We have noticed a recent increased interest among Malaysian lawyers to write and publish articles. This is based on the discussions and feedback we have been received in the past couple of months, as well as the comments and questions that came up when Lee Shih was a panellist on the recent webinar organised by the KL Bar Young Lawyers’ Committee. Since the MCO started, there has also been an obvious increase in Malaysian lawyers being active on LinkedIn, and publishing longer-form updates or write-ups there.
One of the comments we have been hearing is that many lawyers, particularly young lawyers, still have reservations about publishing their writing. Commonly (and understandably), they feel that they are not experienced enough and need time to build confidence. Another barrier seems to be that they don’t know how or where to publish what they’ve written — whether they need to create their own blog or website, submit to existing online or print publications, or publish on mediums such as LinkedIn.
In view of this, we have decided to invite submissions for articles to be published on The Malaysian Lawyer (TML). This website does not usually accept submissions, so this is a rare opportunity. We hope that this will particularly encourage first-time writers, or those who have ideas for articles but have been dithering on whether/when/how/where to get published.
The guidelines for this one-off opportunity are simple:
- Articles should be between 800-1,000 words.
- We are open to articles on any legal-related topics. For those that require a bit of guidance, you can consider articles on any of the following areas:
- Insights/tips from your specific practice areas.
- Insights/tips from your pupillage or experience as young lawyer or in-house counsel.
- Commentary on a legal topic relevant to COVID-19.
- Submit your completed articles in Word document format, Arial 11, single-spaced, via email to [email protected]. At the end of your article, include an author bio of up to 70 words. The email subject should be in the format “TML Submission: [Title of your Article]”.
- Any images you would like to include in your article should be sent as separate attachments in the same email. You should include at least one image, and cite the image source (you obviously should have the rights to use the image). You can include an author photo.
- The deadline for submissions is 11.59pm on Sunday 24 May 2020.
- We will select up to three articles to be published on TML. We will contact the authors whose articles have been submitted, and ask for final approval of any edits before publication. Where we make edits, we will explain why we are proposing the improvements or changes. We want this to be a learning experience for the first-time writer.
- Articles must be original, and not published anywhere before they are published on TML. Once published, you are free to republish the article elsewhere subject to our terms of use.
Submissions are open to anyone — law students, law graduates, practising lawyers, and in-house counsel of any seniority. This includes those who do not have a legal background who feel that they have written something that would appeal to a legal audience, and is suitable for publication on TML.
We look forward to reading your submissions!