Our People Archive - Page 12 of 14

Mahadi Abdullah

Mahadi grew up in Penang, Malaysia, attended the Hutchings Primary School and the Methodist Boys’ Secondary School and then had his tertiary education in the United States of America, graduating from Brandeis University, Massachusetts with a Bachelor of Arts (Economics) degree in 1976 under the Wien International Scholarship Program. After graduation, he worked for a commercial bank and a Nomura-affiliated investment bank and completed his Diploma in Banking from the Institute of Bankers, London. He graduated from the University of London with a LL.B. (Hons), completed his Certificate in Legal Practice, Malaysia and has been admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya.

He was in the service of PETRONAS, the national petroleum company of Malaysia for 33 years and held positions in the international marketing, corporate planning, finance, oil downstream planning and legal services divisions of PETRONAS. Mahadi was the Company Secretary/Legal Advisor of PETRONAS Gas Berhad, a Malaysian public-listed company. For the Dragon LNG Regasification Joint Venture Project in Milford Haven, Wales, UK he was the PETRONAS Legal Advisor and concurrently the PETRONAS nominee Director of Dragon LNG Ltd. He has also experience in international energy, oil, gas and petrochemical projects in Canada, Australia, Uzbekistan, Sudan, India, China, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and other South-East Asian countries and advised on upstream oil and gas production sharing contracts and M&As, JOAs, drilling contracts, FPSO/FSO agreements, FLNG projects and abandonment & decommissioning in Malaysia and South-east Asia.

Recognising that the energy supply and demand system is transforming very rapidly in the context of climate change and the transition to new energy, he has a keen personal interest in energy management and transformation in Malaysia and has acquired knowledge and expertise in the new energy sectors – regulatory framework, carbon credit, waste-to-energy, solar power, hydrogen and river hydropower, including the related power purchase agreements.

Membership:
• Association of International Energy Negotiators [AIEN] (previously known as AIPN)
• Society of Construction Lawyers, Malaysia
• Malaysian Petroleum Club, Kuala Lumpur
• Alliance Francaise, Kuala Lumpur
• Putrajaya Lake Club

Interests: Reading, flora and gardening.

Details

Mahadi Abdullah

Senior Associate 1

Direct Line:
+603 2118 5137

E-mail:
mahadi@azmilaw.com

Practice Areas

Zhilal Adnan

Zhilal Adnan graduated from the International Islamic University Malaysia, with a First Class in a Bachelor of Law, LL.B (Hons) which he received in 2020. He also has a First Class in a Bachelor of Law (Shariah) LL.B(S) (Hons) which he received in 2021.

He was later called to the Malaysian Bar and admitted to the roll of Advocates and Solicitors of the High Court of Malaya in 2022.

Throughout his years of study, he gradually developed his interest and passion in banking and finance practices apart from corporate areas.

Some of Zhilal’s most notable matters include:

• Assisting in several mandatory licenses application and other related manufacturing applications for foreign company in Malaysia including business premise license, income tax registration, and Employee Provident Fund’s registration.

• Assisting in a sale and purchase of property involving a foreign-controlled company in Malaysia and related taxation issues in relation to the purchase of the property.

• Assisting in the preparation of a strategy paper in advising several foreign companies on the issue of default of contractual duty involving a big-scale glove company.

• Assisting in benchmarking reviews on remuneration policy of directors between several remarkable multinational companies in Malaysia.

• Assisting in the preparation of legal advisories in relation to cyber-attacks and ransomware issues involving one of the prominent companies in Malaysia.

He is currently part of Private Equity & Venture Capital Practice Group, under the supervision of our Partner, M Inamul Hassan Shah.

Details

Zhilal Adnan

Senior Associate 2

Direct Line:
+603 2118 5078

E-mail:
zhilal@azmilaw.com

Practice Areas

Farah Adibah Suhaime

Farah Adibah Suhaime graduated from International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) with a first class degree in LL.B (Hons) in 2020.

Upon completing degree, she joined Azmi & Associates in November 2021 as a pupil, and was later admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in October 2021.

Among her key assignments are as follows:

• Conducted a due diligence exercise for the proposed investment pursuant to a management buyout of a public company.

• Advised a foreign client in relation to its proposed subscription of shares in an international courier service company.

