Legal
APAC Insider 2015 Legal Awards
A nsiderac
awards 2015
Henry Wai & Co. Solicitors Recognised Leader in Corporate Dispute Resolution - Hong Kong
DEEP & FAR Attorneys-at-Law 13th F1., No. 27, Sec. 3, Chung San N. Rd. Taipei 104, Taiwan, R.O.C. Tel: +886-2-2585-6688 Fax: +886-2-25989900/25978989 email@deepnfar.com.tw Deep & Far was founded in 1992 and is one of the largest law firms in this country. The firm is presently focused on the practice in separate or in combination of all aspects of intellectual property rights (IPRs) including patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, unfair competition, and/or licensing, counseling, litigation and/ or transaction thereof. Since this firm edges itself into the IPRs field, the firm quickly comes to fame. As an illustration, this firm often is one of the largest sources from which foreign filing orders originate. The fascinating rise of this firm begins from the founder of Deep & Far attorneysat-law, C. F. Tsai, who is the one first patent practitioner in this country who both has technological and law backgrounds and is qualified as a local attorney-at-law. The patent attorneys and patent engineers in this firm normally hold outstanding and advanced degrees and are generally graduated from the top five universities in this country and/or the university in the US. Our prominent staffs are dedicated to provide the best quality service in IPRs. As a proof, about one half of top 100 incorporations in this country have experiences of seeking patented their techniques, but more than one fifth of the top 100 incorporations are/were clients of this firm. Furthermore, Hi-Tech companies in the science-based industrial park located at Hsin Chu play an important role in booming the economy of this country. About one half of which have experiences in seeking patented their techniques, and out of more than 60% of the patent-experienced companies in that park have ever entrusted their IPR works to this firm. We have experienced in seeking IPR-protections for our clients in more than 100 territories all over the world. We have thousands of IPR-cases respectively prosecuted before official Patent Offices of major industrialized countries. This firm not only is the most competent in IPR-related matters in this country but also is very familiar with IPR-practices in major industrialized countries. As a matter of fact, this firm oftentimes tries and makes precedents of new claim-drafting styles. While we might have become wonderfully famed locally with remarkable appreciation and respects, we would like to extend our services for internationalized or quality service-requiring foreign conglomerated giants, corporations or individuals. We strongly believe that we will win more
www.deepnfar.com.tw
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welcome to the 2015 APAC Insider Legal Awards The Asia Pacific region covers a vast area and many legal firms working within it operate across numerous countries and governments. Over the last year legal firms in the region have faced further challenges as legal systems in the region shift to accommodate a growing reliance on technology. For example, intellectual property and the Internet of Things are both growing in popularity across the region, as is the healthcare technology sector, leading the legal profession to further diversify into these specialist sectors. The 2015 APAC Insider Legal Awards were created to recognise those making game-changing advances and achieving sensational world-beating results in this fascinating and ever-changing world. The legal profession and those who make it tick are ever-present at nearly all levels within the myriad sectors and industries that call the Asia Pacific region home. These firms and individuals have worked tirelessly over the last year to help keep the industry going, and through these prestigious awards we have endeavoured to provide them with the recognition they so richly deserve.
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4. Recognised Leader in Corporate Dispute Resolution - Hong Kong - Henry Wai & Co., Solicitors 6. Best Foreign Lawyer - Hong Kong - Baker & McKenzie LLP 8. Best Service Provider – Malaysia - Chiong & Partners, Advocates & Solicitors 10. Overall Law Firm - Malayasia - ENOLIL LOO Advocates & Solicitors 14. Best Intellectual Property Valuation Firm - Australia & IP Debt Funding Specialist of the Year - Australia - Griffith Hack 16. Recognised Leader in Corporate Law - Malaysia - J.LEE & ASSOCIATES 18. Best Commercial Law Firm - Malaysia - Khalid Iqbal & Associates 20. Best Chief Legal Officer - Hong Kong - Melco Crown Entertainment 24. Client Focused Law Firm of the Year-Malaysia - Ram Reza & Muhammad 26. Full Service Law Firm of the Year - Pakistan - Remfry & Son
APAC Insider 2015 Legal Awards
Recognised Leader in Corporate Dispute Resolution - Hong Kong
Henry Wai & Co., Solicitors
Wai & Co., Henry Solicitors are a Chinese legal firm specialising in in cross-border matters in the Greater China Region.
