JUDGING PANEL

Here are some of the few names in our Judging Panel for ALB Malaysia Law Awards 2021.

Andrew Mercer
General Counsel & Director of Legal Affairs, Asian Football Confederation

Andrew is a UK qualified lawyer with extensive experience in the sports sector. He started his legal career in private practice at Slaughter and May in London in 2006, specialising in IP/commercial matters and advising a range of corporate clients (including Premier League football clubs). In 2010, Andrew moved to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) in Switzerland, where he stayed for over 7 years. At UEFA, Andrew initially provided legal support in commercial matters as a member of the Marketing Legal Services unit (advising on IP, sponsorship and licensing contracts) but later joined UEFA’s Disciplinary Services unit, specialising in football-specific regulatory and disciplinary matters (including financial fair play, club licensing, general disciplinary, anti-doping and match-fixing cases). In 2017, Andrew joined the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) in Malaysia as Deputy Legal Director and Head of the Sports Legal Services, Disciplinary and Governance unit, which provides legal expertise in disciplinary, regulatory and governance matters. In May 2020, Andrew took on the role of AFC General Counsel & Legal Director. He is the chief legal officer of the AFC, with responsibility for the supervision and management of the AFC’s legal function and all legal activities undertaken by the organisation (namely IP/commercial matters, corporate legal affairs, integrity, disciplinary, governance and regulatory matters). Andrew is a regular contributor to the distinguished 'Football Legal' journal and is a member of the editorial panel for the publication.

David Chiam
Legal Director - South East Asia, Dairy Farm 

David has over 20 years of experience in the legal and governance sectors. Having begun his legal career in 2 reputable law firms in Malaysia specializing in intellectual property and brand protection law, he then undertook a 5 year government stint in 2004, handling a wide range of legal, administrative and policy matters for the Malaysian Ministry of Youth and Sports and subsequently, the Ministry of Tourism. Having left government service, David returned to the corporate sector by joining British American Tobacco Malaysia in 2010 as its Senior Legal Counsel and was subsequently promoted as Head of Legal and Secretarial Services in 2015. 

In June 2017, David started as Legal Director and Company Secretary at Dairy Farm Malaysia. In late 2018, David assumed the role as Legal Director for the Dairy Farm Singapore businesses. In October 2020, David assumed his current role as Legal Director - South East Asia, covering and leading the Dairy Farm Group legal teams across Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Vietnam and Cambodia. 

David was listed amongst the top 100 General Counsels in the 2018 GC PowerList South East Asia by Legal 500 and has been on the ALB judging panel for a number of years.
David holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and Bachelor of Arts (Political Science) from the University of Melbourne, Australia. He is also a licensed Company Secretary with the Companies Commission of Malaysia.    

Jeffrey Tan
Executive Director of Group Legal, Tropicana Corporation Berhad

Jeffrey Tan is presently an Executive Director of Group Legal of Tropicana Corporation Berhad. He brings with him substantial experience in the areas of corporate, commercial, conveyancing and litigation. He has structured, negotiated and completed numerous land acquisitions/disposals and was the key member in the Group’s asset injection corporate exercises involving acquisition of prime land parcels in the Klang Valley, Johor Baru, Penang and Sabah, and in the perpetual sukuk programme for the issuance of unrated/rated and senior ranking perpetual sukuk.

Jeffrey has been with the Group since 2010 and is a seasoned general counsel with over 20 years of experience. He has also authored many articles and has presented papers at legal seminars and regional conferences. He was in the judging panel for Malaysian law firms and lawyers at the Asian Legal Business Malaysia Law Awards in 2018 and 2019.

Jeffrey holds the degrees of Bachelor of Laws and Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting) from Monash University, Australia (B.Com/LLB) and Master of Science (Information Technology in Business) from University of Lincoln, United Kingdom (MSc. IT). Before joining the Group, he was formerly a partner at an international law firm in Malaysia, a registered Trade Mark and Industrial Designs Agent and a licensed registered foreign lawyer in Singapore.

Mahendran Gnasamoothy
Head, Legal & Compliance, WZ Satu Berhad

Mahendran Gnasamoothy was a former corporate and litigation lawyer for 10 years before leaving legal practice to join the corporate world as in-house counsel. He has served with various public-listed entities in diverse sectors including financial services, telecommunications, construction as well as oil and gas. Mahendran has amassed over 10 years of experience as in-house counsel in the AMEA region, South Asia and most ASEAN nations.  

With his thoughtful yet engaging manner and inter-disciplinary experience, Mahendran continues to be a sought-after advisor for a number of legal firms in Malaysia and Singapore. He is also frequently called upon to give talks to corporate bodies seeking greater clarity with regard to legal duties and liabilities.

