Dato' Emran is a partner with the Dispute Resolution Practice Group in Wong & Partners, a member firm of Baker & McKenzie International, in Malaysia. He is well versed in civil litigation procedure and is experienced in the various stages of dispute management in both Court and arbitration proceedings. He is also experienced in commencing and defending arbitrations under the KLRCA, ICC, SIAC and other ad hoc rules. He advises clients across a wide area of law such as general breach of contract, banking and finance, Islamic finance disputes, negligence, trespass breach of directors’ duties, insolvency litigation, shareholders dispute, shipping and maritime claims and claims for libel and slander. His expertise includes advisory work; drafting of pleadings and submissions; advocacy in the context of interlocutory hearings and trials, both before the Courts and arbitral tribunals, as well as appeals before the appellate Courts; advising and taking conduct of enforcement actions including committal proceedings and other modes of execution; and negotiating settlements where appropriate. Dato’ Emran has advised major Islamic institutions on Islamic finance dispute and debt recovery management, and has been acknowledge by Asia Pacific Legal 500, 2015 in this field as a practitioner with "particular expertise in Islamic finance disputes". He was also recognised among the notable dispute resolution practitioners in Malaysia by Chambers Asia, 2016. He is also well regarded in tax and customs litigation, as he successfully assisted in securing a landmark decision in favour of his client in Malaysia’s first juridical review matter involving anti-dumping duties on foreign exporters. He has also represented major corporations in complex judicial review cases against the Malaysian Inland Revenue Board on withholding taxes and transfer pricing issues relating to the legitimacy of Labuan tax planning structures.
Johan is the managing partner of J. Lee & Associates, a legal firm in Malaysia. He graduated with LLB (Hons) degree from International Islamic University Malaysia. He also holds a Master of Comparative Laws degree, a post-graduate Diploma in Shariah and Legal Practice both of which from International Islamic University Malaysia and, an MA in Economics for Competition Law from King’s Collage London. He is currently a qualified member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, UK as well as a mediator of the Malaysian Bar. He is an advocate and solicitor of the High Court of Malaya. Proficient in English, Malay language, Mandarin, he is also the first Chinese origin Shariah practitioner ever admitted by the Shariah court. His current practice includes corporate and commercial law, competition law, compliance and Islamic corporate finance related matters. He is instrumental in developing Islamic banking, Takaful and Islamic corporate finance documents and exercises for several financial institutions as well as corporate and governmental entities in Malaysia. Johan lectured in the law faculty of International Islamic University Malaysia since 1999 for both undergraduate and postgraduate law programmes. He has taught for a special exclusive diploma programme in Islamic Banking, jointly offered by IIUM and the Bar Council. He also lectures occasionally in various other local universities, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM), as well as Institute Latihan Kehakiman (ILKAP) and Jabatan Kehakiman Syariah Malaysia (JKSM) for both civil courts and Shariah courts judges concerning Islamic banking. In 2006, he was a visiting scholar to the Asian Law Centre of the University of Washington. He is currently a Shariah consultant to governmental agencies as well as government-funded banks. He is the author of the book ‘Legal Documentation for Islamic Banking’ published by the IBFIM, and co-author of an upcoming book ‘Islamic Financial Services Act 2013: Commentaries’ to be published and launched by the Current Law Journal. Johan is now a member of the Shariah Advisory Council (SAC) of the Association of Islamic Banks Malaysia (AIBIM and is a consultant to new law practices in Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Indonesia and the UK.
Zailani Mahmud started his profession in legal practice following his admission to the Malaysian bar in 1991. His participation in Islamic finance started in 1997 when he left the legal fraternity to join Bank Islam (L) Ltd, an Islamic offshore bank in Labuan as Legal and Shariah advisor. He was also the officer in charge of the offshore trust business of the bank and licensed by the Labuan Offshore Financial Services Authority to undertake offshore trustee functions. In 2001 he joined PTB, a Terengganu state-owned investment holding company to head its Legal and Secretarial Department. PTB Group of companies were then actively involved in Islamic financial services in the areas of Islamic asset management, Islamic stock broking and Islamic unit trust management. In 2005, he joined CIMB Islamic, the global Islamic finance franchise of CIMB Group. In the course of his attachment with the Shariah Department of the bank, he provided internal Shariah-legal advisory services and administered secretarial matters of the Shariah Committee of the bank. He conducted Shariah governance training courses for CIMB Group staff and provided Islamic finance training courses for the bank’s major corporate clients under the bank’s value added service program. At an international level, he was part of the bank’s advisory team to advise the Indonesian Ministry of Finance in the construction of the legal framework for Indonesian Sovereign Sukuk. This Indonesian statute has since been the legal basis for Indonesian Sovereign Sukuk issuances. He served the bank until end of 2013. He is now a businessman and a freelance trainer. Academically, Zailani holds a law degree and a diploma in Islamic studies.