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Henry Wai & Co., Solicitors’ philosophy is to provide solutions to our clients’ legal problems in a speedy, productive and cost-effective manner. The firm treat their clients as partners, and will always advise them and act in their best interests. The firm’s legal team consists of lawyers and legal staff of an international background qualified and trained in different jurisdictions (including Hong Kong, China, England and Wales), and are geared to provide quality services to their clients for commercial and corporate disputes and transactions arising in Hong Kong, China and in an international setting. Moreover, the firm’s China Practice is made up of graduates from some of the best law colleges in mainland China with post-graduate qualifications in England to specifically deal with China-related business and commercial transactions and disputes resolution. They are familiar with both the PRC legal system as well as the common law, and are fluent in English, Mandarin Chinese as well as various dialects, and understand the Chinese culture well, enabling them to provide a support to a wide range of clients with varying needs. Based on their vast network within the legal and corporate sectors in mainland China, Taiwan and Macau, the legal office are able to serve as a bridge connecting the Greater China Region, and provide comprehensive legal professional services and solutions to enterprises and individuals conducting business and making investment in the Greater China Region. Founder Mr. Henry Wai was admitted as a Solicitor of Hong Kong in 1988. Mr. Wai obtained his LL.B. degree at the London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London in 1984, and passed the Solicitors’ Final Examination of England and Wales after attending the Chester College of Law in 1985. He has also obtained a Post Graduate Diploma on Construction Claims and Arbitration (with Distinction) in 2003.
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Company: Henry Wai & Co., Solicitors Telephone: (852) 3970 2300 Fax: (852) 3102 1811/ 3102 1812 E-mail: info@hwco.com.hk Address: Rooms 1604-5, Wheelock House 20 Pedder Street, Central, Hong Kong Website: www.hwco.com.hk
Prior to founding the firm, Mr. Wai was the Head of Litigation of a leading local firm, building up and heading a team of over 12 commercial litigation lawyers and handling mainly commercial and corporate litigation, land related litigation, construction claims and arbitration, and commercial and corporate matters. Mr. Wai has very extensive experience in different areas of commercial and corporate litigation, including shareholders/partnership disputes, disputes between joint venture parties, claims for breach of trust/fiduciary duties, derivative actions, unfairly prejudicial conduct, passing off and infringement of intellectual property rights, construction claims, arbitration, employment disputes involving breach of confidence, breach of duty of fidelity and good faith, restrictive covenants, commercial and corporate fraud, international sale of goods, employment matters and land related disputes. Mr. Wai is also experienced in commercial and corporate matters, as well as land development matters. As such Mr. Wai takes great pride in utilising his varied and long established industry experience to support clients whatever their corporate dispute resolution needs.
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APAC Insider 2015 Legal Awards
Best Foreign Lawyer - Hong Kong
Baker & McKenzie LLP
Established in 1949, Baker & McKenzie defined the global law industry in the 20th century, and as such are redefining it to meet the challenges of the global economy in the 21st.
