Siva Kumar Kanagasabai

Practice Areas

- Maritime and Shipping

- Commercial Litigation

- Arbitration

- Fraud and Asset Recovery

- Employment

- Company and Shareholders Disputes

Professional Memberships

- Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

- Member, Shipping & Admiralty Law Committee, Bar Council

- Council member of Ikhtisas Kelautan Malaysia (Association of Malaysia’s Maritime Professionals)

- Jurisdiction Council Member for Malaysia & Vice-Chair, Anti-Corruption and Rule of Law Committee, Inter-Pacific Bar Association

- Panel member, Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC)

Publications

- Author, Malaysian Court Practice – Appellate Court: Courts of Judicature Act 1964 (update), Rules of Court of Appeal and Rules of the Federal Court 1995 (update) (2024)

- Author, Malaysian Chapter in “Remedies for International Sellers of Goods – 2nd Edition”, Juris Publishing (2012).

- Author, Malaysian Chapter in Restrictive Covenants and Trade Secrets in Employment Law, American Bar Association (2011).

- Contributing Editor, Malaysian Civil Procedure, Sweet & Maxwell Asia.

- Author of Halsbury’s Laws of Malaysia Employment (Original & 2007 Reissue) and Industrial Relations (Original & 2007 Reissue)

Personal

Kumar is the firm’s Head of Dispute Resolution and Senior Partner who has been in legal practice for more than 30 years. He is actively involved in corporate and commercial litigation and arbitration with specialisation in maritime and shipping law, fraud and asset recovery, employment and general commercial disputes.

He has acted in complex and high value disputes including in one of the largest ever fraud recovery actions globally. He has been praised for his practical and pragmatic approach in finding solutions for clients involved in disputes.

Kumar’s experience in maritime and shipping issues is extensive. He has been engaged in various types of maritime related disputes including those involving in ship arrests, charterparty disputes, oil pollution claims, vessel detentions, cargo claims, commodity contracts and enforcement of ship mortgages under both conventional and Islamic facilities.

He also has an active arbitration practice. Apart from being appointed as arbitrator, he has acted as counsel in both domestic and international arbitrations, sought interim measures in support of foreign seated arbitrations and dealt with challenges to arbitral awards in the Malaysian Courts.

Kumar has been actively involved in employment issues and investigations. He has acted as lead counsel in a full range of employment-related disputes including in some landmark cases.

Kumar also receives appointments by external solicitors to act for their clients at major hearings involving commercial matters. He is a regular contributor to law publications and is often invited to speak at legal conferences.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Awards