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RWY Sports Law Conference 2014 | Interview of Chris Anderson by BFM

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RWY Sports Law Conference 2014 | FAQ & Relevant information

Some FAQ and relevant information about the RWY Sports Law Conference 2014:-

1. When is the Conference?
4th Dec 2014 (Thursday).

2. What time should I be there?
Registration starts at 830am. Opening Ceremony starts at 930am.

3. Where is the Conference?
Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre of Arbitration (KLRCA) at Bangunan Sulaiman Kuala Lumpur, opposite Majestic Hotel and beside the old KTM Station.

4. Dress Code?
Office Attire or Formal wear.

5. Parking available at KLRCA?
There is ample parking spaces at KLRCA. However, in the unlikely event that the car park is full; kindly park at Majestic Hotel, opposite KLRCA (subject to Hotel's charges).

6. Contact Person?
For any enquiry, do contact Lesley Lim at 012 6971147.

7. Wifi at KLRCA?
Yes, there is wifi. Password will be shared at the Conference.

RWY Sports Law Conference 2014 | Speaker's Profile | Chris Anderson

Chris Anderson
Everton Football Club

Chris Anderson
Everton Football Club

Chris joined Everton in March 2014 as Head of Legal Services having previously worked as a specialist sports lawyer and corporate lawyer at a Magic Circle firm. As Head of Legal Services, Chris is responsible for all legal matters at the Club.

Prior to joining Everton, Chris worked as an external legal advisor in football acting for many clubs in the Premier League and Scottish Premier League. He acted upon a wide variety of cases covering matters at the Court of Arbitration for Sport and a number of football transfers, including advising Tottenham Hotspur on the world-record sale of Gareth Bale to Real Madrid.

In addition to his full-time role at Everton, Chris is a Visiting Lecturer in Sports Law at Liverpool John Moores University and has published many articles on Sports Law.

RWY Sports Law Conference 2014 | Speaker's Profile | JCA Dato Mah Weng Kwai

JCA Dato Mah Weng Kwai

Hon. Justice Dato' Mah Weng Kwai 

Justice Mah Weng Kwai was called to the English Bar as a Barrister-at-Law in 1971 and to the Malaysian Bar as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in July 1972.

In 1973, Justice Mah joined the Judicial and Legal Services of Malaysia and held, inter alia, the posts of Magistrate, President of the Sessions Court and Senior Assistant Registrar of the High Court. He also served as a Deputy Public Prosecutor and Senior Federal Counsel in the Attorney General's Chambers. 

Justice Mah obtained his Masters of Law degree with Honors in 1985 from the University of Sydney, Australia. In 1999, Justice Mah was appointed a Fellow of the Senate of the University of Sydney.

He left the Judicial and Legal Services in 1985 and commenced private practice as an Advocate and Solicitor as the principal of Messrs Mah Weng Kwai & Associates.

Justice Mah is a past-President of the Malaysian Bar and of LAWASIA, the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific. He was also a member of the Legal Profession Qualifying Board and the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board both established under the Legal Profession Act 1976. 

On 4th January 2010, Justice Mah was appointed a Judicial Commissioner of the High Court of Malaya and on 10th August 2011 a Judge of the High Court of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. Justice Mah was elevated to the Court of Appeal, Malaysia on 21st September 2012.

RWY Sports Law Conference 2014 | Speaker's Profile | Paul Hayes

Paul Hayes

Paul Hayes is a Barrister & Arbitrator and holds the degree of Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Queensland University of Technology and Master of Studies (MSt) from the University of Cambridge, where he was also a Visiting Fellow in 2005 - 2006 (Faculty of Law, Lauterpacht Centre for International Law). He also holds a Diploma of International Commercial Arbitration (DiplCArb) from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in London and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb).

Paul was called to the Bar in Australia (New South Wales) in 1990 and in England (Lincoln's Inn) in 2005. He is a member of 39 Essex Street (London, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore) and also practices in Australia as a member of Dever's List (Melbourne). Prior to commencing practice at the Bar, Paul worked as a Lawyer in Sydney with Allens and Baker & McKenzie.

He practices predominantly in commercial & equity litigation/arbitration, sports law, defamation and international law (public and private) and has appeared in a wide variety of cases (ranging from large-scale complex commercial matters to defamation jury trials and sporting disputes) in multiple curial and arbitral jurisdictions.

