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Case Mining

Writer's picture: Peter K F Cheung SBSPeter K F Cheung SBS
  1. FADE IN.


  2. Act 1


  3. INT. STUDY - AFTERNOON


  4. Laptop on lap, PETER lifts up his head.


  5. PETER (V.O.): I believe I've done the first draft of my opinion. Legal writing is like mining diamonds in my mind.


  6. Checking the time.


  7. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'd better check if there's any case that I haven't mined.


  8. After tapping his iPad Mini, Peter reads the small prints attentively.


  9. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, this precedent is what I want!


  10. Having edited a draft on this laptop screen, Peter continues his case mining.


  11. Beat.


  12. Its 3:45 pm.


  13. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, I haven't had anything since breakfast.


  14. Act 2


  15. EXT. RESTAURANT - LATER


  16. Finishing his soup noodles, Peter notes a missing call. He calls back.


  17. PETER (to phone): It's Peter here...


  18. SOMEONE (from phone): Oh yes!...


  19. Later, Peter ends the telephone conversations.


  20. PETER (V.O.): Okay, I've given my e-directions in a dispute settlement case.


  21. Recalling.


  22. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Yesterday, I thought about researching in a library today. But I changed my mind...


  23. Peter begins to have a spoonful of red bean paste.


  24. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): In the late 1970s, I thought studying law was just like finding the law.


  25. Recalling.


  26. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): I had my 1st lesson in law at HKU in the autumn of 1977. I was reading my 1st year in a Housing Management course.


  27. Recalling.


  28. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): It was also the 1st time I saw how a lawyer looked like. A Crown Counsel of the Attorney General's Chambers was teaching.


  29. Recalling.


  30. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Later, a US TV program called "Paper Chase" was broadcast in Hong Kong. It was a drama in the law-study context. I didn't miss any episode of it.


  31. Pausing.


  32. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): As I was then studying Philosophy by myself, I find law as a knowledge system wasn't difficult to understand if one can find it.


  33. Pausing.


  34. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): The laws of Hong Kong don't mean just the volumes of Laws of Hong Kong deposited in the library. The common law hides, and one function of a common-law lawyer is to find it.


  35. Pausing.


  36. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): And the legal systems in the English-speaking world have been like that. It's quite a hide-and-seek game.


  37. Recalling.


  38. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): So, I thought I could master law. I applied for the Government's legal training scholarship and was admitted to read law at HKU as a full-time student.


  39. Recalling.


  40. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): After graduation, I was called to the Bar and then became a Crown Counsel in the Attorney General's Chambers.


  41. Recalling.


  42. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): By then, those Crown Counsel who taught me law have all switched to private practice.


  43. Recalling.


  44. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Later, I taught the very law course I first attended. I was then a Senior Crown Counsel of the Attorney General's Chambers.


  45. Recalling.


  46. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): And when I left the Attorney General's Chambers myself, what I missed was its law library - it was like a treasure trove to me!


  47. Pausing.


  48. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Having retired from the specialist Intellectual Property Department now, I have become a senior-junior Barrister in private practice.


  49. Finishing his dessert, Peter leaves.


  50. Act 3


  51. INT. STUDY - LATE AFTERNOON


  52. Peter switches on the TV.


  53. PETER (V.O.): I believe I've done a rather exhaustive case mining via the Internet.


  54. Thinking.


  55. PETER (V.O.): It's difficult to prove there's nothing even digitally.


  56. We hear a TV Anchor remarking that: Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.


  57. .PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Deals are packaged. I first heard about the cliche while attending international law-making conferences in Geneva.


  58. Recalling.


  59. PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): While I was still with the Attorney General's Chambers before 1992, I provided legal policy advice on the draft Basic Law, IP matters and Human Rights.


  60. Recalling.


  61. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Yes, I first flew Business Class in my first duty visit. Yes, I also first appeared in TV interviews.


  62. Looking at a plaque, Peter wonders.


  63. PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): I don't even remember I've got this plaque. It has been hiding. I've mined it accidentally.


  64. FADE OUT.


  65. THE END


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