Trevor Choy of Choy Lawyers, which was named the Best Intellectual Property Law Firm in the Australian Law Awards 2005.

An advertising executive turns to law and wins an award. MAJORIE CHIEW finds out Trevor Choy's winning formula.

Fact file
Name: Trevor Choy
Age: 33
Hometown: Alor Star
Education: St Christopher's School, Penang; Scotch College, Victorian Government Gifted Children's Task Force, University of Melbourne, Monash University, Melbourne, Australia
Profession: Lawyer
Current base: Melbourne, Australia
Years abroad: 26

TREVOR Choy is blessed with the gift of the gab. He started out as an advertising salesman but was destined for bigger things. Now, he's a lawyer who helps his clients fight their battles in court.

Choy's family moved to Melbourne when he was seven. When he was in the University of Melbourne, he switched from science to law and worked in advertising.

"The first three years of law didn't require a lot of attention and I was able to study law in the evenings and work in advertising during the day," he said in an e-mail interview.

Within his first four months at the company, he beat the previous monthly advertising sales record. When the advertising manager resigned, he promptly applied for the position and got it.

He also started a company to manage the advertising of publications – directories, diaries and small newspapers. This caught the attention of an advertising agency and he was offered an account manager position (while still running his advertising management company for three years.) Then, he decided to practice law.

"I noticed the lawyers we consulted never seemed to understand advertising strategy and decided to become a lawyer specialising in advertising and marketing laws," added Choy, who set up Choy Lawyers, a legal firm specialising in intellectual property law in Melbourne, Australia in 1999.

Since then, Choy has proven his mettle in his chosen field.

This year, Choy Lawyers was named the Best Intellectual Property Law Firm in the Australian Law Awards 2005. The award is an annual survey of clients (mainly in-house lawyers who work for large corporations), who are asked to vote for the best firms in various categories and is deemed a test of client satisfaction and reputation.

Choy said: "We beat about 40 firms in the Intellectual Property category, ranging from specialist firms to Australian mega firms and a few multinational firms. An article was published expressing surprise that the leaders in each category were all mega firms except for us.

"The legal profession was surprised by the result because it was the first time a small firm (with less than 40 people) has ever won an award – small firms don't normally have big clients. Also, no one under 35 has ever won anything before either. Nor has any Asian."

Recently, Choy was also profiled as one of 16 amazing entrepreneurs in Secrets of Male Entrepreneurs Exposed!, a new book by Dale Beaumont. The Secrets Exposed series allows the layman to get up close and personal with some of the world's top achievers.

Choy Lawyers is described as a "boutique" law firm; it specialises in a limited range of work such as trademarks and copyright.

"Intellectual property law is a growing field (globally as well as in Melbourne). The technology boom was essentially based on the financial markets and that intellectual property was worth a lot of money," he said.

"For companies like Google and Microsoft, the only valuable asset they have is intellectual property, and this is worth billions."

He added that in developing countries, the problems faced are fundamental ones (piracy) and, in the more advanced countries, the problems are related to proper brand development strategies and enforcement.

"There are some 400 lawyers specialising in intellectual property law in Melbourne and perhaps 1,200 of such lawyers in all of Australia," he estimated.

His firm, he claimed, was "well known for being tough negotiators and reaching a resolution before a case gets to court."

He disclosed: "Most of our work involves brand copying disputes and products such as lingerie, ladders, clotheslines, biscuits, paper towels, furniture, sporting goods and grocery items."

Has Choy Lawyers represented any small firms and won?

"Yes, we have done so many times, mostly with favourable settlements," declared Choy proudly.

"We represented a medium-sized tissue manufacturer against a multinational brand, which had strikingly similar packaging to one of our clients' tissue box designs. We successfully negotiated a settlement where the multinational paid our client compensation."

At Choy Lawyers, only 35% of its work involves disputes (the firm prefers to help clients make money) and this translates to about 50 intellectual property cases a year.

"Fighting in court is like having a boxing ring with a parking meter at each end. If you cannot afford to keep putting money into the meter, your fighter loses automatically."

When Choy first started, he had a small group of clients and a secretary (who still works for him today). Now, he has three lawyers, two full-time support staff and a few part-timers working for him.

"After working hard at marketing the business (and making only enough to survive) for two years, we started to get busy. In the last three years, we have concentrated almost exclusively on large public companies which have major rebranding projects or litigation," he said.

Choy's experience in advertising came in handy when he started his law firm.

"As I understand the whole process of creating advertising, placement, strategy and brand development, my team and I can provide highly specialised, practical advice to our clients. Our clients have never had to explain media buying/commissions, Pantone colour differences on uncoated and coated stock, Photoshop mosaic filters or positioning strategies when they seek advice from Choy Lawyers!"

Despite having to work so hard preparing for cases, he is not complaining of mental exhaustion.

"I love my work. Most of my time is spent helping clients develop the value in their brands," he said.

Having been away in Down Under for so long, Choy misses his "terrific friends and family in Malaysia ."

He comes back twice or thrice a year to get his dose of Malaysian culture. Recently, he was back for Christmas holidays in Penang and Kuala Lumpur.

"Business developments are leading to more regular visits so I can eat my favourite foods," he said. Although he enjoys various cuisines – Nyonya, Indian, Malay and Thai – with extra chilli, he declared that "Penang assam laksa is simply the most amazing and tastiest dish in the world!"

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