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To achieve this the firm brings to all legal matters the instinctively global perspective and deep market knowledge and insights of more than 12,000 people in 77 offices worldwide. The firm has a distinctive global way of thinking, working and behaving – “fluency” – across borders, issues and practices. The firm understand the challenges of the global economy because they have been at the forefront of its evolution. The company has vast experience in the legal area and has advised leading corporations on the issues of today’s integrated world market. They have cultivated the culture, commercial pragmatism and technical and interpersonal skills required to deliver world-class service tailored to the preferences of world-class clients worldwide. It is the firm’s deep roots and knowledge of the language and culture of business that ensures that they are truly able to address the nuances of local markets worldwide. Alongside this, their culture of friendship and broad scope of practice enable them to navigate complexity across issues, practices and borders with ease. It is this internal culture of friendship that has enabled the firm to hire some of the most skilled and dedicated lawyers in the legal industry, which is how Registered Foreign Lawyer Anne Peng came to win the coveted title of Best Foreign Lawyer for Hong Kong. Anne has extensive experience advising multinational companies (MNCs) on various China regulatory and compliance issues. Her practice focuses on international trade, customs, tax, import and export controls and corporate advisory work relating to distribution and supply chain strategies in China (PRC) and Hong Kong, although it is not limited to these specific areas. Throughout her career, Anne creatively and successfully solved problems for many MNCs. Prior to joining Baker & McKenzie in Hong Kong, Anne worked with a Big Four accounting firm, and advised many well-known MNCs on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) related issues. Anne also worked in the General Administration of PRC Customs (GAC) for 8 years and held the rank of Deputy Director. Alongside her work with the firm, Anne has also contributed towards the wider industry knowledge by publishing a number of books and a monograph on various aspects of the legal environment in China.
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Company: Baker & McKenzie LLP Website: www.bakermckenzie.com Email: Anne.Peng@bakermckenzie.com Telephone: + 852 2846 1943
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APAC Insider 2015 Legal Awards
Best Service Provider – Malaysia
Chiong & Partners, Advocates & Solicitors
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Chiong & Partners are a full-service law firm offering premium and efficient legal solutions in various fields for both domestic and foreign clients. We speak to Dato’ Lawrence Chiong Sheng Fan from the firm who discusses the company’s client centred approach and how this had led them to the success of winning this coveted award.
Chiong & Partners are a full-service law company who specialise in conveyancing, corporate and civil matters as well as criminal litigation and other matters. They have 4 partners, 6 legal associates, 4 chambering students and more than 40 staffs. We have expanded our branches to Selangor and Malacca so as to serve our clients in different regions, and now have three branches alongside our headquaters. Today, we are proud to become a top-tier law firm in Johor Bahru. With our continued persistent and determination, we have gained confidence from our clients across Asia, including Singapore, Taiwan and China. We also established trust and close relationships with many reputable banks in Malaysia including but not limited to Alliance Bank, CIMB Bank, Hong Leong Bank, Maybank, OCBC Bank, Public Bank, RHB Bank and their respective Islamic Banks as well as AIA Home Loan. In order to ensure every client receives the best possible service from our firm we focus on the needs of our clients and the comprehensiveness of the services and quality legal solutions provided by us to all our clients. We treat every challenge with positive mind to make ourselves become more creative, innovative and accomplished. This award is meaningful to us as it recognises the valued services we provided. At Chiong & Partners our motto is “what made us different, made us better”. It simply means that we go above and beyond the call of duty to do more to gain the trust and confidence of our clients, staff and fellow legal practitioners. Basically “more” means the kind of spirit that encourages Chiong & Partners’ staff to serve our clients better, for example, through weekly updates on progress of a matter and to return calls within two hours to our clients that is on our own initiative without needing to be prompted by the client.
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Company: Chiong & Partners, Advocates & Solicitors Name: Dato’ Lawrence Chiong Sheng Fan Email: law@chiong.com.my Website: www.chiong.com.my Address: No. 33 & 33A, Jalan Dedap 19, Taman Johor Jaya, 81100 Johor Bahru, Johor Darul Takzim. Telephone: +607-357 9879
Our objective is to provide more to clients. We clearly want our clients to feel comfortable and we accept and consider their problems as our very own problems requiring our undivided personal attention and early solutions. In the future, both 2016 and beyond, we are aiming to eventually become one of the top legal firms in Malaysia with a distinguishable services and an original concept. In order to achieve this we intend to provide intensive training for our lawyers and staffs so that all of them can able to deal with and provide legal solution to suit our clients’ needs. Ultimately we are looking to achieve a year of scaling new heights in legal field.