• Advised Russian party on the transfer of its property in Malaysia.

• Advised on investment of a government fund into a company for small and medium enterprises purposes.

• Assisted in reviewing employment contracts.

• Assisted in drafting a sale and purchase agreement.

She currently advises on mergers & acquisitions, corporate commercial, conveyancing and corporate finance and she is part of the Mergers & Acquisitions/ Corporate Practice Group under the supervision of our Partner, Suhara Mohammad Sidik.

Details

Farah Adibah Suhaime

Managing Associate

Direct Line:
+603 2118 5092

E-mail:
farahadibah@azmilaw.com

Practice Areas

Natalia Izra Dato’ Nasaruddin

Natalia Izra received her American High School Diploma from Brussels American High School, Brussels, Belgium and obtained her LL.B Hons in Second Class (Upper) from Staffordshire University, United Kingdom in 1999. She then subsequently obtained the Certificate of Legal Practice in 2002.

Her pupillage was carried out in Shearn Delamore in 2002 and she was then called to the Malaysian Bar and admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor in 2003.

Prior to joining Azmi & Associates, Natalia was a Partner in the Dispute & Resolution Practice Group at Zul Rafique & Partners. She has also served as an associate in Raja, Darryl & Loh as well Zaid Ibrahim & Co, amongst others. She joined Zul Rafique & Partners in 2008 and became a partner in the said firm in 2013. Natalia was nominated as the Woman Lawyer of The Year at the 6th Annual ALB Malaysia Law Awards 2019.

Natalia’s area of specialisation is in general civil litigation. Throughout her practice she has handled disputes relating to amongst others the following matters: banking, probate, land, tenancy as well as tortious claims in respect of personal injury and defamation.

She has acted as both lead and co-counsel in respect of a variety of different types of disputes in the civil courts (at the subordinate, High Court and the appellate levels) in Malaysia.

During the tenure of her career, Natalia has acted as counsel or co-counsel in amongst others, the following cases: –

• Advised and acted as counsel for a number of financial institutions in respect of both conventional and Islamic banking claims;

• Advised and acted as lead counsel for a local university in a substantial number of cases involving breach of scholarship agreements;

• Advised and acted as co-counsel for a well-known bus operator in a suit it lodged against its’ counter-party in a joint venture agreement. Prior to the trial, an injunction was successfully obtained to prevent the counter-party from disrupting service to hundreds of passengers at a low-cost flight terminal;

• Advised and acted as lead counsel for a local airlines company in a trial revolving a claim lodged against it by a former service provider;

• Advised and acted as co-counsel / counsel for a petrol station operator in respect of a nuisance claim lodged against it by neighboring individuals;

• Advised and acted for an entity in a matter which involved acts of fraud committed against it that in turn led to lands being unlawfully transferred to third parties;

• Advised and acted as counsel for a dredging company in a matter involving a ship collision resulting in damage to the claimant’s property;

• Advised and acted as counsel for an individual sued by a corporate entity on the basis of amongst others, breach of fiduciary and/or directors’ duties. The claim against the said individual was dismissed at the conclusion of trial;

• Advised and acted as counsel for a communications service provider in a claim lodged against it by an individual for mental distress;

• Advised and acted as co-counsel for a multinational company in a claim lodged against it by another entity to lift the veil of incorporation vis-a-vis the said multinational;

• Advised and acted as counsel for a multinational company in a land valuation suit against a local government authority; and

• Advised and acted as counsel for a trading conglomerate in a suit against its former solicitor for the latter’s acts of fraud and financial misappropriation.

She has conducted various talks for clients and external organisations regarding issues surrounding contractual and/or tortious disputes. In addition, she also assisted in the drafting of the Rules of Court 2012.

Details

Natalia Izra Dato’ Nasaruddin
Partner

Direct Line:
+603 2118 5024

Mobile Phone:
+ 6012 603 8000

E-mail:
natalia.izra@azmilaw.com

Practice Areas

Litigation, Arbitration & Dispute Resolution

Serina Abdul Samad

Serina graduated in 1992 with an LL. B Business Law (Hons) from Coventry University, England. She became a member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln’s Inn in 1992 and was admitted to the English Bar in 1993. She read in the chambers of Philip Nainan in Johor Bahru and was admitted to the Malaysian Bar on 27 August 1994.

