Adam is a Partner in CLO’s Dispute Resolution & Litigation Practice Group with a career spanning 10 years in construction and commercial disputes.
He has been involved in numerous arbitrations involving the KLRCA Arbitration Rules, AIAC Arbitration Rules, UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, ICC Arbitration Rules, PAM Arbitration Rules and IEM Arbitration Rules.
Adam had been involved in wide-ranging arbitration matters involving construction disputes relating to delay, performance bond, back charges, loss and expense, loss of profit, and claims for interest.
Adam’s arbitration experience includes technical issues in relation to soil conditions, strength and integrity of bore piles, integrity of slopes, integrity of retention walls, usage of bentonite, strength and integrity of glass panels for high rise buildings, water proofing issues, pesticides issues, sewage treatment plants, net heat rate output of power plants, power plant mechanical and electrical systems, and local authorities’ approvals.
Adam further deals with arbitration in relation to shareholder disputes and breach of contracts.
Since the introduction of the Construction Industry and Payment Adjudication Act 2012 (“CIPAA 2012”) he has been involved in more than 50 adjudications and was further involved in the Federal Court’s decision in Jack in Pile v Bauer (M) Sdn Bhd which confirmed the prospective application of CIPAA 2012.
He has successfully represented clients on both sides of the divide as claimants and respondents. Adam’s adjudication practice comprises of disputes which were referred to the Dispute Adjudication Board pursuant to contract and Statutory Adjudication pursuant to CIPAA 2012.
Adam also appears regularly in the Sessions Court, High Court and Appellate Courts in Malaysia in complicated disputes pertaining to breach of contracts, defamation, negligence, trespass to land, wills, insurance claims, shareholder disputes, and general commercial disputes.
EXPERIENCE
- Acted for a pioneering property development-led conglomerate in Malaysia at the Court of Appeal in a matter concerning the jurisdiction of the High Court of Malaya over disputes arising in Kuching, Sarawak. It was argued that the High Court had jurisdiction on the basis that the company’s registered address was in Selangor, despite the business being conducted in Kuching, and the Court of Appeal upheld this position.
- Acted for a construction company in the Federal Court case of Jack-In Pile (M) Sdn Bhd v Bauer (M) Sdn Bhd and another appeal [2020] 1 MLJ 174, concerning the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012 (CIPAA), successfully arguing that earlier judicial decisions holding that CIPAA had retrospective application were incorrect. It was contended that CIPAA applied only prospectively, and the court agreed, affirming that the legislation did not govern disputes arising from contracts executed before it came into operation.
- Acted for an engineering and construction company in resisting an application to set aside an arbitration award, successfully maintaining the validity of the award before the High Court. The matter addressed the applicable test for pursuing an appeal pursuant to Section 42 of the Arbitration Act 2005, with the court affirming the threshold and scope of intervention permitted under the provision.
- Acted as part of the team that introduced the concept of unconscionable conduct as a basis for obtaining an injunction to restrain the payment of monies guaranteed under a performance bond. In Kejuruteraan Bintai Kindenko Sdn Bhd v Nam Fatt Construction Sdn Bhd [2011] 7 CLJ 442, the Court of Appeal accepted unconscionable conduct as a valid ground for the granting of an injunction in relation to a demand on a performance bond.
- Acted for a construction company in a matter which addressed the refusal of an insurance company to make payment to a construction company for damages arising from a Construction All Risk Insurance Policy and fraud by the insurance company’s agent.
