, be bold and be specific. l The writer is Bangladeshs first professional MUN trainer at Lighthouse Imperium

Do not be obnoxious Research

Never underestimate the importance of conducting a very thorough research. When speaking in a crowd of equally talented and equally educated people, there is no way to survive against a fellow who has nailed his research work better than you have. Do not go out of your way and try to do something outrageous to get attention. This may include butting in while someone else is talking, making outlandish claims against your policy simply to steal focus, heckling, or physically or verbally seeming ill-mannered and of a poor personality.