CLIENT INTERVIEW:

Secretary : *opens the door*.hi good morning. Welcome to alyshia daud and partners.
Client : good morning. I have an appointment with Miss Aliah at 11am today.
Secretary : oh okay. Please come in and have a seat. I will inform Miss Aliah that you
have arrived. Can you give me your name please?
Client : my name is Azizah Zubair.Datin Azizah Zubair.
Secretary : okay datin Azizah.i will go and inform Miss Aliah about you. Feel free to
ease yourself. I will be back in 2 minute.
Secretary : miss aliah, the client for your 11am appointment is here.
Lawyer : oh shes already here? Bring her to my room please. Thank you.
Secretary : sure Miss Aliah.
Secretary :datin Azizah, miss aliah is ready for you. Can you please follow me?
Client : yeah sure.
Lawyer : hi good morning. What should i call you?miss/madam/datuk/datin?
Client : you can call me datin z.
Lawyer : oh sure. Please have a seat datin z.my name is nur aliah rohaizan,the junior
counsel for alyshia daud & partners. I am going to handle your interview for
today.so how was the traffic? Do you find any difficulties in finding the firm?
Client : No, no at all. I am quite familiar with this area.
Lawyer : Oh thats good to hear. Would you like something to drink? Coffee or tea?
Or maybe a glass of plain water?
Client : a glass of plain water for me please.
Lawyer : cici, would you please bring a glass of plain water for our client please?
Lawyer : so, just out of curiosity, or if I may ask, is this your first time meeting a
lawyer?
client : yes.this is my first time meeting a lawyer.it was my sister who told me about
your firm. I heard that your firm is good with cases like mine.
Lawyer : really? It is a pleasure for us to hear that. We will try our best to help you in
dealing with your problem.
[Secretary comes in bring in the water]
Lawyer : thank you cici.so, can we start now?
Client : okayyy
Lawyer : so datin Z, before we begin, I would like you to ask you a little bit about your
background. Like your name, occupation and status?
Client : okay,Im datin azizah zubair and Im 45 years old.i am married to datuk
rohaizan and I have 2 kids.1 son and 1 daughter.
Lawyer : ohh.and one more thing datin,can you fill up this interview form? This is for
us to get full information about you and for our record and filing
purposes.(hand over the form) can I also have your IC photocopied.
Client : yes,sure.(hand over the IC)
LAWYER : Thank you. CICI. please come in.(secretary come in) please make a
photocopy of this IC.thank you.
lawyer : First of all, I would like to inform you that our conversation today is private
and confidential.it is protected under sec.126 of the Evidence Act, which the
privilege is given for the communication between the lawyer and his client and
this is also protected under Rule 35 of the Legal Profession Act (practice &
etiquette) rules 1978.so I hope you would not hesitate to tell us anything or
everything that related to your problem. Everything said is just between us and
these four walls of this room. Additionally, I might be asking some personal
questions and also some details regarding the problem.so feel free to ask me
anything if you are confuses or need some clarification.
Client : yes certainly. I wish that you will assist me and help me in this matter.
Lawyer : so, can I have the interview form back? (client hand over the form)(cici come
in and give ic)
Lawyer : thank you cici.here you go, your ic back.
Client : thank you.
Lawyer : so datin z, as for the fees. For todays session. There will be no fees charge.
However, if you wish to retain us as your lawyer for this case, only then we
will be charging you RM 300 per session and for every court appearance we
will be charging you RM 600.do you understand?
Client :oh yes.i understand that perfectly. And money should not be the problem.
Lawyer : lets us start. May I know what brought you here datin Z?
Client : Actually I have a problem with a person called Mrs Jasmine Bakar whom
have borrowed my money but refused to pay me back. Can you help me sue
her on my behalf so I can get my money back?
Lawyer : Can you tell me what your relationship with this Mrs Jasmine Bakar is?
Client : she is actually one of my best friends. 2 years ago, she came to me and asked
me to lend her money because her spa business is started to falling apart. She
says that her loan application to bank Malaya has been rejected and she then
resorted to borrowed from Along whose is then started to chase and harass her
family.so, out of sympathy I lend her the money she needed to pay the Along
but now she is not paying me back.
Lawyer : how much did you lend to her?
Client : RM120, 000.00
LAWYER: Thats quite a lot of money for a friendly loan agreement. Did you put the
agreement in writing or was it made orally?
CLIENT : luckily, I drew up a simple agreement in writing.you know, even though she
is my best friend, fortunately my husband advise me to put the agreement in
writing because we will never know what will happen if it involves money
right? Suddenly even the people we trust can betray us like what happen in my
case.
LAWYER : thats a good move indeed. May I know the date of the agreement?
Client : The agreement was made 2 years ago, on the 1
st
of march 2012. Up until now
she has not paid a single cent to me.
LAWYER: Do you have the agreement with you now?
CLIENT :yes yes. This is the loan agreement that I talked about just now. It is dated 1
st

march 2012 right?
