Recently viewed firm rankings
Recently viewed firm profiles
Recently viewed lawyer profiles
Overview
Malaysia’s legal market consists primarily of domestic firms, as it remains a closed market, despite recommendations from the WTO. However, a number of firms do either have relationships with foreign players, such as Raja, Darryl & Loh’s linkup with Allens Arthur Robinson, or form part of the international network, as Wong & Partners with Baker & McKenzie LLP and Shahrizat Rashid & Lee and Eversheds LLP.
However, there was talk in 2008 of opening up the market to five international firms which will handle solely Islamic finance in an attempt to secure Malaysia’s position as an international hub for this area. At the time of going to press, this was yet to happen, and a number of law firms have doubts over the success of the venture.
A number of law firms dominate the Malaysian legal market. Known locally as the three S’s, Skrine, Shearn Delamore & Co and Shook Lin & Bok are long-established and widely-respected historic Malaysian firms. However, they are not necessarily the biggest, and players such as Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill, Zaid Ibrahim & Co, Kadir, Andri & Partners, Raja, Darryl & Loh and Wong & Partners are hot on the heels of the leading group.
Bumiputra policies remain part of the legal landscape. This means that firms with a strong Bumiputra contingent will often have especially good links to government bodies which will can lead to mandates.