BOOK REVIEW | Life lessons from top lawyer using eight simple steps

BOOK REVIEW | She is a lawyer, author, trainer, consultant and influencer. Indeed, Sitpah Selvaratnam is one of the country’s leading shipping lawyers with many years of experience chairing the shipping and admiralty law committee of the Bar Council.

She made news when she led Malaysia’s efforts to arrest, reclaim and eventually sell the controversial superyacht Equanimity, the luxurious personal playground of fugitive financier Low Taek Jho (Jho Low) that he purchased for RM1 billion using funds stolen from 1MDB.

If you want to know more about that, you can read her book 'Arrest of The Superyacht Equanimity: How Malaysia Reclaimed What Was Hers'.

This time around, we are looking at her self-help book called 'Resolved!: 8 Strategies to Be a Fiery Lawyer without Violating Your Integrity and Personality'.

In a nutshell, she tells readers they don’t have to give up their values and beliefs to be successful at what they do.

In the preface, Sitpah writes:

“This book is not about the law. It is not about the business of lawyering either, nor is it about honing arguments and refining advocacy or managing clients.

“It is about you and I, as people, living our roles as lawyers or influencers, in balance with our emotions and inner being, conscious of the choices we make at any point in time. It is about creating and sustaining success, with courage and integrity, being at peace with who we are and what we do.”

Sitpah shares a bit of her background, how she got into law, what made her leave the top law firm she was initially a part of and what made her branch out to start a new firm with a friend.

The first three parts or chapters are things many of us can relate to. From entering an exciting new world where you excel at what you do (studying law) to the disillusion (being top in class doesn’t matter in the real world where race and gender matter) and the gentle push-up (taking that big leap to do something new).

Subsequent chapters are more self-help in nature as she tells us how she eventually found her true self and purpose and took on challenges head-on.

Straight to the point

The book is not thick, about 100 pages and she breaks things down to make it easy to read. She even provides key points of each chapter in note form, like a do-to list at the end of each chapter.

To be honest, the book may not be everybody’s cup of tea. However, Sitpah is very relatable despite being a successful (some say formidable) lawyer who balances career and family. She does not try to convince readers that they can do everything at the same time.

She talks briefly about her family background, what was expected of her, and how support from her family helped her branch out to do the things she wants to do.

Equanimity and former Attorney-General Tommy Thomas (Sitpah was one of the founding members of the law firm Tommy Thomas Advocates & Solicitors) are mentioned fleetingly but the core of the book is to help other people, especially those in highly stressful jobs, cope by finding some balance in their lives.

If you like self-help books that are straight to the point, then this book might be what you are looking for.

'Resolved!: 8 Strategies to Be a Fiery Lawyer without Violating Your Integrity and Personality' is available for sale online.

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