Early in her career she joined Messrs KM Chye & Partners in January 1995 and underwent training in Singapore with Messrs Khattar Wong & Partners, in the field of conveyancing and banking and later in 1996 in the field of shipping. She joined Messrs Hisham, Sobri & Kadir in 1999. Serina was involved in various corporate and commercial matters, in particular, due diligence work on companies applying for listing on the Main and Second Boards of the then Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange.

Serina then became one of the founding partners of Azmi & Associates in 2000, and is responsible for the development of the Capital & Debt Markets Practice Group and Mergers & Acquisitions Practice Group. Some of her most notable assignments include:

• Advised Pengurusan Aset Air Berhad on the restructuring of the water supply industry in Selangor Darul Ehsan, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.

• Advising a Malaysian fund management company on the establishment of a Shariah-compliant wholesale fund under the Lodge and Launch Framework.

• Advised and provided legal services to Naza Group in relation to the share sale transaction with France’s Groupe PSA in relation to car assembly plant in Gurun.

• Advising Larkin Sentral Property Berhad in relation to the waqf shares offering of up to 850 million new ordinary shares in Larkin Sentral Property Berhad to institutions and individuals at a subscription price of RM0.10 per issue share to be subsequently endowed (via waqf) to Waqaf An-Nur Corporation Berhad.

• Acted for Social Security Organisation (Socso) on matters relating to the purchase of a commercial building in Precinct 2, Putrajaya.

Details

Serina Abdul Samad
Partner

Direct Line:
+603 2118 5003

Mobile Phone:
+6019-270 6196

E-mail:
serina@azmilaw.com

Practice Areas

Dato’ Azmi Mohd Ali

Dato’ Azmi Mohd Ali (DJMK) is the Senior Partner of the Firm. The firm, Azmi & Associates under his leadership is recognized as one of the largest law firms (by size) in Malaysia.

He holds LL.B (Hons.) from the University of Malaya (1984) and LLM in US & Global Business Law from the Suffolk University, Boston, U.S.A (2011). He has also attended a short program on Enterprise Innovation at Cambridge University Business School.

He is an experienced and is one of the leading corporate lawyers in Malaysia with expertise in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, cross-border transactions, project finance, privatisation, energy, oil and gas and foreign investments.

Prior to his venture in private practice, Dato’ Azmi spent 6 1⁄2 years as an in-house counsel of PETRONAS. He was involved in projects of national importance for Malaysia and negotiated and concluded the NGPSA, a major gas development project for Malaysia, in 1990.

His accomplishments as a corporate lawyer are well noted and have earned him numerous awards, and recognitions from reputed international legal publications. He won the prestigious Legal 500 Hall of Fame for M&A/corporate 2020, Distinguished M&A Practitioner for AsiaLaw 2020, International Law Office 2016 Clients Choice Award for Malaysia in Mergers & Acquisitions, and other international publications.

Currently, he is a Director of S P Setia Berhad, Maybank Islamic Berhad, Sapura Energy Berhad, Worldwide Holdings Berhad as well as Director of Institute of Corporate Directors Malaysia. He has previously served as a Director of Sime Darby Berhad, Chemical Company of Malaysia Berhad, CCM Biotech Duopharma Berhad, Perbadanan Nasional Berhad and Metacorp Berhad.

He was a Director of Financial Reporting Foundation, a Government-backed foundation to facilitate the advancement of Malaysian accounting standard, and was also the Chairman of Malaysia International Franchise Sdn Bhd (“MyFranchise”).

On the legal industry front, he is a Director of Terralex, a Florida-based world-wide network of 155 law firms with 19,000 lawyers within its member firms spanning across 100 jurisdictions world-wide.

On the academic front, he was a Director of a public university, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan and has also served as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the International Islamic University of Malaysia for more than 3 years and Adjunct Professor at the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Law Faculty. He is also a Director of Yayasan Putra Business School, a UPM-related private university.

He is also a member of ICC Malaysia (International Chamber of Commerce Malaysia) and member of the Panel of Conciliators and Panel of Arbitrators, International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

Details

Dato’ Azmi Mohd Ali
Senior Partner

Direct Line:
+603 2118 5001

Mobile Phone:
+ 6019 223 9977

E-mail:
azmi@azmilaw.com

Practice Areas

Farhah Hayati Mamat

Farhah Hayati graduated from International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) with Second Class Upper LL.B (Hons) in September 2002.