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APAC Insider 2015 Legal Awards
Overall Law Firm - Malaysia
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Enolil Loo is a small, but dynamic, boutique partnership providing personalised, prompt, “out-ofthe-box� solutions-based legal advisory services. Founding Partner, Selma Enolil Mustapha spared the time to speak with us, giving some insights into their legal practice and what it means to them to be recognised for their efforts both in and out of the corporate board room.
The practice provides a comprehensive and integrated service covering a wide range of areas in which corporate and other clients look for advice in order to implement their business decisions. At the heart of the practice and everything we do, the lawyers in the firm engage in corporate finance, mergers and acquisition, capital markets, corporate & commercial, infrastructure, energy, privatization, structured finance, banking, corporate and debt restructuring and property law. Although we don’t like to focus too greatly on any one particular area, mergers and acquisitions and fund raising corporate exercises, coupled with legal matters involving legal due diligence and transactional structuring have been given particular emphasis as they have given us some of our greatest challenges of late. It is due to this fact that we continuously apply our analytical and research skills, coupled with sound legal knowledge and experience garnered over the long lifetime of the firm, to overcome legal challenges in order to ensure that our clients receive practical and workable solutions in the most efficient way on a regular basis.
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Selma Enolil Mustapha, Founding Partner Email: selma@enolil-loo.com Website: www.enolil-loo.com M-2-9 Plaza Damas, No. 60 Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Telephone: +603-6203 2381
Enolil Loo prides itself in our ability to provide innovative and practical solutions. This is the most vital area we focus on when providing our legal services. As such we are constantly developing our range of services to meet the new demands of business and finance. Established as a broad- based corporate and commercial legal advisory service provider, Enolil Loo emphasises a culture of results-oriented excellence, efficiency and communication as we provide professional services of the highest quality, aimed at achieving long-term trust and satisfaction among our clients, both current and prospective. We are dedicated to providing legal advice and service of the highest quality in an environment which encourages a flexible approach and a responsive attitude towards client relationships. Enolil Loo combines technical excellence in the law, a capacity for innovative thought and a positive approach. Our lawyers at Enolil Loo handle a wide range of work so that they offer, not only a depth of legal expertise, but also a breadth of experience and sound commercial judgment. This is at the heart of our firm’s culture and how we ensure that we remain a prevalent legal firm of choice. Despite being a boutique firm, we offer high quality and effective advice which are on par with top tier big firms but at a highly competitive fee, and more result-oriented solutions. We believe this helps to distinguish ourselves from other firms in the area and continues to be our main advantage in the legal arena. We pride ourselves in providing our clients with effective solutions to the legal problems they encounter, and it is most rewarding when clients commend us for our legal services which seek to minimise their transaction risks and to maximise their business position from legal perspectives within the confines of applicable laws. Our client base has been expanding since our inception in 2003. We thank our clients for always having the confidence in us and we will strive to maintain such trust with our clients. We intend to maintain a small pool but high quality of senior and talented legal mind in order to maintain the high standard of service that our clients would always expect from us. 2015 has seen a significant slowdown in the economy of Malaysia, due to both internal and external factors which, when coupled with a severe depreciation in the Ringgit, has led to a tremendous slowdown in equity markets, mergers and acquisitions and other commercial activities. As a result, the number of deals has reduced. However, and fortunately, thanks to our supportive clients, we are still able to keep our team relatively busy. This is in no doubt down to our proven track record and credibility in providing a timely service and innovative solutions delivery. We are overjoyed with the recognition received and we feel that we owe this success to our team of highly qualified, experienced, dedicated, innovative and problem-solving lawyers who continuously and consistently work to the best of their abilities to provide prompt, effective and cost-efficient legal solutions to meet the needs, demands and expectations of our growing client base.