Natisha Zainol Rashid 
General Counsel and Director of Corporate Affairs, Mahkota Technologies Sdn Bhd

Natisha Zainol Rashid heads the Corporate & Legal Services for Mahkota Technologies Sdn. Bhd. and it’s Group of Companies (formerly known as GEC Malaysia). Her portfolio covers all legal advisory and regulatory matters for Mahkota Group of Companies. She also deals directly with clients and business partners on corporate matters and commercial contract negotiations which mainly involves telecommunication, energy, utility and transportation industries. As legal representative for Mahkota Group of Companies, Natisha is involved in major projects such as the nationwide Smart Meters roll out project for Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB), the development of Large Scale Solar project (LSS) for Energy Commission Malaysia, construction of TNB’s High Voltage Substations and engine maintenance of navy vessels for Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA). She is also involved in commercial dealings with multinational corporations including Sagemcom (France), Fincantieri S.p.A (Italy), Doppelmayr Group (Austria) and MAN (Germany), FiberHome (China)to name a few.

Prior to holding the in-house role, she had extensive law practise exposure at renowned legal firms namely Messrs. Zul Rafique & Partners, Messrs. Salehuddin Saidin & Associates and Messrs. Raja Riza & Associates. While in practise, Natisha mainly handles general litigation and corporate advisory matters involving various areas of law. She also had the pleasure of handling highly contentious briefs involving corporate and commercial disputes up to the Federal Court. Natisha holds a Bachelor Degree in laws and Masters Degree in Commercial Law and sits as one of the panel of judges for ALB Malaysia Law Awards 2019.

Professor Dr. Rusni Binti Hassan
Chairperson of Shariah Committee, Hong Leong Islamic Bank
    
Prof. Dr. Rusni Hassan is a Deputy Dean (Academic and Industrial Linkages) at the IIUM Institute of Islamic Banking and Finance, IIUM. She graduated with LLB (Honours), LLB (Shariah) (First Class), Master of Comparative Laws (MCL) and Ph.D in Law. Her area of specialization includes legal, governance and Shariah aspects of Islamic Banking and Finance. She is an active researcher and expert trainer in IBF. Her publication includes books on Islamic Banking and Finance, chapters in books and articles published in local and international journals. She is listed as Top 10 contributor for research in Islamic Finance in Scopus database.

Dr Rusni is also actively involved in the IBF industry. She was a member of Shariah Advisory Council Bank Negara Malaysia from 2010 to 2016 and also the Shariah Committee for a number of institutions in Malaysia including Association of Islamic Banking Institutions Malaysia (AIBIM) as well as Waqf Al-Nur and Koperasi J-Corp. Internationally, she is the Shariah Committee for Housing Development Corporation, Maldives. She is a registered Shariah Advisor with the Securities Commission Malaysia. She was instrumental for the establishment of the Association of Shariah Advisors in Islamic Finance Malaysia (ASAS) and the International Council of Islamic Finance Educators (ICIFE) whereby she was pro-tem committee and the Secretary for both associations respectively. 

Her works and contribution to Islamic Finance has also been recognized internationally when she was listed among the Top Women in Islamic Finance since 2013. The most recent was The Top 50 Most Influential Women in Islamic Finance 2018; Top 10 Most Influential Women in Islamic Business and Finance in 2019 and 2020 by Cambridge IFA. Her contribution to Islamic Finance in Maldives has been recognized by the Government of Maldives when she was awarded the National-Recognition for Outstanding Contribution of Females to Develop and Sustain Islamic Finance Industry in Maldives in 2018. 

Simran Kaur 
Head of Legal and Regulatory, iPrice Group 

Simran is currently the Head of Legal and Regulatory, iPrice Group Sdn Bhd. She currently manages all Legal and Regulatory matters at iPrice Group. She also looks after the licensing and company secretarial work for the organisation. She has single handedly managed the incorporation of iPrice Group (Vietnam) in July 2020 and iPrice Group Corporation in Philippines in September 2020. She also manages the iPrice Groups’ Intellectual Properties in multiple countries registered such as Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Philippines and Vietnam and conducts businesses and corresponds with Intellectual Property agents in the relevant jurisdictions.

She has more than 16 years of experience in corporate law in ecommerce marketplace, telecommunication companies dealing with submarine cable systems, API Platforms and services, wholesale and enterprise business solutions etc. 

She started her career chambering at Messrs. Zeenath, Kirpal & Harcharan. Followed with being an legal advisor at Packet One Networks (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. (Subsidiary of Telekom Malaysia Berhad) and Global Transit Group of Companies, wholly subsidiary company of TIME dotCom Berhad. She also worked as Senior Legal Counsel, Legal & Regulatory Department, at TIME dotCom Berhad. Before joining iPrice Group she had a brief period with Axiata and their divisions as Director Legal for Apigate Sdn Bhd (formally a Head of Legal for MIFE Division under Axiata).

