Why are lawyers in Malaysia paid poorly? [Archive]

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Gemini

24-03-2008, 06:44 PM

Thirdshifter

24-03-2008, 06:54 PM

It's not about how much books they have to read or how vast their knowledge is about law.

The sole factor that determine pay is demand.

youngyew

24-03-2008, 07:48 PM

A doctor's starting salary is not 6K. Summing up all the night-shift pay, allowances etc, it's closer to 3.5 to 4K.

LilDeviant

25-03-2008, 03:02 PM

Lawyer:
The starting salary: RM2000+
Chambering : RM800-1000

Lawyers are professionals too. Why are they paid poorly nowadays in Malaysia?

Take a look at other professionals as well.
Doctor:
The starting salary: RM6000

Pharmacist:
The starting salary: RM3000+

Well, tell me....Is the knowledge that a lawyers has not as valuable as other professionals?
Oh, think!!!! I can't understand why the lawyers are being treated so badly? Lawyers study LLB and they even need to pass the CLP. I do think lawyers deserve more pay, don't you think SO?

The remuneration of a lawyer depends largely on the firm he/she works for. Large firms usually pay quite abit compared to small firms. The starting pay of a new lawyer could range from RM 1.5k to RM 3.6k (excluding allowances). Anyhow, I do agree that Malaysian lawyers are GENERALLY underpaid compared to lawyers in other countries.

weich

26-03-2008, 11:14 PM

hmm, u start slow but it skyrockets later, i guess you haven't seen how much the partners are earning yet...

tehjiao

27-03-2008, 12:29 AM

I believe that government doctors are underpaid the most, not lawyer comparing the workload and working hours.

LilDeviant

27-03-2008, 12:23 PM

I believe that government doctors are underpaid the most, not lawyer comparing the workload and working hours.

Please do not undermine the workload of a lawyer.

vseehua

27-03-2008, 02:24 PM

I believe that government doctors are underpaid the most, not lawyer comparing the workload and working hours.
I believe housewives are the most underpaid class of people in Malaysia. There are a lot of them who ended up being abused by their husbands instead of being pampered after a hard longs days' or work (24 hours per day).

Seriously, such comparison can't really be fair. Everyone in the society have their own roles to play, be it to be lawyers or doctors. If there are no lawyers, there will be no one to defend you in case you are charged wrongly. If there are no doctors, there will be no one to save you if you are ill.

And, Lawyers don't just spend time giving legal advises or arguing for their clients in the courts. They do spend a lot of time researching about the cases that they are currently working on...

Leen

28-03-2008, 01:17 AM

I think that the next thread after doctor and lawyer will be engineers.

Why engineers in Malaysia are so lowly paid?
Then teachers.
Why teachers in Malaysia are so lowly paid?
Then fisherman.
Then accountant.

And so on.

The real issue here is not to decide which profession is more lowly paid than the other. The real issue here lies in the heart of the people can never be pleased with whatever that they have. I don't think many will be pleased with RM2000 a month. Even if you add another RM2000 to RM4000, he/she will not be pleased as well. If you add another RM4000, he/she will still not be pleased. That's human nature.

I think there are just too many things that we need to take into consideration before claiming that job A earns the least or Job B is overpaid and so on. No matter how you put it, human can never be satisfied so the discussion of getting paid more/less is just going to be a futile discussion. :amuse

Nothing personal, it's just my observation. :leen

And I do agree with Vseehua that housewives are the most underpaid profession. XD

kintaro_kun

28-03-2008, 10:27 AM

dun we already have too many lawyers for our population? what we dun have enough is competent judges.

Seiryu

28-03-2008, 11:03 AM

I think that the next thread after doctor and lawyer will be engineers.

Why engineers in Malaysia are so lowly paid?
Then teachers.
Why teachers in Malaysia are so lowly paid?
Then fisherman.
Then accountant.

And so on.

The real issue here is not to decide which profession is more lowly paid than the other. The real issue here lies in the heart of the people can never be pleased with whatever that they have. I don't think many will be pleased with RM2000 a month. Even if you add another RM2000 to RM4000, he/she will not be pleased as well. If you add another RM4000, he/she will still not be pleased. That's human nature.

Well that's because we are easily influenced to compare ourselves with developed countries like the U.S. or the U.K. People in these countries earn fairly equal amount of money, but they could consume so much when compared to us. I get a feeling that if the value of Ringgit is a lot higher than now we wouldn't be complaining so much.

ngai

28-03-2008, 12:30 PM

It seems that the law profession is regarded highly everywhere else in the world except Malaysia.

vseehua

28-03-2008, 01:10 PM

It seems that the law profession is regarded highly everywhere else in the world except Malaysia.
It's getting very unpopular in the US as well... since the sue-for-fun-and-anything industry started about 2 decades ago...

Schye

28-03-2008, 01:32 PM

The sole factor that determine pay is demand.

I am kind of agree with this statement.
As long as we dont have an independent legal system,
not many of us will need lawyers as we could always settle with $$ ...

LilDeviant

28-03-2008, 10:33 PM

I am kind of agree with this statement.
As long as we dont have an independent legal system,
not many of us will need lawyers as we could always settle with $$ ...

Well, put it in this way, lawyers do solve your problems with $$.. =)

Anyway, I think most of the people tend to get the wrong idea about the work of a lawyer. A lawyer does not deal with court work plainly. In fact, a large number of lawyers such as corporate lawyers do not go to court.

Glassylicious

19-04-2008, 11:30 AM

I think it also depends on what kind of lawyer you're working as. I think lawyers working in the corporate field earn a lot more than those working in a field such as say, criminal law.

Also, you want big bucks? Being a partner in a firm is where the money is REALLY at. =P

Shoblast

19-04-2008, 03:59 PM

well, soon there won't be lawyers anymore.

only "religious leaders".

shariah ftw

Glassylicious

19-04-2008, 04:10 PM

well, soon there won't be lawyers anymore.

only "religious leaders".

shariah ftw

Hehe, yeah, Syariah Law seems to be getting more popular nowadays.

But hey, if all fails, Singapore is just a step away. Opportunities abound!

LilDeviant

27-04-2008, 11:24 PM

hfz

27-04-2008, 11:28 PM

I heard rumours claiming new batch of law students be it from private or public uni have to take Islamic law in the near future.

and yes, I do agree that Singapore is the place to go for lawyers IF things get really horrible over here.

I don't think there is a problem with that. After all Malaysia is an Islamic country and even some Western countries are starting to enact Islamic laws.

LilDeviant

27-04-2008, 11:54 PM

I don't think there is a problem with that. After all Malaysia is an Islamic country and even some Western countries are starting to enact Islamic laws.

I mention no problems.

I do realise the potential of Islamic Law specifically in the area of Islamic banking when I was with the Agc some time ago. I am actually very keen in getting involved in that area. So yes, if the rumours are true, future lawyers will then gain abundant.

hfz

28-04-2008, 12:21 AM

I mention no problems.

I do realise the potential of Islamic Law specifically in the area of Islamic banking when I was with the Agc some time ago. I am actually very keen in getting involved in that area. So yes, if the rumours are true, future lawyers will then gain abundant.

AGC? True indeed. Our lawyers will be more competent.