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Name: Darren Loo, Founding Partner Email: darren@enolil-loo.com Website: www.enolil-loo.com M-2-9 Plaza Damas, No. 60 Jalan Sri Hartamas 1, Sri Hartamas, 50480 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Telephone: +603-6203 2381
APAC Insider 2015 Legal Awards
Best Intellectual Property Valuation Firm - Australia & IP Debt Funding Specialist of the Year - Australia
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Griffith Hack’s IP valuation team is delighted to receive the IPAC Insider’s awards as Best IP Valuation Firm – Australia and IP Debt Funding Specialist of the Year - Australia. We regard the awards as an endorsement of our firm’s integrated approach to helping clients maximise competitive advantage through intellectual property. Founded as a patent attorney firm over a century ago, our services now support clients in creating, protecting, valuing and monetising their IP.
Intangible assets contribute the bulk of global corporate value, and IP is pivotal to the value of all organisations. Yet in many instances the value of technology, brands and artistic content is poorly understood. The growth of Griffith Hack’s valuation practice illustrates increasing awareness of the importance of IP economics. Growth in IP valuations is driven by: • Greater use of IP valuation in corporate due diligence as dealmakers realise the impact of IP on earnings potential and risk. • The growing appreciation of the benefits of value-based management of technology, brands and innovation. • An increased focus by tax authorities on capital gains tax and transfer pricing issues concerning IP. • Valuations being required to support litigation and financial reporting requirements. • Within Asia there are several government initiatives to develop IP backed debt financing, and this is reliant on robust valuations. Griffith Hack’s comprehensive understanding of the IP landscape results in robust valuations and insightful recommendations to create and maximise value through IP. In all instances, our valuations integrate an understanding of the technical, legal and economic characteristics of the subject asset. In addition to core corporate finance skills, our valuation and analytics team is reliant on the firm’s technical expertise in the fields of life sciences and biotech, ICT and engineering. Although based in Australia, Griffith Hack’s supports a growing Asian client base for IP valuation and IP analytics services. Our Director of IP Valuation is Tim Heberden.
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Company: Griffith Hack Name: Tim Heberden Email: tim.heberden@griffithhack.com Web Address: www.griffithhack.com Address: Level 29, 100 Miller Street, North Sydney, Australia Telephone: +61 29925 5919
APAC Insider 2015 Legal Awards
Recognised Leader in Corporate Law - Malaysia
J.LEE & ASSOCIATES
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J. Lee & Associate are a young legal firm providing a wide range of legal services, with a specialist focus on Islamic financing services.
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J. Lee & Associate are young yet dynamic firm partnered by a team of enthusiastic professional lawyers who inspire to provide full commitment and efficiency in all assignments entrusted by clients. The firm provide a wide range of services including regulatory advice, compliance and listing advice, civil litigation, alternative dispute resolution; arbitration, mediation, corporate debt recovery, professional negligence matters, consultancy in Islamic financing services, documentation on Islamic banking matters, corporate secretarial and conveyancing matters, patent and trade mark registration, due diligence exercise, intellectual property and Islamic laws related matters. Despite this wide ranging portfolio of work, the firm is dedicated to quality and ensuring that every client receives the best possible service. Speed and accuracy in handling the assignments given by the clients are the keys to success for the firm. The firm strongly believes in upholding these high standards and are guided by the principles of commitment and personal service. In order to achieve this the firm engages in their client’s business, getting to know their market and works alongside the client to ensure they receive a service which is tailored to their personal needs. In addition, the firm works on the basis that by taking an assignment they have earned the trust of their client, and as the holder of the trust they endeavour serve the client with a high level of commitment in order to retain this trust. This approach has served the firm well as they have a high rate of client satisfaction.
