When all three stages – academic, professional training, and apprenticeship – have been completed, the ‘call to the Bar’ can be scheduled. This is a formal High Court hearing, at which the now fully qualified aspirant will be officially admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor and have his/her name added to the Roll of Advocates and Solicitors. It is typically a momentous and highly memorable ceremony attended by friends and family, in which the aspirant will be individually addressed by the Judge. His/her journey will be commemorated in the ‘call speech’ by the lawyer who presents the case for admission and, to complete the process, the pupil master then places the robes of an Advocate and Solicitor on the former pupil.
Besides professional legal practice and a position in the JLS as discussed above, there is a multitude of career opportunities available to a law graduate. He/she may seek a career in banking and finance, journalism, corporate affairs, academia, the Administrative and Diplomatic Service, and law enforcement bodies such as the Royal Malaysian Police and the Royal Malaysian Customs. A law degree is also an excellent foundation for a career as a regulator with bodies such as the Central Bank of Malaysia (BNM), the Securities Commission of Malaysia, and Bursa Malaysia. It is therefore no surprise that a law degree continues to be a much sought-after qualification amongst students in this country.
To secure the continued effective administration of justice and the rule of law, it is essential that the legal services community continues to attract the best and brightest to the service of the public through a career in its ranks.
As law teachers at university level, our role is to help students realise the tremendous potential of the law to positively impact society; to cultivate students’ appreciation of the multifaceted intricacies of the law; and to inculcate the skills of ‘thinking like a lawyer’. It is our hope that regardless of which career pathway or vocation our students ultimately fulfill their life’s calling in, they will act with a clear appreciation of how law can be harnessed for the common well-being of society.