Paul has published numerous journal articles and spoken at conferences throughout the world on a wide range of legal topics. He is also the Founding Editor of the Australian and New Zealand Sports Law Journal (CCH Australia), the Chair of the International Law Committee of Commbar (the commercial law association of the Victorian Bar), a Senior Fellow in the Faculty of Law at the University of Melbourne and contributes Op-Ed articles from time to time to The Australian and The TImes in London on issues concerning the law and politics.

RWY Sports Law Conference 2014 | Speaker's Profile | Foong Cheng Leong

Foong Cheng Leong

Foong Cheng Leong

Cheng Leong is a lawyer focusing in the areas of Intellectual Property, Information Technology, Franchise and Privacy laws.

 

He is an elected member of the Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee, the chairman of the Kuala Lumpur Bar Information Technology and Publication Committee and co-chairman of the Bar Council ah-hoc committee on the Personal Data Protection Act. 

He is also the author of the book Compendium of Malaysia Intellectual Property Cases. 

At the RWY Sports Law Conference 2014, Cheng Leong will offer views about Intellectual Property & Sports. Image Rights will be at the forefront on his talk. 

RWY Sports Law Conference 2014 | Speaker's Profile | Siti Shahrom

Siti Shahrom

Siti Fatimah Mohd Shahrom is a senior associate with Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill’s Taxation and Private Clients Practice Group. She is a graduate of the University of Nottingham and has been called to the English Bar and Malaysian Bar. Siti is part of the firm’s dynamic tax team, which is ranked as a Tier 1 practice by Asia Pacific’s Legal 500. 

As an up and coming tax lawyer, she has appeared before the Special Commissioners of Income Tax, High Court and Court of Appeal in various tax disputes in Malaysia. Her experience in tax practice has also seen her advising businesses on a variety of tax issues including indirect tax, stamp duty, tax planning, transfer pricing, double taxation issues in cross-border transactions and withholding tax. 

Recently, she has been advising businesses on various aspects of GST law including the review of contracts and the incorporation of GST clauses in light of the impending implementation of GST. Asialaw Leading Lawyers 2014 acknowledges Siti as a rising star in this field. Siti is also a co-author of the Malaysia and Singapore Tax Cases Digest and the CCH GST Case Summaries.

Siti will speak about the relation between Tax laws and Sports Law at the RWY Sports Law Conference 2014.

RWY Sports Law Conference 2014 | Speaker's Profile | Isa Aziz Ibrahim

Isa Aziz Ibrahim

Admitted to the Malaysian Bar in March 1995. From 1996 to 1999, a legal assistant in Messrs Cheang & Ariff before opening his own practice. Initial practice at Messrs Cheang & Ariff consisted of banking and recovery litigation, then entrusted with the construction and building contracts litigation portfolio. As an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya, his dispute resolution experience includes cases related to, amongst others:

•the construction of a major hospital involving one of the more prominent Islamic trust foundations in Malaysia (litigation);

•disputes in relation to consultant’s fees in respect of the construction of a major state mosque (arbitration);

•disputes in relation to consultant’s fees for the redevelopment of a government owned broadcasting complex (litigation);

• joint venture dispute in respect of a major project in a government initiated economic transformation programme in Northern Malaysia (arbitration);

•contractual dispute involving a state government sponsored mega aquaculture project in Northern Malaysia (arbitration);

•disputes in relation to intellectual property ownership of a nationwide education programme implemented by a government linked public listed corporation (litigation);

•disputes in relation a charter party dispute for a major supply services contractor in the oil and gas industry in Malaysia (arbitration);

•sports arbitration in respect of eligibility of participants at the Beijing Olympics 2008;

•sports arbitration in respect of disputes involving member countries in the world federation of a major Olympic sport;

As a senior member of the Sports Committee of the Malaysian Bar, Isa led the Malaysian Bar to the 13th Lawyer’s Football World Cup (Mundiavocat) in Turkey 2006 and the 1st Asian Lawyer’s Football Cup in Bangkok 2007. He also sits on the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board in Malaysia.