Shahrin Albakri bin Mustafa Albakri
Senior General Manager, Legal, Corporate Secretarial & Compliance, Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering 

Shahrin has over 20 years of experience in the legal field having begun his career in legal practice in 1999. After a stint of 8 years in practice he ventured into the corporate sector with Sime Darby Property Berhad. There he structured, negotiated and completed numerous land acquisitions/disposals and was a key member of the merger between Sime UEP Properties Berhad and Guthrie Properties Berhad. Having left Sime Darby, he changed industries and joined Pelabuhan Tanjung Pelepas Sdn Bhd as General Manager, Legal & Company Secretarial. He also headed the Free Zone Authority of the port. From then on, he moved to Gas Malaysia Berhad, Velesto Energy Berhad, Uzma Berhad and to his current role in Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd where he is also the Company Secretary. 

Shahrin has a wide range of experience having advised on several substantial corporate exercises from mergers and takeovers to corporate funding exercises ranging from rights issuance, refinancing and various Sukuk issuances.  Through his vast working experience in the corporate legal field, Shahrin had developed the expertise in understanding the requirements of different industries while at the same time maintaining the legal perspective essential to the effective performance of his role. 

Shahrin holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Malaya.

Thomas Delaye
Head of Legal and Governance, Badminton World Federation

Based in Kuala Lumpur, Thomas Delaye-Fortin is Head of Legal and Governance for the Badminton World Federation (BWF) where his practice focuses on sports governance and integrity. Prior to joining BWF, Thomas was Manager of Legal Affairs for the World Anti-Doping Agency, and has since continued to be involved in the fight against doping, acting as arbitrator, auditor, trainer and consultant for various organisations. Thomas is a member of the Bar of Québec (Canada) since 2010, having graduated from the University of Sherbrooke and subsequently obtained an MBA from INSEAD, in Singapore.”

Dato Chris Chin
Managing Partner, Shang & Co.

Dato Chris Chin founded Shang & Co. in year 2011 and is currently the Managing Partner. Dato Chris advises on family and matrimonial disputes for local and international families in Malaysia which includes highly contentious matters, and collaborative resolution. Dato Chris is also the co-author for Handbook on Family Law Practice in Malaysia: Commentary, Procedures and Forms and The International Comparative Legal Guide to Family Law.

Dato Chris academic qualification is not only confined to law in which he has completed his Master In Law in the year of 2015 but has extended his qualification to Fintech by Harvard Business School and Real Estate Economics & Finance by London School of Economic & Political Science. With the diversified academic qualification, Dato Chris is actively engaged to advise and handle commercial, and contract matters for businesses and investments involving high net worth individuals, companies, societies and associations in Malaysia.

Dato Chris has been awarded as Commercial & Contract Lawyer from Malaysia in Leading Adviser Awards 2020, Recommended Attorney in Global Law Experts 2018, Leader Businessperson in The Bizz 2017 by World Confederation of Business and had been featured in 40 under 40 by Asian Legal Business in year 2016. His firm is also a winner of Matrimonial and Family Law Firm of the Year in ALB Malaysia Law Awards 2016.

Peter Godwin
Managing Partner, Herbert Smith Freehills

A specialist in crisis management/investigations, litigation, arbitration and other forms of dispute resolution, Peter Godwin is the Managing Partner of the Kuala Lumpur office and former head of the Asia Disputes practice. He has practiced in Asia for 23 years of which 17 years was based in Japan. Consistently recognised by legal directories as a leading lawyer, Peter is praised by Chambers Asia Pacific, 2019 as "commercially astute and a safe pair of hands". He is admitted to practice in England and Wales, Hong Kong, and is licensed to advise on foreign law in Malaysia.

He advises Asian and international companies on complex disputes in a numbers of sectors, including construction and infrastructure, energy, telecommunications, media & technology, pharmaceuticals, international trade and banking. His practice in these sectors includes all manner of contractual and other disputes including insolvency, fraud and employment issues. 
 
Peter is a member of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Fellow of the Asian Institute for ADR. He has experience of arbitrations conducted under a wide variety of institutional and procedural rules. He has handled numerous LCIA and ICC disputes, as well as matters under the rules of the AIAC, AAA, SIAC, HKIAC, Thai Arbitration Institute, JCAA  and before both pure and ad hoc and UNCITRAL tribunals. 

Peter has represented clients in arbitral centres in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, London, Mumbai, New York, Oslo, Paris, Singapore, Stockholm and Tokyo, and in disputes under English and other common and civil law systems.

In addition, Peter sits as an arbitrator and is a panel member of AIAC, SIAC, HKIAC and JCAA.  He also has recent experience as an arbitrator under ICC and LCIA rules as well as the first ever emergency arbitrator appointed by KCAB. 

