The Legal 500 - Asia Pacific (2024)
Antitrust and Competition – Tier 1
Banking and Finance – Tier 2
Capital Markets – Tier 3
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 2
Shipping – Tier 1
TMT (Including Fintech) – Tier 1
Leading Lawyers:
Adrian Chee – Banking and Finance, Islamic Finance
Chor Jack – Projects and Energy
Christopher Lee – Projects and Energy
Kelvin Kho – Labour & Employment
Kuok Yew Chen – Corporate and M&A
Lim Hui Ming – Real Estate and Construction
Siaw Wan Lim – Projects and Energy
Sri Sarguna Raj – Intellectual Property
Yon See Ting – Antitrust and Competition, Corporate and M&A
Next Generation Lawyers:
Anissa Maria Anis – TMT (Including Fintech)
Chor Jack – Banking and Finance
Jane Guan – Antitrust and Competition
Jennifer Lee - Banking and Finance, Capital Markets
Rubini Murugesan – Labour and Employment
Yong Shih Han – TMT (Including Fintech)
Hall of Fame:
Adrian Chee – Capital Markets
Clieve Navin Selvapandian - Shipping
Deepak Pillai – TMT (Including Fintech)
Intan Haryati – TMT (Including Fintech)
Kuok Yew Chen – TMT (Including Fintech)
Key Lawyers:
Annette Soh – Corporate and M&A, Capital Markets
Chor Jack – Corporate and M&A
Heng Yee Keat – Dispute Resolution
Lim Siaw Wan - Projects and Energy
Kelvin Kho – Corporate and M&A, Real Estate and Construction
Nicole Chong - Intellectual Property
Por Chuei Ying - Shipping
Steven Cheok - Intellectual Property
Teo Siang Ly – Banking and Finance
Tracy Wong - Corporate and M&A
Antitrust and Competition
Christopher & Lee Ong has cemented itself as one of the leading firms in the antitrust and competition arena. By virtue of its membership of the Rajah & Tann Asia group, the department is well-positioned to provide a wealth of tech-enabled solutions. Offering a full service to its clients, the firm regularly advises international multinational corporations, banks, government organisations, and international counsels. Key strengths include advising on competition law concerns in the telecoms industry, conducting due diligence, acting as counsel in M&A transactions, and carrying out comprehensive audits and reviews of clients’ business operations. Yon See Ting heads the team, and Jane Guan has been instrumental in growing the competition practice. Both practitioners are praised as ‘approachable and collaborative, with deep expertise in competition law’.
Banking and Finance
Christopher & Lee Ong prides itself on providing an expansive range of banking and finance advisory services to a plethora of local and international banks and financial institutions. On account of its association with the Rajah & Tann Asia Network, the firm benefits from an established network of practitioners across the Southeast Asia region, strengthening its ability to provide a high-quality service to multinational corporations and Malaysian enterprises. Much of the firm’s work centres on syndicated lending, project financing, Islamic finance, and debt restructuring. Christopher Lee and Fiona Sequerah head the team and are experienced practitioners who are well-regarded within the banking and finance spheres. Chor Jack leads on several engagements and has recently been tasked with leading the department’s sustainability practice on matters including sustainability linked financing, while Teo Siang Ly has experience in advising corporate borrowers on financing matters.
Capital Markets
On account of its membership of Rajah & Tann Asia, Christopher & Lee Ong is well-positioned to advise clients on various cross-border capital market mandates, particularly across Malaysia, Singapore, and Hong Kong. The department is headed by Yon See Ting, Annette Soh, and Fiona Sequerah, whose combined experience enables the firm to offer advice on IPOs, corporate governance rules, sale and purchase agreements, and due diligence concerns. Advising clients on debt fundraising exercises also lies within the firm’s scope of activity.
Corporate and M&A
The practice at Christopher & Lee Ong harnesses an ‘in-depth understanding of market practices’ in the corporate and M&A arena. The team’s workload includes a variety of matters, spanning the full lifecycle of transactions on behalf of its industry-spanning domestic and multinational client roster, while providing support on regulatory approvals and compliance mandates, in addition to competition and antitrust issues, and industry-specific concerns. The practice also sees high-stakes M&A bidding and structuring matters through to execution. The team is collectively led by Yon See Ting, Kuok Yew Chen and Yau Yee Ming, who bring a wealth of experience in cross-border transactions, Christopher Lee, Por Chuei Ying, See Hua Chua, and Anette Soh. Other key contacts in the group include Kelvin Kho and consultant Lee Hock Chye.
