Young Lawyers Convention 2011: Liberalisation of the Bar
Thursday, 23 June 2011 09:49am
Contributed by Tony Woon Yeow Thong, Secretary, Malaysian Bar, and Richard Wee, Chairperson, Bar Council National Young Lawyers Committee
The inevitable will happen. Eventually the Malaysian Bar will have to open its doors to non-Malaysian legal firms. Our government has executed international contracts and agreements that effectively require the country to open its doors to foreign companies; the same will happen for legal services in Malaysia.
Bar Council is involved in ongoing dialogues and discussions with the relevant stakeholders about this issue. From what the Malaysian Bar understands, the Attorney General’s Chambers have indicated that they intend to submit a paper to the Malaysian Cabinet in July 2011. If the paper is approved, we will eventually see amendments to the Legal Profession Act 1976 to effectively liberalise the Malaysian Bar.
Assuming the Malaysian Bar opens its doors to foreign firms, will our lawyers be prepared to take on the challenge of competing with foreign firms? The National Young Lawyers Committee believes that Malaysian lawyers are generally hardworking, diligent and bright. The Malaysian Bar will probably be good enough to take on large foreign firms. However, the fact remains that foreign firms that are likely set up in Malaysia will probably be the larger, better ones. Logic dictates that an inferior foreign firm would be unlikely to come to Malaysia.
At the Young Lawyers Convention 2011 in Malacca, this issue will be discussed. Are the lawyers ready for this? Are the young lawyers ready for this?
See you in Malacca!
The Young Lawyers Convention, an event that happens once every three years, will take place from 1 to 3 July 2011 at Everly Beach Resort, Malacca. Contact Kamala Thakar Singh, officer-in-charge, by telephone at 03-2050 2098 or by email at kamala@malaysianbar.org.my, for further details.
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Talk on Summary Judgement (25 May 2012) Organised by the Selangor Bar Committee, this talk will take place at 5:00 pm, at the Selangor Bar Committee Auditorium, on 25 May 2012 (Friday). The talk will be conducted by Ramesh Supramanian. Click on the link above for more details.
Seminar on Tax Issues in Financial Transactions (25 May 2012) Organised by the Kuala Lumpur Bar Professional Development Committee, this seminar, featuring S Saravana Kumar, will take place at 3:00 pm, at the Kuala Lumpur Bar Auditorium, on 25 May 2012 (Friday). Click on the link above for more details.
Dialogue with Criminal Law Practitioners (26 May 2012) Organised by Bar Council, this dialogue will take place at 10:00 am to 12:00 pm, at the Raja Aziz Addruse Auditorium, Bar Council, on 26 May 2012 (Saturday). Click on the link above for more details.
Conference on Competition Law (31 May 2012) Organised by Bar Council with the support of LexisNexis, this conference will take place at 8:30 am to 4:00 pm, at Renaissance Kuala Lumpur Hotel, on 31 May 2012 (Thursday). For more details or to register, please contact Vilashini Vijayan (03-2050 2095; vila@malaysianbar.org.my). Click on the link above for more details.
Talk on What Clients Want (7 June 2012) Organised by the KL Bar Practitioners' Affairs Committee, the talk, presented by Ong Eu Jin, will take place at 5:00 pm, at the KL Bar Auditorium, on 7 June 2012 (Thursday). Click on the link above for more details.
4th LAWASIA Family Law Conference, Penang (13 and 14 July 2012) Supported by Penang Bar Committee and the Malaysian Bar, this conference, themed “The New Global Family: Emerging Trends and Challenges to Family Practice”, will take place at Traders Hotel, Penang, on 13 and 14 July 2012 (Friday and Saturday). Click on the link above for more details.
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Contributed by Tony Woon Yeow Thong, Secretary, Malaysian Bar, and Richard Wee, Chairperson, Bar Council National Young Lawyers Committee 
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