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Company: J.LEE & ASSOCIATES Email: jlee-kl@jlee-associates.com Web Address: www.jlee-associates.com Address:A-16-13, Tower A, Menara UOA Bangsar, No.5 Jalan Bangsar Utama 1,59000 Kuala Lumpur Telephone:+60322881699
Like many other businesses, the firm is exposed to the effect of economic issues, but J. Lee & Associate have prospered regardless because of their commitment to their clients and the values that they possess which sets them apart from their competitors. This is evidenced by the fact that many of the firm’s clients are repeat customers, or have been referred to the business by other satisfied clients. Moving forward, the firm is keen to retain this client focused approach which has served them well so far, whilst at the same time expanding their firm’s reach to offer international services.
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APAC Insider 2015 Legal Awards
Best Commercial Law Firm - Malaysia
Khalid Iqbal & Associates
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Khalid Iqbal & Associates is an established law firm in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. It has a very strong clientele base of various Banks, Corporate bodies, Government Agencies, Small Medium Enterprises as well as long solid relationships with individual clients. The firm’s core focus is real estate transactions specialising in preparing sale and purchase agreements, preparing loan documentations (both conventional and Islamic banking), as well as tenancy agreements. The firm is also engaged by several business entities especially Small Medium Enterprises in managing and taking care of their company secretarial matters. The firm also provides corporate services in preparing various commercial agreements, MOU, due diligence, take-over and mergers, and corporate restructuring and has been seek for its legal opinion on various issues. Khalid Iqbal & Associates is also one of an established and well-known agent for trademarks registration. The firm has clienteles of both within the country as well as international clients. The firm had on numerous cases successfully defended its clients in trademarks registration disputes. Although the firm’s focus is on conveyancing, it has in recent years developed its litigation team. The firm, with its dedicated litigation team has handled various cases both in civil and criminal litigation. The firm, with its litigation team of Civil and Islamic background has handled cases such as matrimonial cases, succession, land disputes, building and construction disputes, winding-up, Bankruptcy and Discharge, and many more. The firm has also successfully handled several high profile cases for corporations as well as for individual clients. The firm is supported by a dedicated team of well trained staff. Although it is rather a small firm, it has achieved a milestone in having successfully obtained and maintains Quality Management System ISO 9001 : 2008 and upgraded to ISO 9001 : 2015. The firm is also proactive in investing software that enables it to manage the firm’s day to day operations especially in its handling of clients matters to easily records, retrieves, updates and tracks their status. In
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Company: Khalid Iqbal & Associates Address: M3-C-13A, Jalan Pandan Indah 4/1A, Pandan Indah, 55100, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: 603-4280 6202 / 603-4280 8220 Fax: 603-4280 6259 Email: kiq@khalidiqbal.com.my Website: www.khalidiqbal.com.my
maintaining its accountability to clients’ accounts, the firm has also invested in accounting software system. These sophiscated software enables the firm and its entire team from to manage time efficiently and cost saving. Ultimately, the firm aspires to be the preferred choice of firm for its efficiency and affordability.
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APAC Insider 2015 Legal Awards
Best Chief Legal Officer - Hong Kong
Melco Crown Entertainment
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Melco Crown Entertainment is a developer, owner and operator of casino gaming and entertainment resort facilities in Asia. Their key to success is through the delivery of high quality products and services. We spoke to Stephanie Cheung, Executive Vice President and Chief Legal Officer at Melco Crown Entertainment, to find out more.
