Tay & Partners has appointed Leonard Yeoh as its new managing partner, and he has a strategic 12-month plan to secure and advance the law firm’s future. Yeoh has been with the firm for 24 years and helped grow its dispute resolution practice. He has represented well-known Malaysian corporations and multinational companies in domestic and international arbitrations.
Expanding the dispute resolution practice will be one of his key focal points, reflecting heightened activity in the Malaysian market. “Malaysia’s disputes market is active across construction, employment, shareholder and commercial matters, and clients increasingly want counsel who can carry a matter from the first letter of demand through to a court decision or an appeal,” Yeoh told Asia Business Law Journal.
“It is also work that turns on advocacy, judgement and specialist knowledge, precisely the work that technology is least likely to take over. Where a client is engaging a lawyer rather than purchasing a document, the value holds.”
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Corporate Growth and Culture
Beyond dispute resolution, Yeoh said growing the firm’s IP, employment and industrial relations, and aviation practices would also be on the cards and forms one of the core pillars of his 12-month strategy. “Alongside that, I intend to invest substantially in our corporate and commercial practice. Our clients’ needs do not divide neatly into contentious and non-contentious work. The client we act for in a joint venture dispute today is the client who will ask us to structure the next joint venture tomorrow,” he said.
In addition to strengthening multiple practice areas, Yeoh said supporting a strong working culture was also a priority. Providing a longer-term outlook, he said AI would drive significant change within the legal industry and wanted the firm to stay ahead of the curve. “Artificial intelligence is going to reshape legal practice faster than most firms are planning for, and the work it absorbs first is the work that is routine, high-volume and process-driven,” he said.
“Firms whose economics rest on that work will feel it first. My intention is that we read the shift early and position for it deliberately, that we lead the trend rather than follow it. Being alert to where the profession is going is itself a strategy, and too few firms treat it as one.”
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ESG and Regional Expansion
Another focus area will be sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG), as regulatory developments in this space are already underway. “There is a second shift I expect to matter just as much, and that is sustainability and ESG. Malaysian companies are already dealing with mandatory sustainability reporting, compliance demands passed down by their international customers, and a regulatory environment that is moving quickly in this area. That work needs genuine legal capability, not box-ticking, and it is an area where I want this firm to be properly strong rather than merely present,” he said.
Keeping an eye on the future, Yeoh said the firm was pondering reopening its Johor office, which had closed during the covid-19 pandemic in 2021. “We practise from Kuala Lumpur and from here we act for clients across the country and around the world, including in Johor, where we have continued to serve clients since our office there closed in 2021 during the pandemic. Reopening that office is something we are actively considering,” he said.
“The Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone and the RTS Link, which begins operations in January 2027, are creating a genuine cross-border legal market, and it is one this firm knows well. We are looking at the northern region as well.”