Lawyer : yes.So in the agreement, what did you agree with Mrs Jasmine? When she
was supposed to pay back the money?
CLIENT: It was agreed between me and her that she is supposed to pay back the money
by instalment 3 months after the date of our agreement. That means she is
supposed to start paying me back on the 1
st
of july 2012 but up until now she
did not do so.
Lawyer : so what did you do when she did not repay your money?
Client : Ive contacted her like hundred times and she always gave me a run around.
Therefore, I decided to visit her place of business to see her in person. What
surprises me is that her spa business is blooming as it is packed with
customers non-stop.
Lawyer : so did you meet her there?
Client : yes yes. But she says she will never repay my money since our agreement
was not properly drafted by lawyer. Therefore she says this agreement is
useless and cannot be used against her. Im so shocked to hear that and thats
why I came to meet you to determine the truth.is it true that I cannot enforce
this agreement against her?
LAWYER : I see. Do you have any witnesses to the agreement?
CLIENT : yes. My other 2 best friend, Mrs rozita and datin rohani were the witnesses.
Lawyer : oh I see. datin z, you dont have to worry much although this agreement was
not drafted by a lawyer, you can still enforce it since you have witnesses to
attest to the agreement and in this agreement also, there are signature by both
you and Mrs Jasmine and the witnesses.
Client :ohh.im so relieved to hear that since RM 120,000 is not a small amount you
know.
LAWYER : by the way, do you charge any interest to her?
CLIENT :No I did not. I loaned her the money out of sympathy and this is how she
treated me by not repaying me back. I want my money back.
LAWYER : We will work this out in due course datin z. Now, do you have any default
clause in the agreement?
CLIENT : Yes. It states that I have the right to sue her if she defaulted in her payment.
LAWYER : Okay. Is there any guarantor named in the agreement?
CLIENT : There was none and why is that miss lawyer?
Lawyer : ohh.it is because if there is a guarantor named in the agreement, we can also
take action against the guarantor if we failed to locate Mrs Jasmine. However,
since you tell me her business is blooming right now, she would not probably
leave her business and escape town. But had she decided to take that risk, you
dont have to worry because we can ask for court order to freeze her assets
which then be used to pays your debt.
Client : ohhh. thats good to hear.
LAWYER : Can you give me Mrs. Jasmines particulars?
CLIENT : I dont have it with me right now but all of her particulars are in the
agreement.
LAWYER: Okay I will peruse the agreement for her particulars .Now datin z, your case is
a basically a case of a breach of contract. There are few options in settling the
matter with mrs Jasmine. Firstly, we you can go for ADR which is also known
as alternative dispute resolution. Instead of settle the matter in court, we settle
it outside the court.one type of suitable ADR for your case is Negotiation
where it is a form of discussion between both parties in dispute. There you can
make negotiation for settlement first with Mrs Jasmine as the cost is less. This
is the most preferable option in case you want to protect your reputation or
relationship with the other party.
Client : ermm. im aware that my reputation as Datin will be tarnish for petty cases
like this but as mrs jasmine, my best friend had done this to me, I wish not to
do any negotiation with her anymore since she is very irresponsible and had
betrayed my trust to her.is there any other solution miss lawyer?
Lawyer : I understand your concern and if you do not want to negotiate, we can
proceed to court litigation and had you decided to retain me as your lawyer, I
will send notice of demand and statement of claim to Mrs Jasmine to notify
her that were taking action against her for breach of contract with you.
Client : ah haa. Thats exactly what I want you to do.
Lawyer : furthermore, from the dates which you have given me, this case is still within
the limitation period of 6 years. As such, you can bring an action against mrs
jasmine to claim for your money of RM120, 000.00. However, before we
proceed with any claim or action, I need to peruse the agreement and all other
relevant documents that you have pertaining to this case in order for me to
make a thorough research to heighten your chances of winning this case. I
think our next step should be to schedule another appointment where you
bring the relevant documents to me so that I can go through them. Is that
possible?
Client : oh sure. I am retaining you as my solicitor. Do what you have to do. I want
my money back.
LAWYER :Is everything ok now DATIN Z? Do you want to say something before we
conclude our session today?
CLIENT :Emm.no.i believe Ive told you everything about my case.
LAWYER : Okay, I will do my very best to help you out so dont you worry. Now for the
next appointment, when are you free Datin Z?
CLIENT : Anytime next week will be fine with me.
LAWYER : That would be great.so Datin Z, it is a pleasure for me to help you with this
matter.i am very sympathy to your problem that you are facing right now.and I
personally think that it is very unethical for someone to dishonour their
promise what more if that someone is our own best friend right.so datin z I
will make sure our firm can find a solution to your problem and we will ensure
that your right is uphold in the name of justice.so I will be seeing you next
monday on the 30th October. This is my business card; please dont hesitate to
call me if you have any enquiries or questions.
client : alright, thank you miss lawyer.
lawyer :it was very nice meeting you. Ill do my best to represent you.(shake) Have a
good day and drive safe.
client :thank you.