CLP 2020 Exams: The Mount Everest Experience - Episode 1 (Base Camp)

After months of waiting and delays, we finally got the green light we needed from the Legal Profession Qualifying Board (LPQB).

"Merujuk kepada pengumuman bertarikh 16 Oktober 2020, Lembaga Kelayakan Profesion Undang-Undang, Malaysia (‘Lembaga’) telah memutuskan untuk menetapkan tarikh PSAG sesi 2020 seperti berikut: ..."

Honestly, the most agonizing part leading up to the start of the exams was the long period of uncertainty. Like climbing Mount Everest, there is usually a narrow time window to sit for the exams. With Covid, that window gets narrower and more uncertain.

And there we were, reading the dates as we prepared our materials and gears for this monstrous exam that was scheduled to happen in March of 2021.

Day 1: Base Camp

Unlike the traditional exam location, LPQB decided to split the CLP 2020 exam venue into three distinct locations. I was allocated to the exam centre in Dewan Tun Chancellor at Multimedia University (MMU), Cyberjaya.

Base camp would be the perfect word to describe the 1st day of the exams. It's the start of the hike where you feel slightly nervous, excited, scared before the climb and how you start will affect your progress in your climb to the summit.

As for me, the drive to Cyberjaya was filled with many emotions - nervous that the exams are finally here but relieved in a sense that it is the start of the end (or so, I thought).

Once we arrived at MMU, there were few safety protocols we had to follow:

• Masks had to be on when you're in the exam venue and inside the exam hall
• Health checks starts at 8.30 AM. You could try to go into the hall later to buy more time to study but if you're really unlucky, you had to wait inside the hall from 9.00 AM till 10.30 AM before the actual start of the exams.
• Your temperature will be taken and you will need to fill up a Health Declaration Form to declare that you are safe and fit to sit for the exams.

General Paper (GP)

This was probably the most crucial part of the CLP exams as most of us would have lost touch with what it's like to do a physical exam.

This year's GP paper was interesting, to say the least. Gone were the traditional 6 question format. Instead, there was an additional question in Tort that was similar to the (b) question you would have for Contract. You know the one where you totally can't prepare for it since they could literally ask anything? Yeah, that one.

If I were to describe this paper considering the overall Mount Everest experience, it would be leaving Base Camp and going through the Khumbu Icefall. Since the weather has changed throughout the year, it'll be hard to predict which layers are stable enough to cross on.

While the Contract question was manageable, time management will play a huge role in determining whether you will be able to finish the questions. Given the lengthy Tort problem question, I know many (including me) who struggled to do the question properly and finish drafting two Statement of Claims in exam conditions.

Of course, in true LPQB fashion, the Tort question has departed from the traditional 'motor vehicle accident' past year questions that we have seen in the past. That just increased the level of difficulty for our General Paper.

Camp 1: Valley of Silence

As GP ended, candidates left the hall with a sense of defeat; feeling surprised with the sudden change in format. However, we had no time to panic as the next big paper was Civil Procedure.

I like to call the end of Day 1 as the arrival at the Valley of Silence, a vast flat area of endless snow, deep crevasses and mountain walls frequently washed by avalanches (as seen in the image below) - hints of what could only lie ahead of what was going to be the start of a very challenging climb.

Image Credits: Karakorum Climbers News

Regardless of our answers for General Paper, my friends and I had a quick lunch before heading back home to recuperate for the next paper.

Stay tuned for Episode 2!