News

Gombak, 3 November 2021. The Company, Securities and Financial Law and Regulation Research Cluster (COFLAR) and the Civil Law Department, Ahmad Ibrahim Kulliyyah of Laws conducted a webinar titled Portrait of a Corporate Legal Counsel. The invited speaker for this programme was Ms. Su Puay Leng, an alumni of AIKOL (LLB 1993) who has years of experience and vast knowledge in the corporate sector. The two hours talk was moderated by Professor Aiman Nariman Mohd Sulaiman. This webinar is part of the  initiative to promote students-industry engagements and facilitate knowledge-sharing of industry practice and provide information of career pathways within the legal fraternity especially  as a Corporate Legal Counsel.

Around 170 participants attended the webinar,  consisted of third year students and final year students. Ms. Su, the speaker, covered many important areas during the talk such as the role and responsibilities of a Corporate Legal Counsel, Legal Corporate Counsel’s role in governance via support provided to management and Board of Directors and managing expectations of the organization & stakeholders. She highlighted the significance of the Corporate Legal Counsel as the legal liaison between the organisation and External Legal Counsel .

The talk proceeded with attendees’ active participation. Some of the questions posed by attendees were on the significance of having specialised knowledge by taking elective courses. Sufi wanted to know if not taking medical law as an  elective would deprive her of working at a pharmaceutical company while Hidayah was concerned if doing Trademark and Copyright will be sufficient if she is interested to be an Intellectual Property  Lawyer. Ms. Su explained that while specialised knowledge is an advantage, a Corporate Legal Counsel must have a broad overview of laws that could affect the organisation he or she is attached to. These ranges from general law courses such as contracts, commercial , corporate law , torts and laws relating to data protection, employment law , to name a few. She also reminded the attendees to be aware of the industry specific laws that a Corporate Legal Counsel must take note of. To a question from Elia about opportunities  in the international markets, Ms Su suggested that the graduate considers associating with a Malaysian legal firm that has international linkage or networks, joining a local branch of an international legal firm or an MNC.

Ms. Su in concluding the talk said that the role of Legal Corporate Counsel is highly respected, wide and varied, and there are many opportunities awaiting the future law graduates. It is an exciting, challenging and fulfilling career if the graduates have the right skill set, mind set and are resilient. 

Reported by Nur Hidayah binti Yusof (3^rd Year, LLB)