Reference No.

: FICO/CVL/OPW/2603/2023

Date: 02/04/2023  

MR. SUNIL SUNAK 

MERSS FARAH IZZATI & CO.
Advocate and Solicitor, 
No. 33, Taman Mawar, 
Jalan Sultan Zainal Abidin,
20300 Kuala Terengganu,
Terengganu.
. 
 
Dear Sir, 

RE: LEGAL OPINION ON THE

 
We referred to the above matter. 

In accordance with our meeting at Farah Izzati & Co. on March 26, 2023 (Sunday, 2:00 pm), you have
asked me to assist you in making a legal opinion regarding certain matters involving your colleagues Mr.
Boris Chong, Mr. Cameron Lau, and Mr. Sulaiman Akhlaken.

FACTS

The facts of the case as we understood are as follows: 

1. Senior partner Mr. Boris of Messrs Boris, Truss & Co. would want to put itself forward for
appointment as a KL bar committee or Bar Council member. Mr. Boris claimed to be "senior"
enough to hold one of the crucial positions in the KL Bar or Bar Council after more than 15 years
of practice. Mr. Boris also only shows up for trials at the higher courts and then equates himself
to a barrister in England. As his young attorneys prepare all the documentation Mr. Boris thus has
sufficient time to hold a position. Mr. Boris serves as a non-executive director for a family
business. Moreover, he also serves as executive director of a non-governmental organization that
is politically driven.

2. Another old acquaintance of Mr. Sunak, Mr. Cameron, is also a lawyer. Mr. Cameron stated that
as the director of his firm's litigation division, he frequently visits the courts. Mr. Cameron
indicates that he had attended one proceeding before the Sessions Court case and referenced
numerous authorities while being aware that the Superior Court had rejected or overruled those
authorities. He did that on purpose to put the judge hearing his case to the test as the judge is one
of his colleagues at the same firm, they previously completed their pupillage. Additionally, Mr.
Cameron has concealed authorities that are crucial to the case before the court as the authorities
appear against him.
 3. Mr. Sulaiman which happens to also be Mr. Sunak old acquaintance has been a solicitor in
Labuan for the past two years. Before relocating to Labuan, Mr. Sulaiman practiced law for 6
years in Shah Alam and served as a magistrate in the Kuala Lumpur Magistrate Court for 5 years.
Mr. Sulaiman then consents to take on the role of pupil master for Boris' son, who is seeking a
location to complete his pupillage apart from his father.

ISSUES

Based on the facts before us, the issues are regarding;

1. The qualification of Mr. Boris to become a member of the Bar Council or KL Bar Committee;
and;

2. The action of Mr. Cameron who purposely cited overruled authorities and suppress material
authorities before the court subject to disciplinary proceedings by the Disciplinary Board; and

3. The qualification of Mr. Sulaiman to become a pupil master to Mr. Boris’s son.

APPLICABLE LAW

1.  Mr. Boris- Mr. Boris- Section 46A LPA- disqualification for membership if he holds any office
in any (ii) political party (iii) any other organization…. Description: the lawyer must be natural
all the time as having a political leaning will result in him being portrayed as biased. He must not
disclose any political ideologies as lawyers should be careful when it comes to disclosing their
political views. I like to think that most lawyers like to have a diverse group of friends and
colleagues and will not let ideological differences affect their business relationships.

Rule 12 Bar Council Ruling: An Advocate and Solicitor who is a sole proprietor or a partner of a
law firm may engage on a part-time basis in a business or trade that is in the opinion of the Bar
Council not incompatible with the dignity of the legal profession. An Advocate and Solicitor who
is a legal assistant may engage on a part-time basis in a business or trade that is in the opinion of
the Bar Council not incompatible with the dignity of the legal profession, provided that it does
not infringe his/her full-time employment by an Advocate and Solicitor or a firm of Advocates
and Solicitors in accordance with section 30(1)(b) of the Legal Profession Act 1976.
 

2. Mr. Cameron- Rule 21 Legal Profession (practice and etiquette) - misquote authorities
(authorities yg dah kene overruled and statute dah kene barred) & rule 23 LPPER- to supply the
court all information. In Yap Ban Tick & Ors v Standard Chartered Bank [1995] 3 MLJ 401,
the court held that the counsel should never suppress adverse authority as doing so would cease to
enjoy the confidence of the public towards the legal profession.