We are a company that has continually grown and expanded over the past decade. Back in 2006, our company became listed on NASDAQ under “MPEL” in 2006, raising more than US$1.14 billion in the fourth largest IPO in the US that year. Between 2007 and 2015, our company opened a luxury contemporary hotel casino, Altira Macau, and three world class integrated urban entertainment resorts across Asia. Our flagship resort is City of Dreams, a premium integrated resort opened in 2009 providing electrifying entertainment, stylish nightclubs, top-notch dining, designer brand shopping and a contemporary casino. It is also home to the world’s largest water-based extravaganza, The House of Dancing Water. We are also building a new hotel designed by the award winning and internationally renowned architect, Dame Zaha Hadid. City of Dreams’ leisure activities and entertainment also include TABOO, the first cabaret experience in Asia, and ‘Splash’, a pool party series with live music. Another truly exciting resort of ours is Studio City, which just recently opened on October 27 after a star-studded grand opening attended by Hollywood megastars Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio and Martin Scorsese. It is a Hollywood-inspired and cinematically-themed integrated resort. Its stunning Art-Deco facade features an iconic figure-8 Ferris wheel gondola ride straddling the resort’s two-tower hotel at a height of some 130 meters. Other innovative entertainment offerings include a “Batman Dark Flight” digital ride, “The House of Magic” show, a family entertainment center for kids, and many, many more.
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Company: Melco Crown Entertainment Limited Name: Stephanie Cheung, Executive Vice President, Chief Legal Officer Web Address: http://www.melco-crown.com/
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Fund Management Experts in Asia and Africa WINNER Asian Fund of Hedge Funds 2014
21/F Chuang’s Tower, 30-32 Connaught Road Central, Hong Kong Tel: +852 2253 6296 www.skyboundcapital.com
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City of Dreams Manila is the company’s first resort outside of Macau. It has six hotel towers including Crown Towers, Asia’s first Nobu Hotel and Hyatt City of Dreams Manila. It features three distinctive entertainment venues, including the world’s first DreamPlay, a DreamWorks-themed play and creativity center, CenterPlay, a live performance central lounge inside the casino, and world-renowned night club brands Pangaea and Chaos situated at the Fortune Egg, an architecturally-unique dome-like structure that has become an iconic landmark of the Manila Bay area. In achieving our success, we act by our guiding principles: be innovative, courageous, and inclusive. Across the board, we highly value our colleagues, customers and community, and our aspiration is to be the leader of Asia’s gaming industry. Looking after our people involves taking on a great responsibility, and our vision of achieving ‘best in class’ service has engendered some truly innovative thinking. As a support function, our legal team focuses on problem solving and finding solutions. To be an effective organization in a highly regulated industry means that we need to steer a fine balance between risk appetite and robust governance. As a result, we subject issues to vigorous risk assessment and scenario analysis. Our end products usually include the generation of a list of options with pros and cons, which helps us make our business decisions. Our goal is to help chart a course for our business people with clear parameters, so the legal and business teams together will steer the company to maintain the fine balance of achieving business objectives and safeguarding our high standard of governance. This culture allows us to examine issues from different angles. We are constantly asking ourselves: “is there a simpler way to do this?” Having the motivation to breakdown complexity to its simpler components serves to unleash efficiency and effectiveness. All successful leaders are effective delegators. But in addition to empowering our people, we have to remain a mindful presence in day-to-day matters. We are a forward thinking company. The leaders of our organization have a habit of breaking any perceived limitations and adopt a long term view of business commitments. This confidence in the long term means that we are courageous in the investments we make, in the buildings we construct, in the products we create and in the people we trust. We are not complacent with our success, but continue to learn from past challenges to ensure our future success. We believe this success is a team effort, and as a leader of an in-house legal team, I get the very unique opportunity to be part of a group whose hard work takes tangible shape. Our work materialises into iconic buildings and beautiful resorts teeming with bustling activities, and this is very rewarding and a great source of pride for both myself and the entire company. Although we are immensely proud of our success so far, we are at the same time motivated to continue to expand and develop our services. To ensure that our future successes can be achieved, it is important to groom the next generation of talent and support their growth and development. In turn, these future leaders will bring with them new ideas and a new energy that ensure our organization will continue to thrive and evolve with our changing times.
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APAC Insider 2015 Legal Awards
Client Focused Law Firm of the Year-Malaysia
Ram Reza & Muhammad
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Ram Reza & Muhammad is dedicated to providing their clients with the highest quality service to their clients. We speak to Nor Hisham Bin Haji Muhammad about the firm’s approach to their clients and how this has led to their success.
