Choon Hon Leng

Hon Leng was called to the Bar in November 2003 and joined the firm as a partner on 1 February 2023. Prior to joining the firm, he was a senior partner at one of the largest full service law firms in town and was the Head of their Construction, Infrastructure and Energy practice group.

Construction practice is the focal point of Hon Leng’s practice and he is well positioned to provide full service to clients throughout a project lifecycle from inception, tender, drafting and negotiation of contracts; management, advisory, troubleshooting and strategising during project implementation; to dispute management and resolution, whether through formal processes or other means. His main experience in this area includes, among others:

• Drafting, preparing and negotiating project documentations for large-scale infrastructure projects (especially urban railway transportation projects), manufacturing plant projects for various industries and standardisation of suite of construction and consultancy contracts for major developers;
• Advising clients in various types of construction projects including residential, commercial, industrial, mixed, infrastructure (railway, highway and maritime hub), healthcare facilities, oil and gas etc., and in addition to the usual construction-centric issues on money, time and quality in construction projects, he also has the valuable experience of advising on major mishaps and incidents such as fire and explosion incidents at oil and gas facilities (with and without fatalities), collapse of structures and damage to undersea water pipe;
• Appearing as counsel at all levels of Malaysian Courts and in more than 30 arbitrations (domestic and international), and he has recently secured a favourable RM300 million award for a client.

In addition to his forte of construction practice, Hon Leng has amassed extensive experience in handling matters concerning telecommunications, computer technology, software and pharmaceutical related areas, both on advisory and dispute resolution. He has appeared as counsel in all types of intellectual property disputes.

With his Mandarin capability, he has the unique experience of representing a client to successfully defend a claim in a CIETAC arbitration held in China in which the entire proceedings, including all oral and written representations, were done fully in Mandarin. His language capability, deep understanding of the working and corporate culture and extensive experience in the relevant areas allow him to work seamlessly with many large state owned enterprises and other entities from China.

His work and experience have been duly recognised in various publications:

• Ranked as “Leading Lawyer” in “Dispute Resolution & Litigation” by Asialaw and “Distinguished Practitioner” in “Construction” by Asialaw
• Ranked as “Leading Individual” in “Real Estate and Construction” by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific
• Ranked as Band 3 in “Dispute Resolution: Construction” by Chambers and Partners
• Ranked as “Litigation Star” in “Construction” by Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific
• Recognised as “10 Top Influential Construction Dispute Resolution Lawyers in Malaysia for 2023” by Business Today
• Ranked as Tier 2 in “General – Construction” and Up and Coming in “Disputes – Construction” by Legal Media 360

Other than appearing as counsel and providing advice to clients, Hon Leng also frequently sits as arbitrator and adjudicator. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (and the chair of CIArb Malaysia branch 2021-2023) and he is on the panels of arbitrator and adjudicator of the AIAC.