Circular No 021/2015
Dated 27 Jan 2015
To Members of the Malaysian Bar
Pursuant to section 57(a) of the Legal Profession Act 1976, the Bar Council has amended Ruling 7.03, as proposed by the Bar Council Legal Profession Committee.
The amendments to Ruling 7.03 are as marked below:
Bar Council Ruling 7.03: Sharing Office or PremisesWhere an Advocate and Solicitor shares an office or premises with another person (“Person”), (whether an Advocate and Solicitor or not), the office or premises must be partitioned off with separate and distinct entrances, with no connecting door between the 2 offices or premises.This Ruling shall not apply to:(a) Advocates and Solicitorswho are partnersof the same law firm; or(b) an Advocate and Solicitor, or a partner or partners of his/her firm who has/have an interest in the Person, and the Person carries on such business as is permitted under Ruling 5.13A; or(c) a law firm that is part of an international partnership that has been granted a licence under section 40F of the Legal Profession Act 1976;provided always that the law firm and the international partnership preserve and observe at all times the duty of confidentiality in respect of privileged information owed to their respective clients.
The amendments to the Ruling are to cater to the recent amendments, introduced by the Legal Profession (Amendment) Act 2012, on the liberalisation of legal services, particularly with respect to local law firms entering into international partnerships with foreign law firms.
The revised Ruling 7.03 therefore reads as follows:
Bar Council Ruling 7.03: Sharing Office or Premises
Where an Advocate and Solicitor shares an office or premises with another person (“Person”), whether an Advocate and Solicitor or not, the office or premises must be partitioned off with separate and distinct entrances, with no connecting door between the 2 offices or premises.This Ruling shall not apply to:
(a) Advocates and Solicitors of the same law firm; or(b) an Advocate and Solicitor, or a partner or partners of his/her firm who has/have an interest in the Person, and the Person carries on such business as is permitted under Ruling 5.13A; or(c) a law firm that is part of an international partnership that has been granted a licence under section 40F of the Legal Profession Act 1976;
provided always that the law firm and the international partnership preserve and observe at all times the duty of confidentiality in respect of privileged information owed to their respective clients.
Please be informed that the amended Ruling takes effect immediately.
The updated Rules and Rulings of the Bar Council are accessible
here on the Malaysian Bar’s website.Should you have any enquiries, please contact Marianna Laureen Tan, Executive Officer, by telephone at 03–2050 2086, or by email at
ml.tan@malaysianbar.org.my. Thank you.
Richard Wee Thiam Seng
Secretary
Malaysian Bar
This circular may also be accessed here.