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Founded in 1998 Ram Reza & Muhammad, (RRM) has four departments covering litigation; corporate and commercial law; conveyancing and banking and Syariah Islamic law. Additionally, the firm has expanded its practice extensively to include international and cross-border matters especially in corporate advisory, investment and company secretarial field. RRM has a number of branches all over the region including major cities such as Jakarta, Indonesia, Kuala Terengganu, Ipoh, Penang, also in Johor Bharu, Malaysia. The firm has been responsible for the incorporation/setting-up of companies in international jurisdiction. This includes the foreign investment application to host countries and immigration issues. To facilitate their work the firm has a network of professional affiliates, both throughout the region and internationally. The vast experience they have acquired in dealing with cross borders transactions is evident in the high quality service which the firm provides to their clients. Nor explains the firm’s approach to client service which has led them to win this prestigious accolade. “We believe the key to good client service is by providing customised or personalised solutions tailored to suit the client’s best interest. We always remind ourselves that we exist to resolve client’s issues to enable them to achieve their objectives and to always promote positive environment for our clients. “In order to ensure that we learn from each experience we always ask our
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Company: Ram Reza & Muhammad Name: Nor Hisham Bin Haji Muhammad Email: rrm@rrmlawyers.com.my Web Addess: www.rrmlawyers.com.my Address: F-3A-10, Starparc Point Commercial Centre, Jalan Ibukota, 53300 Kuala Lumpur Telephone: +603 4144 3077 / 4144 3277
clients for their feedback and what are their dissatisfactions on the service we provided. We will also follow up on both positive and negative feedback that we received. Additionally, we always and continuously challenge our ways to improve delivery of our solutions.” Looking to the future, Nor made it clear that despite their success in winning this accolade with their client focused approach, the firm was eager to continue striving for excellence. “Our vision, mission and value revolve around our commitment to deliver excellence to our clients and the community. To ensure that this is achieved, we strive to provide the highest quality of professional service that addresses our clients’ issues from all walks of life and backgrounds. “For the year of 2016 and beyond, specifically we are planning to strengthen negotiable papers or financial instruments based on Islamic and Sharia law, fortify international affiliation or networks, and strengthen our delivery methodology.”
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APAC Insider 2015 Legal Awards
Full Service Law Firm of the Year - Pakistan
Remfry & Son is full service law firm which specialises in IP litigation. We speak to Riffat Chughtai about the firm’s work and how they have come to win this coveted award.
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Remfry & Son was established in 1827 by Henry Oliver Remfry, a UK lawyer. The practice has now been passed on to Mr. Chughtai Mirza Jamiluddin, Advocate. Our professional practice is being carried on with a panel of lawyers, librarian, record keeper and other para legal staff. Throughout our years working in the industry we have earned rich experience and that is why we are now an illustrious law-firm providing legal services for a range of clients requiring legal assistance in IP areas with related litigations. Our aim is always to provide legal assistance to our clients and determined to safeguard IP issues. Delivering the best possible service depends on codified law, which needs to keep up with the requirements of modern society. The company’s culture is firmly based around structure and discipline, as we believe that this is what is needed to be successful. A combination of experience, intuition and constant research and education is what is required to ensure that our lawyers and other staff remain at the forefront of the industry and we encourage them to work as hard as they can to ensure that they are the best in the business. Looking to the future, we will continue to learn from the mistakes of the past in order to improve our performance, both in 2016 and beyond. We will continue to work towards ensuring that we remain at the top of the industry and are constantly improving our performance.
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Company: Remfry & Son Patent & Trademark Attorneys Name: Miss Riffat Chughtai Email: remfry@ptcl.net Web Address: www.remfrypakistan.com Address: CMJ House, 8-C, 21st Commercial Street, Phase II Extension, DHA, Karachi-75500, Pakistan Telephone: +92 21 35388325 & 26
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