Gan Khong Aik FCIArb

Partner

CV
PRACTICE AREAS
  • Arbitration
  • Boardroom Risk & Reputation
  • Corporate Governance & Compliance
  • Corporate Litigation & Risk Management
  • Construction, Infrastructure & Projects
  • Energy & Resources
  • Regulatory & Compliance
  • Restructuring & Insolvency
ADMISSION

Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya

MEMBERSHIPS
  • Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), United Kingdom
  • Fellow, Singapore Institute of
    Arbitrators (SIArb)
  • Fellow, Hong Kong Institute of
    Arbitrators (HKIArb)
  • Arbitrator and Adjudicator, Asian
    International Arbitration Centre
    (AIAC)
  • Arbitrator, Hainan International
    Arbitration Court
  • Mediator and Adjudicator, Securities Industry Dispute Resolution Center (SIDREC)
QUALIFICATIONS
  • LL.B (Hons), University of Nottingham
  • Certificate in Legal Practice
LANGUAGES

English, Malay

Profile

Foo Joon Liang was called to the Malaysian Bar in 2000. He is a partner of Gan Partnership, a firm he co-founded in 2011. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), United Kingdom, Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (SIArb), and Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators (HKIArb).

Joon Liang is the Immediate Past Chairman of the Malaysian Branch of CIArb. He sits on the panel of arbitrators and adjudicators of the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC), and is one of the first 10 Malaysian appointees to the panel of arbitrators of the Hainan International Arbitration Court. He also sits on the Securities Industry Dispute Resolution Center (SIDREC)’s Panel of Mediators and Adjudicators. He is part of the ICC Malaysia Arbitration Committee.

Joon Liang is listed as a Future Leader in Construction by Who’s Who Legal (WWL). WWL noted “Foo Joon Liang has impressive experience in high-value construction disputes across litigation and arbitration proceedings.” He is ranked as a Litigation Star in Construction by Benchmark Litigation and recommended by the Legal 500 Asia Pacific for Real Estate and Construction.

Joon Liang has spent the past 20 years building upon an active dispute resolution practice in arbitration, litigation and more recently in adjudication. He regularly appears as counsel in arbitration as well as at all levels of the Malaysian courts. He has advised and acted in a broad spectrum of disputes, from engineering, construction, power, contract, securities, to company and shareholder disputes.

In the past several years, Joon Liang has been focusing on construction disputes which involved engineering related incidents. Amongst the high-profile cases he handled were the highly publicised failure of a hill slope in Penang and a bridge collapse in the Klang Valley. He has acted in some of the leading cases in construction adjudication, including the first Construction Industry Payment & Adjudication Act 2012 (CIPAA) where the matter was heard at the Federal Court and the landmark case of KL Eco City Sdn Bhd v Tuck Sin Engineering & Construction Sdn Bhd & Anor.

Joon Liang often speaks at conferences and trains with the Malaysian Bar’s advocacy training programme. He has authored several publications in Arbitration and Dispute Resolution. He is among the contributors to the book titled “Law and Practice of Construction Law in Malaysia” published by Sweet & Maxwell as well as one of the co-authors of the book titled “Manoeuvring Corporate Governance in Malaysia: Litigation Perspectives” published by Lexis Nexis Malaysia.

Some significant matters which Joon Liang was involved in:

Arbitration

    • Acting for the main contractor against the subcontractor in arbitration for, inter alia, damages in the region of RM240 million in view of the latter’s breach in carrying out its works resulting in the exercising of step-in right by the former
    • Acted as an arbitrator in an action on a consolidated development of a construction project for a claim of approximate RM10 million and a counterclaim of about RM38 million
    • Acted as a party representative for a claim concerning a Power Purchase Agreement in relation to a Power Plant in East Malaysia for a sum of approximate RM102 million and a counterclaim of RM180 million
    • Acted as a party representative for a claim concerning a construction dispute between main contractor and employer for an integrated development in East Malaysia for a principal claim of approximate RM66 million and a principal counterclaim of RM44 million
    • Acted as a party representative for a claim concerning a construction dispute between main contractor and consultant for the construction of a university campus involving a sum of approximate RM305 million
    • Acted in the Federal Court ‘s case on an important issue concerning limitation periods in arbitration reported as Christopher Martin Boyd v. Deb Brata Das Gupta [2014] 9 CLJ 887

Adjudication

    • Acting for a subcontractor in a construction claim in the oil and gas sector against the main contractor for a claim of about RM40 million
    • Acted for the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) including in the first constitutional challenge on statutory adjudication reported as Mega Sasa Sdn Bhd v Kinta Bakti Sdn Bhd & Ors [2020] 4 CLJ 201
    • Acted in the first adjudication under the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012 (“CIPAA 2012”) decided in the Federal Court reported as View Esteem Sdn Bhd v Bina Puri Holdings Bhd [2019] 5 CLJ 479
    • Acting for the subcontractor in an action for direct payment from the developer for a sum of approximate RM9 million in the Court of Appeal reported as CT Indah Construction Sdn Bhd v BHL Gemilang Sdn Bhd [2020] 1 CLJ 75
    • Defended the main contractor in a claim brought by an M&E contractor under CIPAA 2012 for a sum exceeding RM37 million

Construction Litigation

    • Acting for the subcontractor against the main contractor for sums due and owing in adjudication and in court including an action against the developer for direct payment
    • Acted as for a leading property developer in Malaysia and successfully struck out a suit relating to a land dispute worth around RM359 million.
    • Acted for the main contractor in respect of disputes involving the acquisition of land and the development of the Port Klang Free Zone
    • Acted for the specialist structural steel contractor in disputes in respect of the construction of the Putrajaya Mosque
    • Represented the consultant engineer in a state commission inquiry to inquire into the collapse of a temporary slope in an ongoing construction

Dispute Resolution

    • Acting or a developer company to claim for a sum of more than RM303 million against a railway company for losses suffered due to realignment of railway lines
    • Acted for a director to resist a claim in excess of RM640 million in a suit brought by the world leading glove manufacturer in a merger and acquisition dispute
    • Acted for a communication technology company listed on the main board of Bursa Malaysia to termininate the winding up of its main subsidiary

Among others, Joon Liang has been recognized by independent rankers and client testimonials as, inter alia:

  • “Foo Joon Liang has impressive experience in high-value construction disputes across litigation and arbitration proceedings”

  •  “Foo Joon Liang ‘precisely prescribes the legal action framework to safeguard his clients’ interests”.

  • “As one of the main Principals of the firm, Mr. Foo Joon Liang is not only knowledgeable, he understands the client’s requirements and precisely prescribes the legal action framework to safeguard his clients’ interest”.

Joon Liang has authored/ co-authored various publications including:

  • Manoeuvring Corporate Governance in Malaysia: Litigation Perspectives (Lexis Nexis Malaysia, 2021)

  • Law and Practice of Construction Law in Malaysia (Sweet & Maxwell , 2021)

  • Global Legal Insights, International Arbitration 2019 – Chapter on Malaysia

  • Getting The Deal Through – Arbitration and Dispute Resolution