Biography
Mervyn’s primary interests are competition law and shareholder disputes.
Competition Law
Graduating as the top student in the University of Glasgow’s Competition Law LLM programme in 2016, he is one of the few qualified Competition / Antitrust lawyers in Malaysia. He has assisted in opinions in respect of a worldwide consumer class action brought in the United States against a Fortune 500 global consumer technology company and on the Malaysian shipping industry.
Mervyn acts for the Malaysia Competition Commission in its most high-profile cases, namely in respect of an RM86 million fine that the Commission proposed against e-hailing company Grab, and a RM415 million fine by the Commission against 5 chicken feed producers. Mervyn frequently gives presentations to local corporations and their officers on Competition law and its regulatory developments in Malaysia, and has given interviews on radio on landmark cases. His article which critically examined the landmark decision by the Competition Appeal Tribunal of the MAS-AirAsia case was published in the Malayan Law Journal, and was subsequently included in the Journal’s 85th Anniversary Commemorative Issue as representative of the contribution by young lawyers to the journal.
Corporate and Membership Disputes
Mervyn is also actively involved in shareholder litigation and advisory work. He recently successfully acted in a dispute involving ownership of 49% of the shares of the holding company of Prudential Assurance Malaysia Bhd.
He was part of the our team which successfully acted in a dispute between different factions for control of a Malaysian public company with subsidiaries in Hong Kong and Shanghai, a dispute which gave rise to numerous suits ventilating complaints relating to oppression, requisitioning and conduct of meetings, and trusts.
He has acted in the partnership dispute involving one of the largest law firms in Kuala Lumpur, and in an oppression suit by a member of the charitable Hindu organization Vivekananda Ashrama.
Mervyn also acted for members of a Golf & Country Club seeking their membership to be recognized as a regulated ‘interest’ under the Interest Schemes Act, 2016.
He recently secured a victory before the Court of Appeal in upholding the High Court’s decision to strike out of a claim against the Royal Selangor Polo Club and other defendants.
Defamation
He is well versed in defamation law, having acted for a renowned foreign journalist in a suit brought by a member of the Malaysian Royalty.
Construction
In land and construction disputes, Mervyn was junior in a successful claim by a major Damansara Heights developer and landowner against a land fraud syndicate, and was part of the team which successfully defended the developer of a popular lifestyle district in the heart of Kuala Lumpur against an adjudication and arbitration claim.
Mervyn is also a recipient of the firm’s Stanley Peddie Book Prize, which he received as top student at the undergraduate level, and is a contributing editor to the Malaysian Civil Procedure publication by Sweet & Maxwell.
He is available to accept instructions on all areas within the firm’s practice.