Advocates The Podcast

Interested in going on a 3 month mountain climbing expedition, despite a busy schedule as a lawyer? Seremban-born, Francis Xavier SC gives you a step by step guide. We trek through Francis' early years handling criminal matters, maintaining a busy commerical practice in one of Singapore's largest law firms and the inspiration behind his rock band. Francis is ranked among Asia's Top 15 Litigators by Asian Legal Business in 2021. 

Advocates the Podcast looks to Palestine in this episode. We speak to Diana Buttu, a Canadian-Palestinian lawyer and advocate of Palestinian rights. Diana takes us through her experience working in the Negotiations Support Unit of the Palestinian Liberation Organization and describes the legal battles she faces in an occupied Palestine.

In this instalment of Advocates the Podcast, we talk to Professor Carlton Larson, scholar of American constitutional law and Anglo-American legal history. In an unusual episode, Professor Larson describes how the Founding Fathers of America, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Wilson, were as lawyers and advocates. He also dips into the career of Abraham Lincoln as lawyer and advocate. 

How does one go from taking a car radiator apart to becoming an advocate? Gobind Singh Deo, prominent criminal advocate in Malaysia shares with Advocates the Podcast about just that. Gobind Singh Deo shares his journey of coming up as an advocate under the shadow of the Malaysian Internal Security Act, his approach to criminal cases and the investigative strategies he undertakes.

On this episode of Advocates the Podcast, we learn about how a young woman from Glasgow, Scotland became one of Britain's leading barristers. Baroness Helena Kennedy QC takes us back to the 70s, a time women were largely excluded from the legal profession in Britain. Listen to how she disrupted the traditional 'Chambers' model and reshaped the law for women through her work in media, landmark cases and in law-making at the House of Lords.  

This interview contains discussions of gender based violence. 

We welcome to this episode of Advocates The Podcast, Michael Kirby AC CMG, first openly gay judge and an intellectual powerhouse. After a career as a barrister, he went on to sit on the High Court of Australia, the highest court in the land. 

In this installment of Advocates The Podcast, we sit down with the former Solicitor General of India, Harish Salve QC. Harish is a familiar face in high profile cases having represented India before the International Court of Justice, Vodafone and even Bollywood heartthrob, Salman Khan. Intriguingly, Harish expanded jurisdictions and is now a Queen's Counsel at Blackstones Chambers, just 7 years after being admitted to the Bar of England and Wales. 

What is it like to have Jodie Foster play you in a movie? Nancy Hollander, named America's Top 50 women litigators, says it is a very strange feeling. Nancy has spent her career taking on the U.S. Government including representing Mohamedou Ould Slahi who was held captive in Guantanamo Bay for 16 years. Find out why Nancy thinks country music is an effective source for learning good advocacy, here on Advocates The Podcast. 

CW: This interview contains mentions of torture. 

In our second episode, Tan Sri Dato' V.C. George. Malaysian legal legend and legendary wit.  Having entered the profession in 1957, George gives us a lens into legal practice in early independent Malaya. Later in his career, George was among the first four judges appointed to the newly formed Commercial Division of the High Court in 1983. He sat in the Court of Appeal until 1995. In 2021, he published a memoir, 'Some Stories I Have Told and Some That I Haven't'. 

Lord Jonathan Sumption. First barrister in 60 years from the English Bar to be appointed directly to the highest court of the land in the United Kingdom. Enough said. 

In our last episode of Advocates the Podcast (Season 1), we speak to Jonathan Crow QC. Jonathan Crow is an English litigator with almost 40 years of experience at the Bar. In 2006, Crow was appointed Queen’s Counsel, and has since built an award-winning career (Legal 500’s Top 100, Chambers UK Commercial Litigation and Chancery Silk of the Year, The Times Lawyer of the Week). On this episode of Advocates, The Podcast, Jonathan Crow speaks on his childhood, his seasoned approach to appeals, and his experience arguing before the U.K. Supreme Court.Stay tuned for Advocates the Podcast Season 2! 

Few in Malaysia command as much admiration as Ambiga Sreenevasan – admiration among her contemporaries as a skilled litigator, and among the public as a courageous political activist. Sreenevasan has served as President of the Malaysian Bar Council, co-chairperson of Bersih (an NGO advocating for local election reform), and member of the International Commission of Jurists. Catch Ambiga Sreenevasan on Advocates, The Podcast.

This episode of Advocates stars Johann Kriegler, a veteran litigator at the Johannesburg Bar. In late 1993, Kriegler was assigned to direct the Independent Electoral Commission, the body responsible for overseeing South Africa’s first universally democratic election. A year later, Kriegler was appointed by Nelson Mandela to the Constitutional Court of South Africa, a position he held for eight years. 

Ipoh-born English barrister Eason Rajah discusses life at boarding school, inspiring colleagues, and his thirst for winning, on this month’s instalment of Advocates, the Podcast. Appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2011, Rajah also acts as a Deputy High Court Judge and as Chairman of the Chancery Bar Association. In 2018, Rajah was awarded “Private Client: Trusts and Probate Silk of the Year” by the Legal 500.

Eminent Singaporean litigator, Davinder Singh SC, outlines his philosophy and approach to advocacy on this month’s first episode of Advocates, the Podcast. After spending 37 years at Drew & Napier, one of Singapore’s leading law firms, Singh started his own firm in early 2019. Among countless other accolades, Singh was most recently inducted into the The Legal 500 Asia Pacific “Hall of Fame” for his expertise in Dispute Resolution and International Arbitration.

Robert Lazar is a litigator with more than forty years of experience at the Malaysian Bar. He represented former Supreme Court Justice Datuk Seri George Seah during the 1988 Judicial Crisis, appeared as lead counsel for the Bar during the 2008 Royal Commission of Inquiry into V.K. Lingam, and litigated one of the only cases before the Special Court, in 2009. Tune in to this month’s installment of Advocates, The Podcast to listen to Robert Lazar speak on his illustrious career as an advocate. 

The fourth episode of Advocates features Hina Jilani, an internationally-renowned litigator and activist from Lahore, Pakistan. Her brand of human rights advocacy is fierce and fearless, and has brought her face to face with death threats and assassins. Listen to Jilani discuss her career as a pioneer for women’s and children’s rights in Pakistan and across the world, on Advocates, the Podcast. 

Benjamin Aina QC was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2009, and has established himself as a prominent criminal barrister in the United Kingdom as both a prosecutor and a defender. On this month’s episode of Advocates, Aina speaks about his childhood influences, his experience as a Black barrister, and the emphasis he places on courtesy as defining factor of a successful advocate.

Alan Dershowitz is renowned not only as a successful criminal defense attorney, but also as Professor Emeritus at Harvard Law School and as an award-winning author. Listen to Dershowitz discuss his legal philosophy, his activism, and the rest of his 60-year-long journey as an advocate. 

Former Attorney General of Malaysia and distinguished veteran of the Malaysian Bar, Tommy Thomas, speaks about his meticulous approach to trial work, his legacy as an advocate, and the historical development of the Malaysian judicial system, on the inaugural episode of Advocates, The Podcast.