RWY Sports Law Conference 2014 | Speaker's Profile | Ben Ibrahim

Ben Ibrahim

Ben Ibrahim is a TV Anchor/Presenter, Master of Ceremonies, writer and corporate trainer.  Ben is currently working with Foxsports Asia as the weekly Premier League presenter.   He has been working in front of the camera for the last 9 years where he has also hosted business, entertainment and morning TV talk shows.

Prior to joining the television industry, Ben worked in the corporate sector in various roles – Business Development and Corporate Affairs. 

Ben is also a qualified Level 2 Rowing Australia Coach, a former Victorian Rugby Union Referee, a current basketball commentator with the Asean Basketball League (ABL), and also holds junior coaching certification in Football and Basketball.

Ben graduated from Monash University, Australia with a Masters degree in Management and Human Resources.   

RWY Sports Law Conference 2014 | Speaker's Profile | Lazarus Xavier

Lazarus Xavier
Assistant Secretary General of
the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM)

Lazarus Jansen Xavier is the Assistant Secretary General (International) with the Football Association of Malaysia. 

He read law at the University of Northumbria, England and later pursued his Masters in Criminal Justice at the University of Malaya, Malaysia. 

Prior to joining the football governing body of Malaysia, he was with the Asian Football Confederation serving in various capacities. These include as Legal Counsel for Disciplinary and Competitions related matters, Head of Legal Department, Head of Disciplinary, Appeals & Ethics (Judicial & Governance), Head of Task Force against Match Fixing and Secretary to both the Disciplinary and Appeal’s Committee.  

He also teaches law in a private law school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, teaching in the University of London Bachelor of Laws programme. 

RWY Sports Law Conference 2014 : Supporting Organisation & Sponsors

RWY is pleased to announce that IJM Berhad is a fellow sponsor of RWY Sports Law Conference; other than LexisNexis Malaysia.

Everton Football Club of UK has also endorsed the Conference and is a 'Supporting Organisation' of the Sports Law Conference.

Supporting Organisation

Sponsor

Sponsor 

Legal 500 Year 2015

RWY is pleased to announce that Legal 500 continue to acknowledge RWY as a "Recommended Law Firm" for Dispute Resolutions in Malaysia, in their 2015 edition. 

This is another great team effort by Team RWY to ensure the firm's position in Legal 500's ranking. 

RWY Sports Law Conference 2014

After the successful RWY Sports Law Conference of 2013; Richard Wee & Yip will again host the 2nd Instalment of the RWY Sports Law Conference. 

Location & Date :-

This year's Conference will be held on 4th December 2014, at the spanking new Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre of Arbitration's (KLRCA) Building at Bangunan Sulaiman at Kuala Lumpur. Slated to start at 9.30am, the 2014 chapter will be an all-day Conference, unlike the 2013 one which was only a half-day event. 

Speakers :-

The key-note speaker is Everton Football Club's Head of Legal Services, Chris Anderson. Issues related to financial fair play & transfer dealings would probably be discussed. Everton FC is a leading club in the English Premier League and their presence at RWY Sports Law Conference 2014 is hugely welcomed. 

Court of Appeal Judge, JCA Dato Mah Weng Kwai has also kindly agreed to speak in the session related to Dispute Resolution in Sports. His Lordship's outlook of this area of Law, from a Judicial point of view would be invaluable for the delegates the Conference.

From the Bar, a few Malaysian Lawyers will take the podium to present their thoughts. Isa Aziz Ibrahim, Foong Cheng Leong & Siti Sharom will be delivering their respective views on Dispute Resolution, Intellectual Property & Sports; and Tax Law & Sports. All 3 lawyers have experience in their respective areas and the delegates can expect to learn a thing or two from them. 

From Australia, Paul Hayes of 39 Essex has kindly agreed to fly over and join us at the Conference. He will join JCA Dato Mah and Isa Aziz Ibrahim as a panel speaker with regards to Dispute Resolution. Paul's Australian perspective of Sports Law will be interesting, especially since Australian Sports Law is very developed. 

Other than lawyers, the Conference also features Football Association of Malaysia's (FAM) Deputy Secretary General, Lazarus Xavier and TV Presenter (& current FOX Sports Anchorman) Ben Ibrahim. They will share their views about Sports Contract. Expect a debate on this topic as the discussion relates to finding the balance between the rights of Athletes and the commercial interests of Sports Associations and/or Sponsors.  

