Like many others growing up, as a young child, being a lawyer was Jazzmine Khoo’s ambition and goal. It was her dream to become a reputable lawyer, attend court and to give people a voice. Her plan was always to make a career out of it.
Despite having a strong determination to become a lawyer, Jazzmine Khoo told Wargabiz that she hesitated to pursue a degree in law at first. “I was afraid to apply for law school because I always hear comments and concerns from some of my senior lawyer friends who kept mentioning about how tough the course is and in fact, a lot of law students didn’t make through it.”
Therefore, she held back her only dream and ambition and applied for a different course which was International Business. By the time she got the offer letter, she was not happy because it was not what she wanted to do. Luckily, her brother succeeded in encouraging her to pursue her dream. Jazzmine then changed her mind and quickly applied to pursue law school. It would be a different story to tell if she had held back her dream and clipped her wings from flying higher.
Finding passion in matrimonial and family law
During her law school, family law caught her attention. It gave her fulfilment. “When I told my friends that I wanted to become a divorce lawyer, they were all shocked and kept reminding me that I have to deal with divorce cases and people’s drama daily. They were unsure if I’m ready for it. But in my stand, I see divorce differently. I want to help people to come out from the devastating marriage and breakdown of the relationship,” she says.
Dato Arunan, a good mentor and a life coach
Her path to meet Dato’ Arunan was like a blessing for her. She commenced chambering at Rusmah Arunan & Associates wherein she had the opportunity to learn and excel her legal knowledge and skills particularly in the area of Matrimonial & Family Law. My gratitude and thankful for the guide and support from mentor Dato Arunan, a respectable figure among the lawyers and even the judges looked up to him.
“I still remember during my interview when I went to him to apply for chambering he told me that he would groom me. And I was wondering how’s he wanted to groom me?” Jazzmine laughs.
Throughout the years, working closely with Dato Arunan, she finally got the answer. Dato Arunan groomed her to be as who she is today. “He taught me to be a principled person, a principal lawyer and to not take things for granted. In fact, opening my own law firm and also becoming a managing partner has been one of Dato’s dream for me and he has already envisioned this.
The turning point in her career
“The passing of Dato Arunan was a turning point for me and my career. We were all shocked and saddened by the news. However, I recalled Dato’s words and principle where he believed that no matter what the circumstances were going to be, the Show must GO ON”. Someone must continue to lead the cases and safeguard our client’s interest. So, when the partners were deciding on the fate of Rusmah Arunan & Associates’ KL branch, I led and spearheaded KL branch litigation department and ensured that the pending work and court matters were attended to on a timely manner.”
Every ending leads to a new beginning…the passing of Dato Arunan came in as a shock eventually it led me to make an important career decision and to finally being able to implement what he has taught me and to evolve from there.
“Did I envision that I would be leading my own law firm at a young age? Not necessarily,” says Jazzmine. “But, I’m confident to take the role because we handled a lot of cases together when he was around. I worked very closely with him and he had taught me all the valuable knowledge. I’ve always been someone who works hard to be at the top of my game, so it’s an honour to get an endorsement from my mentor, Dato Arunan.”
Setting up her own law firm, Jazzmine Khoo & Associates
Jazzmine managed to set up Jazzmine Khoo & Associates with the intention to continue what Dato Arunan did before. “I’m incredibly lucky and have the utmost gratitude to him as I was blessed to learn and gain valuable experience from him and I was grateful to be able to cross path with him. To be his student, his protege; he has passed down all the knowledge that I need. He taught me how to handle things positively. So, I told myself, this is the right time to establish what Dato had taught me Just take the risk because I can’t afford to have regret in life.”
Tips for law students
“You’re definitely going to sleep with clients’ problem every day. That’s the cold hard truth that you have to accept. Handling all sort of cases daily might give you stress but for me, I took it as a challenge. If you have the passion, whatever stress or challenge you’re facing, you’ll be able to handle it positively,” says Jazzmine who was awarded as Malaysia Rising Star 2020 by Asian Legal Business.
He always told me to never ever say that you would give up. In life, there’s nothing as such to give up. You need to have a positive mind so that the good thing will come and you’ll be able to overcome the challenge and that stress.
Next for Jazzmine Khoo & Associates
As someone who has achieved so much in her career, Jazzmine is looking for ways to increase more awareness in public on peoples’ rights and to let them know of their rights when it comes to divorce. “There’s a lot of clients came to me and they have a wrong understanding of divorce. I would love to give talks and seminar to the public to let people understand better on divorce and matrimonial, when there are opportunities to do so,” she concludes.
Wisma RA, Level 4
No.12, Jalan Dang Wangi
50100, Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 03 – 2602 3646
Fax: 03- 2602 3647
Email: info@jazzminekhoo.com
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