Case Mining
- Peter K F Cheung SBS
- Dec 7, 2020
- 3 min read
FADE IN.
Act 1
INT. STUDY - AFTERNOON
Laptop on lap, PETER lifts up his head.
PETER (V.O.): I believe I've done the first draft of my opinion. Legal writing is like mining diamonds in my mind.
Checking the time.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): I'd better check if there's any case that I haven't mined.
After tapping his iPad Mini, Peter reads the small prints attentively.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, this precedent is what I want!
Having edited a draft on this laptop screen, Peter continues his case mining.
Beat.
Its 3:45 pm.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): Oh, I haven't had anything since breakfast.
Act 2
EXT. RESTAURANT - LATER
Finishing his soup noodles, Peter notes a missing call. He calls back.
PETER (to phone): It's Peter here...
SOMEONE (from phone): Oh yes!...
Later, Peter ends the telephone conversations.
PETER (V.O.): Okay, I've given my e-directions in a dispute settlement case.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Yesterday, I thought about researching in a library today. But I changed my mind...
Peter begins to have a spoonful of red bean paste.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): In the late 1970s, I thought studying law was just like finding the law.
Recalling.
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.
Recalling.
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.
Recalling.
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.
Pausing.
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.
Pausing.
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.
Pausing.
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.
Recalling.
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.
Recalling.
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.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.) (Cont'd): By then, those Crown Counsel who taught me law have all switched to private practice.
Recalling.
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.
Recalling.
Pausing.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Having retired from the specialist Intellectual Property Department now, I have become a senior-junior Barrister in private practice.
Finishing his dessert, Peter leaves.
Act 3
INT. STUDY - LATE AFTERNOON
Peter switches on the TV.
PETER (V.O.): I believe I've done a rather exhaustive case mining via the Internet.
Thinking.
PETER (V.O.): It's difficult to prove there's nothing even digitally.
We hear a TV Anchor remarking that: Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.
.PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Deals are packaged. I first heard about the cliche while attending international law-making conferences in Geneva.
Recalling.
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.
Recalling.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): Yes, I first flew Business Class in my first duty visit. Yes, I also first appeared in TV interviews.
Looking at a plaque, Peter wonders.
PETER (V.O.)(Cont'd): I don't even remember I've got this plaque. It has been hiding. I've mined it accidentally.
FADE OUT.
THE END
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