Sponsors :-

Lexis Nexis is the corporate sponsor, while Messrs Richard Wee & Yip remains the principle sponsor, organiser and host for this Conference.  

Contact Person:-

Do contact Lesley Lim at lesley@rwy.com.my for further information. 

My internship experience at RWY - Vynny Wong

Before I finished my year one, I successfully applied to RWY to work as an attachment student during my summer break. Despite the fact that some of my friends told me that an internship was a waste of time, as the firm would not appreciate your existence and, as a law student who has yet to graduate, you would not learn much throughout the internship period, I had my doubts and did not believe what was told to me. I preferred to experience it myself.

In the 3 months of my internship, I learnt to work with other senior lawyers and attachment students as a team. This ensured that everyone knew what was happening and we could easily come out with a solution through discussion. A task to do some research on the Federal Constitution was given to me and other attachment students to work on as a team. To be honest, as a Malaysian, I had never read or even wanted to know what the content of our Federal Constitution actually was. Ironically, there is a chapter known as “British Constitution” in my constitutional law year one textbook. This presented me with very good opportunity to know more about my own country which I took up wholeheartedly.

Besides that, I was also given a chance to draft a Letter of Demand and a Statement of Claim as well as to do some transcribing work and help out in conveyancing matters as well. I discovered that a letter can reflect the professionalism of an associate through the line of words found in the letter. Therefore, one needs to be very detail-oriented and ensure that there are no mistakes before issuing out any letters. In conveyancing, I learnt the important of being precise and particular, as a tiny little error would affect the whole procedure.

By doing some preparation work on a file, I had grasped some idea as to where one should start their research work. This is something I was not thought in law school. I was also trained on how to prioritize my work and how to complete the task given within the time frame given. I was also given an opportunity to attend in court and was able to observe how lawyers handle their cases and were able to speak confidently in front of the Judges. It was a fruitful experience. I was also lucky enough to join in several meetings with clients  which provided me with a good opportunity to witness how the a lawyer ought to deal with a client’s problem as well as how to approach a client and gain their trust.

I would extend my thanks to the all the guidance I had received from all the lawyers, in particular Ms. Lesley, Mr. Luey, Ms. Sarah, Mr. Lim and Ms. Jyh Ling as well as my two bosses, Mr. Richard and Mr. Yip during my three months with RWY. I apologize for any trouble I may have caused and appreciate the patience provided to me. Many thanks as well to Kak Sal, Ms. Penny and Auntie Wee for their guidance in clerical work. The experience I gained through this internship is something that I will treasure and always remember in the future. In addition, my weight had increased throughout my internship period showing that all the good food provided to me at RWY motivated me to work harder. I would like to end my passage with the quote from one of the bosses, Mr. Yip, who impressed upon me that “practice in law is not a sprint, by a marathon”. Thanks to my internship, I will definitely maintain a spirit to succeed in the legal profession and will move forward with to become a lawyer with a deeper passion of the law.

By Wong Poh Yee, Vynny

CIPAA 2012 - How does it work? - by Wong Jyh Ling

You may visit the link below for RWY's Powerpoint Slides on CIPAA 2012:-
http://www.slideshare.net/jyhling/rwy-cipaa-2012-scope-and-applicability

Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012 (“CIPAA”)

Part I. An Introduction

I.               Introduction – What is CIPAA?

One of the biggest issues faced by contractors in the construction industry is the delay, if not non-payment by their employers in the construction project. In order to remedy their position in such a predicament, contractors were forced to resort to either civil litigation or arbitration to recover their monies. Unfortunately, the litigation/arbitration processes are usually tedious, slow, and involves professional fees that would poise as an obstacle for contractors who lack the requisite monetary funds.

Hence, on 15th April 2014, the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012 (“CIPAA”), which was gazetted 22^nd June 2012, finally came into operation to address and hopefully alleviate this problem. 

CIPAA introduces an intervening provisional stage in the dispute resolution process vide the concept of “pay first, argue later”. In a nutshell, CIPAA aims to ensure that all employers of contractors in the construction industry (including the Government) pay their contractors promptly so that the contractors are not starved for cash.  

