The Legal 500 - Asia Pacific (2021)
Antitrust and Competition - Tier 1
Banking and Finance - Tier 2
Capital Markets - Tier 4
Corporate and M&A - Tier 1
Dispute Resolution - Tier 3
Intellectual Property - Tier 1
Labour and Employment - Tier 2
Projects and Energy - Tier 1
Real Estate and Construction - Tier 3
Shipping - Tier 1
TMT - Tier 1
Hall of Fame:
Deepak Pillai - TMT
Intan Haryati - TMT
Kuok Yew Chen - TMT
Leading Lawyers:
Christopher Lee - Projects and Energy
Clive Selvapandian - Shipping
Kuok Yew Chen - Corporate and M&A
Ng Kim Poh - Intellectual Property
Sri Sarguna Raj - Intellectual Property
Yon See Ting - Antitrust and Competition, Corporate and M&A
Next Generation Lawyers:
Anissa Maria Anis - TMT
Jack Chor - Projects and Energy
Kimberly Goh - Corporate and M&A
Rising Stars:
Yong Shih Han - TMT
Antitrust and Competition
With experience pre-dating the domestic legal framework, Yon See Ting leads the antitrust and competition team at Christopher & Lee Ong. Supported by the 'practical' senior associate Jane Guan, it handles a multitude of sector issues. Specifically enforcement raids (MyCC), relief and exemption applications, merger controls for regulated sectors and the implications of joint ventures. Industries regularly covered include telecoms, media and energy, areas in which it has recently dealt with branding provisions, cartels (price fixing, bid rigging) and abuse of dominance. The client portfolio includes a significant number of MNCs and Malaysian public listed companies.
Corporate and M&A
The corporate team at Christopher & Lee Ong is considered 'unique for its in-depth expertise on cross-border M&A transactions'. The practice includes banking practitioner Lee Hock Chye, capital markets expert Christopher Lee, the 'excellent' Yon See Ting, cross-border specialist Yau Yee Ming and KuokYew Chen (the name to note for business verticals and market entry). A member firm of Rajah & Tann Asia, it utilises this association in order to pursue the most complex domestic and cross-border transactions. Specific areas covered include: M&A, private equity investments, share acquisitions, venture capital deals, strategic alliances and corporate restructuring. Its significant client portfolio includes private equity houses as well as SMEs from sectors such as energy, retail, logistics and pharmaceuticals.
Intellectual Property
Christopher & Lee Ong's Sri Sarguna Raj heads the firm's intellectual property, sports and gaming group. Specialising in anti-piracy, his work also includes non-contentious aspects such as advising on franchising, sponsorship and merchandising agreements. More broadly, the team covers issues pertaining to trade mark infringement, patents, copyright, industrial designs, confidential information and the enforcement of Anton Piller orders. AirAsia Berhad is a key client for which it has carried out audits, clearance searches and overseas trade mark prosecutions in both ASEAN and some 27 other jurisdictions.
Projects and Energy
Christopher & Lee Ong offers services on projects and energy dispute resolution, including arbitration. In addition the firm advises clients on the transactional side of matters such as power purchase agreements, EPC contracts and renewable power transactions. Christopher Lee leads the team. Lee acts on cross-border renewable energy projects including the project funding. Chor Jack represents local and international power producers on solar projects in Malaysia.
Shipping
Christopher & Lee Ong acts on a range of issues including marine casualty management, investigations of regulatory issues and marine pollution liability for ship owners, charterers, cargo owners and insurers. Jainil Bhandari leads the team and is present on shipping disputes alongside Clive Selvapandian, an expert on dispute resolution, who is active on litigation and arbitration, including insurance claims and dry shipping and maritime disputes. The firm also advises on oil shipment and trading matters.
TMT
Christopher & Lee Ong's TMT offering is orchestrated by established IT expert Deepak Pillai. Providing clients with 'highly specialised' work complemented by 'top quality drafting', it is particularly known for its work in the banking, financial and telecommunications sectors. Regulatory specialist KuokYew Chen works with data protection lawyer Intan Haryati; Anissa Maria Anis (media and entertainment) and senior associate Yong Shih Han (information security) in supporting the firm's broad caseload. Recent highlights include representing one of only three licensed digital asset exchanges (DAX), as well as filing a preparatory response to a Public Consultation Paper (Review of the Personal Data Protection Act 2010).
Banking and Finance
Recently attracting UOB Kay Hian Pte Ltd to its client portfolio, the banking and finance team at Christopher & Lee Ong handles a broad spectrum of sector requirements. These relate to issues such as: syndicated and bilateral lending, Islamic finance, debt capital markets, securitisation, real estate financing and insolvency. Directed by Christopher Lee and Fiona Sequerah, it also features the 'very accommodating' energy specialist Chor Jack. A recent distinguishing case concerns its work for BNP Paribas on a USD10.4 billion project financing facility to be granted to Pengerang Refining Company and Pengerang Petrochemical Company.
Labour and Employment
Christopher & Lee Ong's labour and employment team is orchestrated by four leads: Kelvin Kho, Rubini Murugesan, Yau Yee Ming and Han Li Meng. In essence, it stands as an integrated group of lawyers from corporate, commercial and litigation backgrounds. Notable for serving start-ups and new ventures, it regularly advises on the sector implications of compensation programmes, remuneration packages, corporate acquisitions and business integrations. To complement this, it also handles workforce restructuring (including transfers or migration), health and safety, anti-corruption, data protection and cybersecurity. The firm recently assisted Sellbytel Service in a hiring case concerning the ownership rights of 'successful bidders'.
Dispute Resolution
Christopher & Lee Ong's dispute resolution practice counts Siemens Malaysia and Alliance Investment Bank within its distinguished client portfolio. The offering is led by general civil and banking litigator John Mathew and includes Han Li Meng (an expert in infrastructure and construction) and Niak Hiong Keong, a specialist in the oil and gas sectors. Tort (including defamation, trespass and conspiracy ), real estate matters, maritime issues and debt recovery actions are all areas of expertise.
Real Estate and Construction
Christopher & Lee Ong handles matters such as acquisitions of real estate agencies, REITs, construction disputes and international arbitration. Lee Hock Chye has several decades of experience in the field, offering a combined real estate and banking expertise. Lim Hui Ming advises on local and cross-border agreements for multinational corporations and individuals while Eileen Yeoh, who works on real estate transactions, has a background as a construction litigation practitioner. Also of note is Kelvin Kho who acts for foreign clients investing in redevelopment projects in Malaysia.
Capital Markets
For capital markets cases at Christopher & Lee Ong, the key partner to note is Yon See Ting. Equally adept at antitrust and M&A, she leads a team covering equity, debt and hybrid instruments. IPOs and extra-jurisdictional listings are also covered.