During her undergraduate studies, she also joined a programme in the Law Centre of Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws at IIUM and obtained a certificate in Company’s administration (“CICA”) in 2003.

After graduation, she was attached to Messrs. Azmi & Associates and was mainly exposed to corporate matters under the supervision of associates of the firm. She started her pupilage in October 2002 with Messrs. Hasnan Hamzah, whereby she was exposed to litigation matter under the supervision of En. Hasnan himself. Subsequently, in November 2002, she continued her term of pupilage with this Firm under the supervision of our Senior Partner, En. Azmi Mohd Ali, whereby she assisted in conducting corporate due diligence exercises for the purpose of submission to the Securities Commission and other various corporate works.

In addition, she also assisted in drafting and preparing the financing documents in Islamic Banking, registry works related to intellectual property protection specifically in trademarks registration, probate and administration in Islamic Law, drafting and preparing the agreements in relation to the acquisition of shares in public listed company, cross border transactions, opinions and also assisted in conducting researches for litigation matters, contracts, as well as corporate matters.

She completed her term of pupilage on 18 July 2003 and called to the Malaysian Bar on 4 September 2003. She is currently attached to Financial Services Practice Group.

Details

Farhah Hayati Mamat
Partner

Direct Line:
+603 2118 5004

Mobile Phone:
+6019-325 3358

E-mail:
farhah@azmilaw.com

Practice Areas

Dayang Roziekah Ussin

Dayang Roziekah graduated with a First Class Bachelor of Law LL.B (Hons) from the National University of Malaysia (UKM) in 2017.

She was the recipient of the prestigious Vice Chancellor Award of UKM 2017, Faculty of Law Alumni Award 2017, Anugerah Tokoh Siswa Sukarelawan UKM 2014 and a finalist of Anugerah Tokoh Siswa Kebangsaan 2014, in recognition of her consistent academic excellence and active student leadership.

Upon graduation, she joined the Firm as a pupil and was called to the Malaysian Bar and admitted to the roll of Advocates and Solicitors on 3 August 2018. Having progressed steadily through the associate ranks – as Senior Associate 2 on 1 April 2021 and Senior Associate 1 on 1 April 2023 – Dayang was admitted into the Firm’s partnership on 1 September 2024.

She has been heavily involved in a broad range of civil and general litigation and related advisory matters, including:

• Contractual disputes involving agreements of various nature, including issues of breach and termination, and shareholders’ and joint venture disputes;

• Tortious claims such as medical negligence, employer’s negligence at the workplace, defamation, and trespass to land;

• Tax matters covering income tax, stamp duty and real property gains tax assessments and exemptions, including appeals and judicial review;

• Corporate applications under the Companies Act such as capital reduction exercises and rectification of register of members and charges;

• Land disputes involving ownership, development, and land acquisition issues;

• Estate and administration matters, both direct applications and contested proceedings;

• Debt recovery across varying quantum;

• Execution and enforcement proceedings including winding-up, garnishee, and judgement debtor summons.

Her work spans the full spectrum of dispute resolution from advisory and pre-litigation strategy to contested proceedings across all levels of the Malaysian courts.

Some of Dayang’s notable assignments to date include:

• Secured a judgment of RM76 million and resisted a counterclaim of RM40 million at the High Court in favour of a statutory body in a claim for breach of contract against a developer.

• Obtained a summary judgment of USD200,000 for a Bruneian company in a claim against an oil and gas supplier for failure to deliver petroleum product.

• Represented a wholly-owned subsidiary of a statutory body in proceedings from the High Court to the Federal Court, successfully obtaining an order for the counterparty to deposit a sum of RM30 million into Court pending the final disposal of the suit.

• Set aside an additional assessment of income tax and penalty amounting to RM8 million for a subsidiary of a Malaysian business conglomerate in a three-level appeal process from the Special Commissioners of Income Tax up to the Court of Appeal.

• Successfully represented a company in an appeal before the Special Commissioner of Income Tax against an additional assessment of income tax in the sum of RM850,000.

