“Being a Legal Eagle” Mendaki Club Workshop

Organisers and facilitators of the 2020 “Being a Legal Eagle” Workshop. The event was organised by Danial Hakim ’16 (front row, centre), Hairul Siddeeq ’19 (front row, first from left), Mohd Muzhaffar (back row, second from right) and Ahmad Noorfahmy (front row, third from right)

On 7 November 2020, the Mendaki Club Legal Chapter and Young Mendaki Club organised the third edition of the “Being a Legal Eagle” workshop, at NUS Law’s Bukit Timah Campus, for Malay/Muslim secondary school students from both national schools and madrasahs in Singapore.

     
(Left image) Professor David Tan addressing participants at the start of the day
(Right image) Participants of the “Being a Legal Eagle” workshop listening to the briefing on the cross-examination exercise

This year’s edition followed two previous workshops held in 2019, which not only focused on secondary school students, but other pre-university students (e.g. junior college, polytechnic). The diverse group of facilitators consisted of graduates and undergraduates from various universities (including NUS) and backgrounds, and at differing phases of their legal careers.

Professor David Tan (Vice-Dean (Academic Affairs), NUS Law), Associate Professor Helena Whalen-Bridge (NUS Law) and Danial Hakim ’16 (Director, Young Mendaki Club) gave opening addresses before the participants began their first exercise for the day. The objectives of the workshop were to introduce participants to the legal framework and landscape of Singapore, raise awareness of being a lawyer as a future profession, and provide a taste of lawyering skills through the hands-on activities.

Participants practising arguments in small groups, in preparation for the courtroom simulation

In the morning, a cross-examination exercise brought participants through a demonstration before allowing them to try their hands at questioning witnesses using the same set of facts. Following that, the participants moved on to crafting arguments for a courtroom competition, where different groups went up against each other in a simulated courtroom setting. The day ended with small group panel sessions between the participants and facilitators/organisers, where they had conversations on careers, studies, and how the workshop can help participants shape and inform their views about their futures.

Professor David Tan and Danial Hakim