Dispute Resolution
The dispute resolution department at Christopher & Lee Ong offers services covering various elements of the practice including arbitration, general litigation, and adjudication. John Mathew leads the team and is a recognised panel arbitrator with the Asian International Arbitration Centre, while other advocates within the team draw strengths from their collective trial and appellate experience. The group is well-versed in handling disputes relating to joint ventures, directors and shareholder duties, and insolvency and restructuring matters
Intellectual Property
Christopher & Lee Ong’s offering consists of IP work across the spectrum, ranging from IP protection and registration, valuation and transactional work, to litigation and the enforcement of IP rights. Recognised for its ability to handle both contentious and non-contentious matters, the firm acts for multinationals and conglomerates across various industries, such as pharmaceutical, aerospace, e-commerce, and telecoms. Sri Sarguna Raj spearheads the team and is an expert in representing clients in IP disputes relating to patents and trade secrets, while also implementing anti-piracy and anti-counterfeiting programmes. Steven Cheok is a valuable member of the team and focuses primarily on IP enforcement cases.
Labour and Employment
Christopher & Lee Ong’s team advises its client roster on the full scope of labour and employment work, including domestic and cross-border advisory matters ranging from unfair dismissal, breaches of contract and redundancies to mandates concerning alleged force labour and harassment in the workplace. The practice also has demonstrable experience in handling litigious cases, a key focus for Rubini Murugesan. Yau Yee Ming jointly spearheads the team alongside Kelvin Kho, who takes a ‘solutions-oriented approach and provides high-quality advice’ on employment compliance issues.
Projects and Energy
Noted for its ‘very direct and focused approach towards issues’, the projects and energy practice at Christopher & Lee Ong is led by Christopher Lee, who has expertise in banking and finance, M&A and infrastructure, all of which he readily applies to the transactions on which he advises. The team’s workload includes advising on land-use rights, power purchases and cross-border exports of energy. It notably works on matters at the forefront of the sector, including advising on the 5G rollout in Malaysia. It frequently supports on energy projects from inception to completion. Lim Siaw Wan is a key practitioner in the team, vastly experienced in handling high-value energy deals for the team’s client portfolio. The ‘innovative and practical’ Chor Jack, who has a particular focus on complex renewables projects, is another key contact in the group. Eileen Yeoh departed to an in-house role in 2022.
Real Estate and Construction
Christopher & Lee Ong’s real estate practice is jointly led by Lim Hui Ming, who is praised for her ‘exceptional knowledge’ of property and financing matters, and Por Chuei Ying. The firm has a track record for handling large-scale real estate transactions both in Malaysia and neighbouring ASEAN countries. Acting for a range of local and international investors, government-linked corporations, and property funds, the team regularly advises on leases and tenancies, construction disputes, property development, conveyancing, and acquisition financing.
Shipping
Jainil Bhandari who works from the firm’s the Malaysia and Singapore offices, is at the helm of Christopher & Lee Ong’s shipping practice, which is noted for its ‘in-depth knowledge of the field’. The team holds impressive capabilities handling both wet and dry shipping work for key domestic and international clients. Examples of the team’s workload include advising on the high-value sale and purchase of ships and yachts; marine insurance policies; cross-border imports and exports; and the disposal of cargo. In addition to the team’s advisory work, it is also experienced in representing its clients in contentious matters, such as complex ship-arrest proceedings. Standout practitioner in the team Clive Navin Selvapandian is described as having an ‘unwavering commitment to putting clients first’; and is experienced handling the range of shipping cases.
TMT (Including FinTech)
Multinational organisations and conglomerates from industries ranging from banking to e-health beat a path to Christopher & Lee Ong for assistance with issues such as IT and cloud contract negotiations, data breaches, consumer protection laws and sector specific regulatory advice. The practice has additionally seen an increase in instructions relating to the the deployment of artificial intelligence, e-commerce and fintech. Leadership duties are split between Deepak Pillai, whose varied caseload includes commercial and regulatory advice on outsourcing and digital media, and KuokYew Chen, who is well-placed to advise on cross-border transactions. Intan Haryati is frequently active across public and private sector IT turnkey contracts. Anissa Maria Anis is a key contact for clients from the media and entertainment industries, while data protection specialist Yong Shih Han is equipped to advise on an array of regulatory and compliance matters. Yeap Yee Lin is another name to note.