Article Index

Top Five Causes of Professional Indemnity Insurance Notifications in 2025

Every notification made to Aon Insurance Brokers (M) Sdn Bhd (“Aon”), the insurance broker for the Malaysian Bar’s mandatory Professional Indemnity Insurance (“PII”) Scheme, begins with a step in a lawyer’s pra...

Taking Up a Domestic Violence Case – Practical Considerations

Domestic violence (“DV”) cases come with their own unique challenges — not just in terms of the law, but also in handling vulnerable clients, coordinating with multiple agencies and managing the emotional weight these cases often ca...

Lawyers Taking on Responsibility as Partners or Sole Proprietors of Existing Firms

There are significant legal and ethical implications in assuming responsibility for an existing law firm, whether by way of partnership, sole proprietorship, or through a merger or acquisition.  Lawyers undertaking such responsibilities must rec...

Alert | Engaging Beyond Handshakes

Every single client-solicitor relationship you enter without a Letter of Engagement is a ticking time bomb waiting to go off.  Issuing a Letter of Engagement at the start of every client-solicitor relationship is essential.  The Advocate...

Restrictive Covenants — Valid or Invalid in a Torrens System?

Introduction   Restrictive covenants are often used by developers as a tool to regulate and control a development, where it generally sets out the rights and obligations of property owners on what they can or cannot do on their piece of land w...

Limits in Maritime Disputes (West Malaysia)

In West Malaysia, the limitation periods and limitation of liability for maritime claims are governed by specific legal frameworks, derived from international conventions and domestic legislation.  These frameworks aim to balance the interests o...

Managing Clients – A Lawyer’s Perspective

People shy away from certain areas but the truth is no matter how much you research on the internet, there is really no substitute for experience when it comes to dealing with clients.  And without them, who can we bill eh! Kipling alway...

Data Digital & Cyber Risks - Is Your Law Firm Sufficiently Protected?

How does your Professional Indemnity Insurance (“PII”) protect these evolving risks?   Law firms, like all businesses, are operating in and relying upon technology in an increasingly hostile digital landscape.  With the g...

Challenging A Bankruptcy Notice – Understanding The 7-Day Rule

Where a creditor has obtained final judgment against a debtor and served on him a bankruptcy notice requiring him to pay the judgment debt in accordance with the said judgment, an act of bankruptcy will be committed by operation of law in the event o...

Be Awake or Be Awakened

A law firm can come into being in compliance with the Legal Profession Act 1976. As a sole proprietorship.  As a partnership. And in near future even as a Limited Liability Partnership-Incorporated.   Partnership practice often comes...

Prevention is Better Than Cure

Legal risk is unavoidable as lawyers do make mistakes from time to time.  Therefore, taking pre-emptive measures will help to prevent any potential claims or legal disputes from errors or omissions made by the legal practice.  Proactiv...

Essential Steps When Closing Your Law Firm

There could be various reasons to close a law practice.  Maybe you are a sole practitioner joining another law practice as a partner or have decided to cease practice to become an in-house legal officer or maybe you have decided it’s time ...

The Rise of Mediation as an Alternative Dispute Resolution Tool

Mediation has been gaining prominence as an effective alternative dispute resolution tool in Malaysia especially with the enforcement of the Mediation Act 2012. Compared to litigation or arbitration, mediation is quick, efficient and inexpensive...

External Fraud and Scams

Sadly, we are all exposed to frauds and scams in our business and personal lives.  On a UK website, ActionFraud, lists a large number of types of frauds and scams which have afflicted businesses of every type, including the following:  &nb...

Legal Fees – To Be Pre-Agreed or Not? That is the Question.

First and foremost, let’s get something straight – claims against your legal practice over a dispute solely on legal fees (in most general situations) are excluded under the Malaysian Bar Professional Indemnity Insurance ("PII")...

Case Study: Under Observation

After several years of practice, Max, a legal assistant at Messrs Channing & Associate, the Insured Practice (“IP”) was offered to be a partner of the Firm by Caroline, the sole proprietor of the Firm at that time. Max had been handli...

Case Study: When the Alarm Bells Ring - A Claim on the Abuse of Process in Bankruptcy Proceedings

In 2012, Mark appointed John Doolittle of Messrs Doolittle & Associates, the Insured Practice (“IP”) to commence a bankruptcy proceeding against Lisa to enforce the Summary Judgment entered against her in 2006. Nonetheless, after the ...

The Skinny On Checklists

Keep Your Boundaries in Check

It started off as a civil suit between a stock broking company, Mazuma, and TNS Property Holdings (“TNS”). Messrs Connors, the Insured Practice (“IP”), represented TNS while Messrs Blake represented Mazuma. Blake applied to th...

Casual Conversations: A Panel Solicitor’s Point of View

In a continuation of frank conversations with stakeholders of the Malaysian Bar PII Scheme, we sit down with three Panel Solicitors (“PS”) to get their views of the Scheme and an in-depth look at their experiences so far in defending Insu...