Steven Thiru & Sudhar Partnership

Managing Partner: Steven Thiruneelakandan (Steven Thiru)

Senior Partner: Sudharsanan Thillainathan (T. Sudhar)

Number of Partners: 8 

Number of Associates: 10 

Languages: English, Malay, Mandarin and various Chinese dialects

Website: https://www.stsp.my

OVERVIEW: 

Established in May 2018, Steven Thiru & Sudhar Partnership is a young firm that is not short on experience. The two Senior Partners are well known in the legal profession. The firm prides itself on its ability to represent clients at all levels including providing advisory/pre-trial advice and conducting trials and appeals in a range of litigation and dispute resolution work and has gained a formidable reputation for its advisory, litigation and arbitration work in general litigation, competition and anti-trust, digital and data protection law, employment law, human rights and public law, judicial review, land acquisition and reference, regulatory/compliance, tax and revenue matters. The firm is based in Kuala Lumpur but undertakes work nationwide and is able to handle cross-border work as well. Steven Thiru & Sudhar Partnership has a diverse client base including Malaysia’s state-owned entities, blue-chip corporations which include public utilities and power plants, educational institutions, transport, banking, insurance, plantations, construction, foreign clients, prominent individuals, and special interest groups. Its lawyers have the experience and the expertise to see contentious matters from pre-trial preparation to the Federal Court, arbitration in construction matters as well as tribunal work in competition law, tax, and revenue matters.

The firm also boasts a solid track record in employment, labour law and industrial relations. Its expertise includes consultation on employment terms and conditions, employee misconduct, retrenchment and all aspects of employment and industrial relations including representing clients in employment disputes.

Recent highlights include:  

