The experienced and sizeable dispute resolution team at Zul Rafique & Partners covers civil, commercial and corporate dispute claims. Its construction and employment practices are highly regarded in the market. The firm has been growing its specialties in multiple niche areas, including securities and derivative actions, product liability, public and administrative law, media and defamation, insurance and coverage disputes, debt recovery, bankruptcy, insolvency and restructuring, shareholder disputes, land and tenancy disputes, environmental law and planning law.
Litigation head and employment specialist P Jayasingam, and senior partner and construction dispute resolution head Kuhendran Thanapalasingam are the main contacts for the practice. Keat Ching Wong is noted for her labour and employment work, while Idza Hajar Ahmad Idzam is recognised on the commercial litigation front. Other notable partners are disputes specialist Farah Shuhadah Razali and employment specialist Thavaselvi Pararajasingam. Notably, litigation and arbitration heavyweights Wilfred Abraham and Shahul Hameed Amirudin remain at the firm as consultants.
In a seminal case, the team successfully acted for Seriemas Development in the first ever case in Malaysia that deals with the interpretation of the words ‘due or payable’ under the provisions of the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2021. The firm had another victory representing River Retreat in a land reference proceeding to challenge the award of compensation issued by the land administrator in a land acquisition.
Other notable cases include acting on behalf of Bank Muamalat Indonesia in a multi-jurisdictional issue involving corporate guarantee, scheme of arrangement and insolvency; acting for multiple corporations in Malaysia on multi-jurisdictional issues involving fraud, misrepresentation and deceptive conduct; and acting for Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia in a suit against several parties including its former chairman and managing director for alleged breaches of fiduciary duties and for return of monies wrongfully paid out amounting to more than $3 million.
On the employment front, at the Bentong Labour Court the team succeeded in defeating a claim brought by five lorry drivers against a transportation and warehousing company. The drivers claimed that they were employees and lodged their claims for the non-payment of pay for work done on rest days; and pay for work done on public holidays pursuant to the Employment Act 1955.
ACE Dynamic Team, Petronas Dagangan and Scomi Group are among clients that worked with the firm the past year.
Farah Shuhadah Razali
“Farah has very good communication skills. Whatever last-minute queries we have, they will be attended to by Farah in a calm manner.”
