Advocates: The Podcast

What is Advocates The Podcast?

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.

How did it come about?

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.

Creating Season 2

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.

MEET THE ADVOCATES

Meet the Advocates

Gopal Sreenevasan

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.

Razlan Hadri

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 Chew

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.

Episodes

EPISODES

Season 2

01| Lord Jonathan Sumption

If you are in the law, then Lord Jonathan Sumption is a man who needs no introduction. But if you aren't, here's what you need to know: Lord Jonathan Sumption is a British author, medieval historian and former senior judge. He is the first barrister in 60 years from the English Bar to be appointed directly to the highest court in the United Kingdom.

02| Tan Sri Dato' V.C. George

Tan Sri Dato' V.C. George, who read law in Britain, started his legal career in 1957. Before being appointed to the bench, George developed into one of the leading advocates in Malaya and then Malaysia.

03| Nancy Hollander

As one of America's Top 50 women litigators and widely known for her profound devotion to her clients, Nancy's episode is one you don’t want to miss.

04| Harish Salve QC

From senior counsel to Queen's Counsel, listen to Harish's Salve journey in the law in Episode 4 of Season 2, Advocates the Podcast. Coming to you this 21st of October.

05| Michael Kirby AC CMG

Michael Donald Kirby AC CMG is an Australian jurist, academic, and former Justice of the High Court of Australia.

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06| Helena Kennedy QC

Baroness Helena Kennedy is a leading barrister, internationally renowned human rights champion, and has acted in many of Britain's most prominent criminal cases in the last 40 years.

07| Gobind Singh Deo

Gobind Singh Deo, an advocate and solicitor of the High Court of Malaya, founder of Gobind Singh Deo & Co. and a member of parliament, Malaysia.

08| Carlton Larson

Carlton Larson is a professor of Constitutional Law and Legal History at UC Davis School of Law, a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School and one of America's leading authorities on the law of treason.

09| Diana Buttu

Diana Buttu is a Palestinian-Canadian lawyer, a former spokesperson for the Palestine Liberation Organization who worked on the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, and an instructor at Harvard University.

10| Francis Xavier SC

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).