• Acting as a Counsel for Mr. Yap Yoke Chong @ Allan Yap, a descendant of the late Kapitan Cina Yap Ah Shak, and the late Madam Shum Poh San @ Shum Poh Sam (“Madam Shum”), in an action to set aside a High Court judgment alleged procured by the Defendant through fraud. In order to alleged defraud the High Court into believing that the Defendant is alleged one of the beneficiaries of Madam Shum’s estate (valued at approximately RM25 million), the Defendant had constructed fabricated tombstones at the Kwong Tong Cemetery and produced photographs of the same before the High Court to establish the alleged false lineage between the Defendant and Madam Shum.
• Acting for a Singaporean electronics manufacturing company (a wholly owned subsidiary of a public listed Taiwanese electronics manufacturing company) to recover a sum of US$5,361,200.00 (being ill-gotten proceeds from the sale of 26,956 misappropriated iPhones) from the Defendant, the company’s former employee. On 19.10.2023, the full trial commenced with the deposition of the Defendant’s accomplice before the Singapore High Court pursuant to Order 39 rules 2 and 3 of the Rules of Court 2012.
• Acting for seven (7) Plaintiffs against eight (8) Defendants primarily based on the fraud and/or fraudulent misrepresentations by the 1st and 2nd Defendants, which resulted in the payment by the Plaintiffs of approximately RM200 million (in cash and in kind) to the Defendants. The Plaintiffs’ other causes of action include total failure of consideration, unjust enrichment, and breach of contract. The first High Court Judge, YA Datuk Wong Kian Kheong, allowed the Plaintiffs’ injunction application in respect of the RM200 million (in cash and in kind).
• Acting for a major developer in resisting demands on corporate guarantees issued in the total sum of RM261 million on the grounds that the said corporate guarantees have been procured by fraud.
• Acting for a government-owned water asset management corporation in defending an action brought by a terminated sub-contractor for injunctive relief to, amongst others: (i) maintain the status quo pending arbitration pursuant to Section 11 of the Arbitration Act 2005; (ii) divert progress payments from a special joint project account; (iii) preserve physical works done on site; and (iv) remove assets and materials on site.
• Acting for the Malaysian Institute of Accountants ("Institute") in defending an action brought by a member of the Institute, where the said member has sought to challenge the Practice Review process brought against his firm on the grounds that the By-Laws of the Institute (which provide for the Practice Review Process) are invalid, null and void, and unenforceable for being ultra viresthe Accountants Act 1967. This is the first time that the By-Laws of the Institute have been subject to a challenge of this nature.
• Acting for a construction and engineering company in commencing judicial review proceedings against the Asian International Arbitration Centre for, amongst others, a declaration that it is only an "Unpaid Party" that has a remediable claim under the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012 ("CIPAA 2012") that can be designated as the "Claimant" in statutory adjudication proceedings brought under CIPAA 2012.
• Acting for a roasted nut products company headquartered in Switzerland in obtaining injunctive relief against persons unknown in respect of a cross-border cyber fraud, where the plaintiff had been tricked over emails to make a payment for a legitimate transaction into a different bank account under the control of a fraudster or a group of fraudsters.
• Successfully dismissing a Plaintiff / Main Contractor’s Originating Summons for interim measures against the Defendant / Employer pending arbitration in respect of construction assets on Site consequential to the termination of a construction contract. The value of the entire project is estimated to be in the region of RM5.4billion.
• Representing the major transport system developer in a RM300 million claim for breach of contract/ misrepresentation and negligence.
• Successfully defending the public utilities electricity supply vendor in a claim for wrongful termination of supply against a counterclaim of RM99 million.
• Representing a government-owned water asset management corporation in an arbitration matter involving the development of a water treatment plant and water reticulation system. The RM993.8 million dispute is the first of its kind to be heard in Malaysia.
• Representing the Malaysian Institute of Accountants in the first completed disciplinary proceedings involving the auditors of 1MDB.
• Successfully obtaining judgement against an employee for tort of conversion and dishonest assistance for the sum of US$5,361,200 (RM21 million)
• Defending the decision by a client to dismiss an employee who had been accused in the media of sexual grooming and being a sexual predator.
• Providing advice to a major transportation company on acts of insubordination and for a breach of fiduciary duties owed by employees to its employer, and the appropriate disciplinary action to be taken against senior employees.
• Establishing the principle that failure to furnish an employee facing disciplinary proceedings with all relevant and material evidence amounts to a fundamental breach of procedural fairness and natural justice.
• Advising and representing an employer in a suit brought by an employee who was dismissed for participation in political activities contrary to the employer’s Code of Ethics.
• Advising an international school on steps to manage a senior employee experiencing mental health issues, and the proper procedures to medically board out the employee, if necessary.
• Assisting both local and international corporations realign their manpower and human resource capacities in the light of the Covid-19 pandemic in compliance with labour and employment law and regulations.
• Successfully dismissing a claim for purported trespass against a public utility company in the sum of almost RM20 million by way of an application under O.14A and/or O. 33 of the Rules of Court 2012 wherein four (4) questions of law / fact were decided in favour of the public utility company.
• Represented a developer in a claim by individual owners for purported breach of statutory duty where leave to appeal to the Federal Court was obtained on whether there exists a private law cause of action under the Building and Common Property (Maintenance and Management) Act 2007 and/or the Strata Management Act 2013.
• Successfully appealed to the Court of Appeal against a decision of the High Court which granted an interim injunction to restrain payment of RM71.4m under an unconditional, on-demand performance bond.
• Advising and representing an employer in a civil suit brought by an employee who was dismissed for participation in political activities contrary to the employer’s Code of Ethics.
• Representing an employer in a civil suit to claw back bonus payments that had been paid to an employee, due to findings of serious misconduct committed by the employee.
• Representing an employer in an unfair dismissal claim where the employee was dismissed for acting in conflict of interest and misappropriation of property. Handling two (2) critical interlocutory applications, viz, (1) admissibility of evidence and when it should be determined, and (2) setting aside a subpoena on medical grounds.
• Providing legal advice in relation to employment matters to a public listed company on the acquisition of a five-star hotel.
• Representing BNM in responding to an application filed by an ex-employee of a financial institution to judicially review the investigations carried out pursuant to the Whistleblower Protection Act 2010.

One of the Firm's strengths is its ability to handle a diverse range of matters from virtually any industry. This agility of thought, combined with a depth of knowledge of the law, and a clear grasp of procedure make formidable representation in virtually any forum.

MAIN AREAS OF PRACTICE: 

Appellate Matters & Judicial Reviews: 

• Steven Thiru
• T. Sudhar
• David Mathew
• Janice Anne Leo
• Hadi Mukhlis Khairulmaini

Arbitration and Alternate Dispute Resolution: 

• T. Sudhar
• Dawn Wong Keng Jade

Competition and Anti-trust: 

• T. Sudhar
• Dawn Wong Keng Jade

Data Protection (TMT): 

• David Mathew

Employment Law and Industrial Relations: 

• Steven Thiru
• Janice Anne Leo

General Litigation including Torts: 

• Steven Thiru
• T. Sudhar
• David Mathew

Land Matters including Land Acquisitions and Reference: 

• Steven Thiru
• David Mathew
• Hadi Mukhlis Khairulmaini
• David Ng

Public Law & Human Rights Law: 

• Steven Thiru
• David Mathew

Regulatory and Compliance: 

• Steven Thiru
• T. Sudhar

Tax and Revenue Disputes: 

• T Sudhar
• Tania Kat-Lin Edward