Francis Xavier SC: Leading From the Heart
Francis Xavier SC is a Malaysian-born advocate practising with Rajah & Tann in Singapore. Hailing from a close-knit community in...
It is a platform on which we can introduce you to some of the best advocates in the world. We will hear them speak not just about
their technical knowledge, but more importantly about their lives and
everything that drove them in the pursuit to be the best
advocates in the world.
Two words. Boredom and curiosity. Lockdown allowed us time to think. Gopal applied his mind in that time to what it took to become an advocate. Curiosity and one phone call with Razlan and Michelle was all it took to give birth to this project. How and why had the best in the world done it, we asked? This podcast is an answer to all those questions. For you.
In Season 2, we travelled from Australia to Palestine in search of interesting advocates with exciting stories to tell. Over the next 10 episodes, we have judges who have sat in the higher courts in Malaysia, UK & Australia, top advocates whose cases have turned into movies, and even those who have represented secret agents. With over 72 hours of research and many interviews later, we bring you a sizzling lineup— and they do not disappoint.
Gopal reckons himself a man of letters. Not so much read as written. He still reaches for a sheet of paper and a pen which he fills from a bottle of ink. Despite this vanity, Gopal woke up one morning and thought that he might like to speak to a few advocates. Technology which he thinks irredeemably evil provoked and then allowed him to do this. He called Razlan and Michelle, and this led to Advocates The Podcast. Gopal still waves his inky pen in court every day and greatly enjoys it. He has decades of experience as counsel in all tiers of court in Malaysia.
In any conversation of interest, Razlan can be expected to cock his head at an angle. It projects his intense curiosity. This is a badge he has worn throughout his career as an advocate in Malaysia. When he was asked to be part of the Advocates project, there was cocking. Once his neck centred, he approached the enterprise with the usual insufferable curiosity and bloody mindedness that he brings to every case he does. Razlan is counsel of decades of experience in all tiers of court in Malaysia.
Michelle is from Ipoh, a city in Malaysia that prides itself on its contribution to both tin and legal scholarship. She has kept up that tradition and drinks from a tin cup. Granted, it is whisky. When Advocates was suggested to her, she took to the project with robust command. Michelle not just ensured the best advocates in the world were online and prepped when they needed to be, but also that Razlan and Gopal slacked just shortly behind. Michelle runs her own commercial practice in Kuala Lumpur.
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Francis Xavier SC is regional head, dispute resolution of Rajah & Tann Asia, appointed Senior Counsel in 2009 and ranked among Asia Legal Business' Top 15 Litigators in Asia (2021).