- Arbitration
- Construction, Infrastructure & Projects
- Corporate Litigation & Risk Management
- Insolvency & Restructuring
- Regulatory & Compliance
- Barrister-at-Law, The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple
- Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya
- Associate, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), United Kingdom
- LL.B (First Class Honours), Queen’s University Belfast
English, Malay
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 includes mostly handling high value and complex arbitrations both on a domestic and international scale, often involving niche areas of disputes involving contractors’ claims for time, and loss and expense, and geotechnical and structural issues.
Her other active works include advising on various areas of contractual management and negotiations. Recently, she has advised on several multi-billion-ringgit national, transnational and international projects including the construction of a hydroelectric power plant, the construction of a transnational railway project between Malaysia and Singapore, and the construction of Singapore’s longest underground railway line. One of her notable works in her earlier years of practice include forming part of the defence team in one of the first few challenges to the adjudication regime in Malaysia.
Over the course of her practice, Carissa has acted for and advised several 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 involves advising and acting for parties across the entire chain of any one given construction project from developers to contractors to consultants.
Carissa has also contributed to the firm’s publications, Manoeuvring Corporate Governance in Malaysia: Litigation Perspectives (LexisNexis Malaysia, March 2021) and Construction Law – Time in Construction (CLJ Malaysia, July 2023).
Among her other related experience, Carissa has acted in the following reported decisions:
- Acted for a sub-contractor in successfully resisting the main contractor’s application to set aside, and in applying for enforcement of an adjudication decision, in Dekinjaya Builder Sdn Bhd v Chong Lek Engineering Works Sdn Bhd and another case [2020] MLJU 2455.
- Acted for a developer in a suit brought against it for negligence and nuisance in Industrial Property Management Sdn Bhd v Forebase Property Sdn Bhd & Ors [2023] MLJU 3248.
- Acted for a developer in direct payment claims brought against it pursuant to Section 30 of the Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012 in Fulloop Sdn Bhd v Seal Properties (KL) Sdn Bhd [2023] MLJU 1861 and LDE Project Sdn Bhd v Seal Properties (KL) Sdn Bhd [2023] MLJU 2227.
- Acted for an individual in successfully defending a defamation action in Ng Chia Wei v Loh Eng Chuan & Ors [2022] MLJU 1714.
- Acted in one of the earliest challenges to Malaysia’s adjudication regime, in an action brought against the estate of the former Director of the Asian International Arbitration Centre, in Prestij Mega Construction Sdn Bhd v Personal Representative of the Estate of Vinayak Pradhan Prabhakar (deceased) & Ors and other cases [2021] 11 MLJ 581.
Carissa has co-authored various publications, including:
- CLJ Malaysia (July 2023) – “Construction Law – Time in Construction”
- Lexis Nexis Malaysia (March 2021) – “Manoeuvring Corporate Governance in Malaysia: Litigation Perspectives”