Sivabalan Sankaran
President, Society of Construction Law, Malaysia

Having been in practice in Malaysia and Brunei for 32 years, Sivabalan Sankaran is a highly regarded senior contracts, commercial, litigation and construction lawyer.

He has acted in a variety of international counsel on numerous arbitrations including construction and international commercial contracts.

He represents multinational clients in a wide range of other litigious matter including insolvency, building contracts and construction disputes, land disputes, landlord and tenant matters, banking and finance litigation, and defamation. He has appeared in the courts in Malaysia and Brunei both at first instance and appellate level at the Court of Appeal and Federal Court in Malaysia and at the Court of Appeal in Brunei. He has also appeared as expert witness on Brunei law in the High Court in Singapore.

He has been listed in Chambers and Partners for Business Law in Brunei and is listed in International Who's Who of Professional 2009.

He is a part of following organisations

• The Malaysian Bar Association
• Society of Construction Law
• Malaysian Society of Adjudicators
• Lighthouse Club Malaysia
• Past Legal Advisor to the Professional Golfers Association, Brunei
• Past Legal Advisor to the Indian Chamber Of Commerce, Brunei

Shanthi Kandiah
Founding Partner, SK Chambers

Shanthi heads the competition law/antitrust practice covering a wide range of sectors such as media & telecommunications, insurance, FMCG, construction, building materials, pharmaceutical, aviation and other service industries. Her other practice areas cover media & telecommunications regulatory, cybersecurity, data protection, and money laundering.  

Shanthi has a master’s degree in law and a postgraduate diploma in competition economics, both from King’s College London. 

She is currently ranked Band 1 at Chambers Asia Pacific for Competition/Antitrust and is listed as one of Malaysia’s Top 100 Lawyers 2021 by the Asia Business Law Journal.  She is also on the Expert Panel of The Law Reviews series.

Nicole Fiona Wee Sue-Ren
Partner, Chooi & Company + Cheang & Ariff

Nicole leads the firm’s family and probate practice, and advises on family and matrimonial disputes including all aspects of contested divorces, jurisdictional and cross-border financial issues and resolution by mediation as well as collaborative law. She also advises on wealth management, asset structuring and succession planning including wills and trusts, and handles contentious probate and trust matters, and disputes regarding the administration of estates as well as estate and trust assets situated locally and abroad.

Nicole is identified in the 2013 to 2015 editions of The Asia Pacific Legal 500 as a Recommended Lawyer in the field of Dispute Resolution and is also a winner of the Lawyer of the Year 2014 Award by Corporate LiveWire in the category of Banking Litigation. Additionally, she is ranked amongst the Top 100 Women in Litigation in Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific 2020 and is named as a Dispute Resolution Star in the 2020 and 2019 editions of Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific, as a Benchmark Disputes Star in its 2014 edition and as a Local Dispute Star in its 2013 edition. She is also a winner of the Global Business Magazine (GBM) International Family Law Awards 2019 as well as the Global Awards 2015 by Corporate LiveWire in the category of Family Law in Malaysia. Further, Nicole is ranked as a Leading International Lawyer in Malaysia for Contentious Trusts. Family and Matrimonial and Estate Planning by the London based Citywealth Leaders List in its 2011 to 2020 editions, and is also listed as a PowerWoman in the 2014 to 2020 editions and ranked in its IFC Power Women Top 200 in 2017 and 2018.

Nicole serves as a mediator on the panel of the Malaysian Mediation Centre and is certified by the UK Advocacy Training Council as a Trainer for the Advocacy Training Course programme run by the Malaysian Bar.

She is also a member of the Disciplinary Committee Panel of the Advocates & Solicitors’ Disciplinary Board since 2008 and was previously a member of the Investigating Tribunal of the Advocates & Solicitors’ Disciplinary Board. Nicole also served on the Editorial Board of Relevan, the newsletter of the Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee between 2000 and 2007.

Valerie Kong
Partner, Clifford Chance

Valerie is a partner in the Clifford Chance Corporate team. She started her career with Clifford Chance as an intern in 1999 and has worked in the firm's London and Singapore offices.  She is currently a member of the firm’s Singapore Leadership Group and also the firm's global Partner Selection Group. 

Valerie has extensive experience advising multi-national corporates, financial investors, sovereign wealth funds and W&I insurance underwriters on complex cross-border M&A transactions and joint ventures across Asia Pacific and other emerging markets. Malaysia has been a key jurisdiction of focus for Valerie since 2004.  

She graduated with a first-class law degree from Cambridge University and is qualified to practise law in England & Wales, and Singapore. For over 10 years, she has been consistently ranked as a leading lawyer in various legal directories, including Chambers Global, Chambers Asia Pacific, Legal 500 and IFLR1000.

and many more..