The application of CIPAA effectively removes conditional payment provisions of “pay when paid” or “pay if paid” which contributes to cash flow problems. However, it is to be noted that CIPAA is only applicable to construction disputes which arises on/after 15^th April 2014.

The governing rules and procedure of CIPAA include:-

a)   Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012;

b)   Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Regulations 2014;

c)   Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication (Exemption) Order 2014; and

d)   KLRCA Adjudication Rules and Procedure.

II.             Why CIPAA?

First of all, the adjudication proceedings under CIPAA are private in nature, which provides parties confidentiality in the contents of the dispute.

Secondly, many construction companies (the appointed contractors) are able to rely on this statutory solution to specifically deal with the following prevailing cash flow issues:-

a)   Defaults in payment;

b)   Conditional payments; and

c)   Non-payments.

III.           Comparison

No.		Litigation	Arbitration	Adjudication
1.	Venue	Court	Anywhere	Anywhere
2.	Parties	Plaintiff & Defendant	Applicant & Respondent	Claimant & Respondent
3.	Representation	Lawyers	Lawyers/ Self-Representation	Lawyers/ Self-Representation
4.	Decision-Maker	Judge	Arbitrator	Adjudicator
5.	Effect of Solutions	Binding (Judgment in Law)	Binding (Arbitral Decision)	Temporarily Binding (Pay first, argue later)
6.	Costs	High	Medium	Lower
7.	Time	Slower	Slower	Faster

IV.           Scope and Applicability

Under Section 2 of CIPAA, CIPAA is applicable to every construction contract made in writing relating to construction work which is carried out wholly or partly within the territory of Malaysia. It is worthy to note that the construction contracts also include contracts entered into by the Government of Malaysia. It is to be noted that CIPAA does not apply to construction contracts entered into by a natural person for any construction work in respect of any building which is less than four storeys high and which is wholly intended for his personal occupation.

V.             How Does It Work?

        TIMELINE OF ADJUDICATION PROCESS
     The timeline of the Adjudication Process is, briefly, as follows:-

1.    The Contractor/Unpaid Party will firstly serve a Payment Claim to the Employer/Non-Paying Party (Section 5 CIPAA).

2.    Thereafter, there are four possibilities:-

a)   If the Non-Paying Party fails to respond, the Payment Claim is deemed to be disputed wholly (Section 6(4) CIPAA);

b)   If the Non-Paying Party admits to the Payment Claim wholly, then both parties may proceed to arrange for settlement of claim;

c)   If the Non-Paying Party responds to the Payment Claim by disputing the claim wholly, then the Unpaid Party may initiate an Adjudication Proceeding (Section 7 CIPAA);

d)   If the Non-Paying Party admits to the Payment Claim in part, then the Unpaid Party may initiate an Adjudication Proceeding based on the disputed portion of the claim.

3.    The Unpaid Party/Claimant initiates the Adjudication Proceeding by serving a written notice of adjudication on the Non-Paying Party/Respondent (Section 8 CIPAA).

4.    An Adjudicator will then be appointed either by the Director of KLRCA or by agreement of parties within 10 working days after the Respondent receives the written notice (Section 21 CIPAA).

5.    Thereafter, the Adjudicator who accepts the appointment would propose his terms and fees to be agreed upon by both parties (Section 22(2) CIPAA).

6.    Once the appointment of the Adjudicator is finalised, the Claimant will serve his Adjudication Claim on the Respondent within 10 working days from the receipt of the acceptance of appointment by the Adjudicator (Section 9 CIPAA).

7.    The Respondent will be required to answer and serve his Adjudication Response within 10 working days from the receipt of the Adjudication Claim (Section 10 CIPAA).

8.    If the Claimant wishes to respond further, then his Adjudication Reply must be served within 5 working days from the receipt of the Adjudication Response (Section 11 CIPAA).

9.    The Adjudicator then has 45 working days from the service of Adjudication Response or the Adjudication Reply, whichever later, to arrive at his decision (Section 12 CIPAA).

VI.           Conclusion

The introduction of CIPAA is an important stepping stone in the construction industry to alleviate and hopefully prevent the issue of cash flow shortage by construction contractors. While CIPAA may not be able to guarantee a permanent solution, it is a quick and handy tool for contractors to obtain regular and timely payment. 

By Wong Jyh Ling