Carissa graduated with First Class Honours from Queen’s University Belfast, United Kingdom. She was subsequently called to the Bar of England and Wales by the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. Carissa was admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in 2019 after completing her pupillage with the firm, and was recently admitted as a Partner in 2025.

Carissa practises in the field of general dispute resolution, with a focus on construction and commercial disputes in both court and arbitration proceedings. Her practice primarily involves handling high-value and complex arbitrations on both domestic and international scales, often in niche areas involving contractors’ claims for time, loss and expense, as well as geotechnical and structural issues.

She is also actively involved in advising clients on various aspects of contractual management and negotiation. Recently, she has advised on several multi-billion-ringgit national, transnational, and international projects, including the construction of a hydroelectric power plant, a transnational railway project between Malaysia and Singapore, and Singapore’s longest underground railway line. One of her notable early-career experiences includes being part of the defence team in one of the first few challenges to Malaysia’s adjudication regime.

Throughout her practice, Carissa has acted for and advised numerous industry-leading financial institutions and conglomerates, including one of the world’s ten largest semiconductor manufacturers, an Australian multinational construction and real estate company, and a Japanese joint-venture construction company. Her experience spans advising and representing parties across the full spectrum of a construction project — from developers to contractors and consultants.

Carissa has also contributed to the firm’s publications, Manoeuvring Corporate Governance in Malaysia: Litigation Perspectives (Lexis Nexis Malaysia, March 2021) and Construction Law – Time in Construction (CLJ Malaysia, July 2023).