Raja Darryl & Loh

Raja Darryl & Loh’s team is equipped to manage equity capital market transactions and securitisations. Chu Wei Tai, practice head, has been assisting a Singaporean cloud computing solution provider on its proposed initial public offering on the Bursa Malaysia’s ACE board.

Raja Darryl & Loh’s team is skilled at cartel investigations and litigation, price fixing and abuse of dominance matters. Practice head Phye Keat Chew, noted by a client for “rational thoughts and professionalism”, is advising a Malaysian automotive company manufacturer on competition law audits and compliance. Chew is also assisting an automobile manufacturer on an abuse of dominance complaint about favouring some repair shops over others. The team met with the Malaysian Competition Commission to explain the client’s business practice, and the Commission dropped the investigation.

Raja Darryl & Loh’s Wei Mun Chang, practice leader, and Shirley Hor are acting for SP Setia Group’s KL Eco City, the developer of the mixed use property in Kuala Lumpur. A dispute has happened between KL and the contractor after the collapse of a pedestrian bridge across the Klang River, killing a construction worker. The contractor has filed an injunction so the client cannot collect money under a performance bond, while KL has filed a suit for damages worth more than RM20 million.

Raja Darryl & Loh has a respectable team, led by Phye Keat Chew, a market-leading lawyer. Chu Wei Tai is local counsel for Pentair’s $3.2 billion global divestment of its valves and controls division to Emerson Electric. Advice focused on corporate, employment and tax matters.

The “professional and capable services” of Raja Darryl & Loh’s team continue to earn it difficult mandates. Instructed by Sunway Medical Centre, Darryl Goon, practice co-head and market-leading lawyer, and Raja Eileen Soraya, a leading lawyer, are defending the hospital against liability for their doctor’s actions. The client is arguing before the Federal Court that the doctors are independent contractors, and thus is not liable. The “very knowledgeable and innovative” Wei Mun Chang, a market-leading lawyer and construction specialist, remains as a co-leader, while Siew Ming Lim left the firm in December 2016.

Market-leading lawyer Phye Keat Chew, an “industry expert [with] fast response time [and] easy accessibility,” and “easy to work with” Yvonne Ong, who “gives practical and commercially viable advice,” lead Raja Darryl & Loh’s practice. The team is respected for their “expertise in their field and provides legal assistance as and when needed, without delay”, adds another client. Work highlights show performance across specialities including soft IP prosecution, strategy and patent contentious work.

Raja Darryl & Loh’s practice, led by Lai Ling Tong, handles contentious and non-contentious matters in communications equipment, application software and IT consulting. A client respects Tong’s “experience and knowledge on IT and software agreements”. Tong and Chu Wei Tai advised Trilliant, a Canadian smart grid solutions provider, on an agreement with Tenaga Nasional, the Malaysian utility giant. The agreement was about designing and implementing a smart grid pilot project in Malacca, a state in western Malaysia.

Raja Darryl & Loh’s practice continues as highly recommended for dispute resolution, business restructuring and advice on policies, procedures and handbooks. Ravindra Kumar Rengasamy, a disputes leading lawyer, represented an oilfield service company when a contract employee claimed unfair dismissal when his one-year contract expired. The Industrial Court dismissed the former employee’s claim. Rengasamy defended another employer against a former employee’s claim of forced resignation. The team was able to show the former staff The Industrial Court sided with the client.

Raja Darryl & Loh is recommended for its aviation practice, in particular its work with lessors, funds and private equity. “The aviation finance team in Malaysia is top rate,” says a client. “I trust them to provide sound advice on the most complicated of matters.” With “great command of legal issues in Malaysia and great client service”, Kok Seng Chong, practice head, has had a string of aircraft leasing and asset acquisitions. Chong advised a commercial aircraft leasing company, for example, on its cross-border (Indonesia and US) lease transfer of two Boeing aircraft.

Raja Darryl & Loh has a reputation for handling direct and indirect tax matters. Practice leader Vijey Krishnan, a leading lawyer, advised Petronas, a Malaysian oil and gas company, on its withholding tax position across the group with some 51,000 employees. Krishnan also represented Latexx Manufacturing, a Malaysian industrial equipment supplier, in an income tax case before the Court of Appeal. The court decided that the Inland Revenue Board could not remove the client’s tax holiday status because of an alleged non-compliance matter.