Section 94 LPA- may subjected to disciplinary proceedings once found guilty for misconduct
S.94(3)(c) defines ‘misconduct’ as dishonest or fraudulent conduct in the discharge of his duties.
Abdul Malik Ishak J Dato Wong Gek Meng v Pathmanathan A/L Mylvaganam & Ors [1998]
5MLJ 560 in opined that “Great care has to be exercised when a solicitor is dealing with the
court. As an officer of the court, the solicitor must not do anything so as to deceive the court. The
 time has come for the courts to adopt a stringent approach and castigate lawyers who by
deception deceive the courts into believing that concessions made by the lawyers to strike out
their appeals,like the present case, would end the adjudication, once and for all.”

3. Mr. Sulaiman- Section 12 LPA:

‘Pupillage’ Qualified person is required to undergo a period of pupillage of nine (9) months, prior
to being.
Section 13 LPA:
This period of apprenticeship shall be served with a legal practitioner who has been in active
practise in Malaysia for not less than seven (7) years immediately preceding the date of
commencement of the pupillage.S.13(1) : active practice of 7 years Unless special grounds Can
have different masters
A pupil Master must be in active practice in Malaysia for a total period of not less than seven (7)
years as at the date of the filing of his/her pupil's Petition and must possess a valid Practising
Certificate throughout the period of pupillage of his/her pupil.

SAMANTHA MURTHI V AG OF MALAYSIA [1982] CLJ 241

 Issue: master practiced in the High Court then migrated to Kuching.

 Suffian LP: intention of legislature to treat Sabah, Sarawak & Malaya as one country for the purpose of
pupillage.

MAJLIS PEGUAM V SUNIL SINGH GILL [2004] 3 CLJ 16

 Issue: whether an active practice in Labuan is ‘active practice in Malaysia’?

 Gopal Sri Ram JCA: Remains part of Malaysia

[ CER TENGOK OK TAK , MASUK KE?] Ablemerge (M) Sdn Bhd v Emville Sdn Bhd [2000] 6 MLJ
769 

1. R.K. Nathan: It is the paramount duty of counsel to thoroughly research the law and assist the
court to arrive at a just decision. It is not the duty of the court to do its own research in every case
for otherwise there would be no need for advocates, because litigants need only to present their
problems to the judge who can, based on his own research, make a reasoned decision. But that
cannot be the law. It is incumbent and indeed it is the onerous duty of every counsel to present to
the court before whom he is appearing his copious and extensive research in support of his case.
Anything short is tantamount to abdicating one's duty as an advocate to his client and as an
officer of the court, to the court
An Advocate and Solicitor who is a sole proprietor or a partner of a law firm may engage on a part-time
basis in a business or trade that is in the opinion of the Bar Council not incompatible with the dignity of
the legal profession. An Advocate and Solicitor who is a legal assistant may engage on a part-time basis
in a business or trade that is in the opinion of the Bar Council not incompatible with the dignity of the
legal profession, provided that it does not infringe his/her full-time employment by an Advocate and
Solicitor or a firm of Advocates and Solicitors in accordance with section 30(1)(b) of the Legal
Profession Act 1976.

 -the lawyer must be natural all the time as having a political leaning will result in he being portrayed as
bias
-he must not disclose any political ideologies 
In the final analysis, lawyers should be careful when it comes to disclosing their political views in social
media. I like to think that most lawyers like to have a diverse group of friends and colleagues and will not
let ideological differences affect their business relationships.

-The provisions for admission as an advocate and solicitor are set out in Part 11 of the Legal Profession Act 1976.
Section 12 requires a "qualified person" (defined in Section 3) to serve a period of pupillage. The prescribed period
is nine months but the Bar Council may exempt qualified persons from any period of up to six months of pupillage
in various circumstances set out in Section 13. The pupillage is served by a master who must be an advocate and
solicitor for at least seven years immediately preceding the date of commencement of the pupillage. With the
consent of the Council, a pupil may serve different parts of the period of pupillage with different masters. It is
intended that the pupillage will be full-time and a pupil may not, without the special leave in writing of the Council
hold any office or engage in any employment of any kind whether full-time or otherwise during pupillage. He may
however be remunerated by his master and this is the normal practice.-sulaiman

S.94 ?(3)-DISCIPLINARY BOARD

RULE 41
RULE 21 RULE 23