• Successfully represented a group of companies in the oil and gas industry in obtaining leave from the High Court to commence judicial review proceedings concerning the imposition of ad valorem stamp duty totalling RM3.75 million.

• Secured a judgment of nearly RM1 million in a medical negligence suit at the Sessions Court involving unlicensed breast filler injections at an unlicensed beauty clinic operated by an unqualified aesthetic doctor.

• Successfully defended a state-linked company in a claim exceeding RM1 million for alleged trespass of underground water pipes, with the claim fully dismissed.

• Obtained various successful orders against trespassers, including recovery of lands unlawfully occupied by religious group, unlicensed individuals, and tenants holding over beyond the tenancy period.

• Successfully obtained High Court confirmation in various multi-million-ringgit special capital reduction exercises under Section 116 of the Companies Act 2016.

Dayang is part of our Litigation & Arbitration Practice Group (3) alongside the Co-Deputy Managing Partner, Abu Daud Abd Rahim and Partner, Muhamad Zuraidi Zulkifli.

Details

Dayang Roziekah Ussin

Partner

Direct Line:
+603 2118 5026

E-mail:
dayang.roziekah@azmilaw.com

Practice Areas

Khairunnajihah Aqila Mohd Sofian

Khairunnajihah Aqila graduated from International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) with a First Class LL.B (Hons) in 2017. In addition to her academic achievements, Najihah had the honor of serving as Malaysia’s lead counsel in the Louis M. Brown and Forest S. Mosten Client Consultation Competition for two consecutive years, competing first in Nebraska, USA, and then in Windsor, Canada.

Since joining Azmi & Associates in September 2017 as a trainee solicitor and subsequently being called to the Bar in 2018, Najihah has demonstrated exceptional growth, swiftly ascending the ranks to Senior Associate 2 in her third year of practice in 2021, and then to Senior Associate 1 in 2023.

Najihah is developing a practice covering various areas of the firm’s work, including industrial relations, general civil litigation and construction arbitration.

Some of Najihah’s notable assignments are as follows:-

• Successfully secured arbitration awards totaling over RM20 million for a subsidiary of a national housing company in arbitration proceedings against the Government of Malaysia involving the construction of several military camps around Klang Valley.
• Facilitated favorable outcomes through mediation, resulting in the withdrawal of a RM5 million lawsuit against a subsidiary of a leading global supplier of automotive seating and electrical systems.
• Successfully resisted a judicial review challenge exceeding RM3 million against an academic decision of one of the nation’s top-ranking public universities.
• Facilitated a strategic settlement negotiation on behalf of a property development company in a civil suit, resulting in the withdrawal of an RM80,000 unfair dismissal claim against the company.
• Represented both companies and employees in proceedings before the Industrial Court.
• Drafted template global employment contracts for international companies operating in Malaysia.
• Provided advisory services to the government’s land development agency in relation to the restructuring of its subsidiary.
• Provided advisory services to various companies in Malaysia on Members’ Voluntary Winding Up as well as Creditors’ Voluntary Winding Up, and handled winding up ordered by the Court.

Details

Khairunnajihah Aqila Mohd Sofian

Partner

Direct Line:
+603 2118 5030

E-mail:
najihah.aqila@azmilaw.com

Practice Areas

Nur Amalena Azan

Nur Amalena Binti Azan graduated from The University of Adelaide, South Australia with LL.B in 2014. She completed her Certificate in Legal Practice (“CLP”) in November 2016.

She has undergone an internship with PETRONAS Lubricants International Sdn. Bhd. (“PLISB”) (PLISB is the global lubricants manufacturing and marketing arm of PETRONAS, the national oil corporation of Malaysia) in June 2015 for 6 months. During the tenure of the internship, she has explored mainly in corporate work, where she was trained to write succinctly whilst carrying out research tasks and drafting letters. She was then retained as Legal Assistant in the same company where she got to draft agreements, routing contracts and minutes of meetings. She was an active student participating in few volunteer work such as being involved in an environmental program which was conducted by ‘The Australian Conservation Foundation’.

She has completed her pupilage with us and currently seconded with Prudenz CorporateHouse Sdn.Bhd.

Details

Nur Amalena Azan

Senior Associate 2

Direct Line:
+603 2110 5888

E-mail:
nuramalena@azmilaw.com

Practice Areas

Corporate & Commercial