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[Tempatan] Firma guaman Zaid Ibrahim & Co bukan lagi milik bekas menteri. Nama dikekalk

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Post time 2-12-2020 10:50 PM | Show all posts |Read mode
Law firm Zaid Ibrahim & Co insists name does not belong to ex-minister
Wednesday, 02 Dec 2020 10:29 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 2 — The legal firm Zaid Ibrahim & Co stated that at all material times the name ‘Zaid Ibrahim & Co’ and its goodwill belonged to the firm and not the former minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim.

The firm said such goodwill was developed through the efforts of all the partners of the firm, which continued well after Mohd Zaid ceased having any interests in the firm in March 2008.

Zaid Ibrahim & Co said that for approximately 12 years after the plaintiff (Mohd Zaid) ceased having any interests in the firm in March 2008, the firm has provided professional services without any of its client having been misled or confused that these services were provided by or in any way associated with the plaintiff personally.

“The interest and goodwill in the name and style of the firm ‘Zaid Ibrahim & Co’ is not owned or in any way connected to the plaintiff,” the firm said in its statement of defence filed through law firm Messrs Tommy Thomas today.

Zaid Ibrahim & Co, who was named as the sole defendant said, when Mohd Zaid was appointed as a Cabinet Minister in March 2008, he was further barred by law from having a practising certificate as he was gainfully employed as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department during the said period.

The firm said, as a matter of law, the plaintiff could not continue to have any interest whatsoever in the firm, whether in the equity of the firm of the name ‘Zaid Ibrahim & Co’ from March 2008.

“In consequence, the plaintiff was compelled to enter into a Sale and Purchase Agreement dated March 24, 2008 with Chew Seng Kok and Datuk Seri Dr Nik Norzul Thani Nik Hassan Thani, whereby the plaintiff sold all his remaining equity in the firm to the Chew and Nik Norzul for the purchase price of RM26.65 million.

“Under the agreement, it was agreed that the purchase price would be paid by instalments over a period of 20 years, commencing on March 31, 2008, with the final payment to be made on the 21st year of that agreement, that is 2029. The plaintiff has hitherto been paid in accordance with the terms of the agreement,” said the firm.

On Nov 18, Mohd Zaid, who is also counsel had filed the suit against Zaid Ibrahim & Co to stop the firm from using his name in legal practice and to demand the return of the firm’s name.

In his statement of claim, Mohd Zaid said he formed the legal firm as a sole proprietorship under his name in 1987 and began the practice under the name Zaid Ibrahim & Co before slowly expanding the firm by including other partners, including Chew and Nik Norzrul.

He said that throughout his legal practice, he had built a good reputation for the firm as it became a panel law firm to financial institutions and government-linked companies until he left the firm after being appointed as a minister in 2008.

Mohd Zaid said after he left the firm, other partners took over, with Chew as managing partner and Nik Norzrul as chairman.

He added that he intended to return to the profession in 2018 and asked Chew and Nik Norzrul to stop using his name and to return the name to him as he wanted to start his own firm.

Mohd Zaid said because they refused to do so, he, through his lawyers, submitted a claim in a letter dated Sept 24 for them to cease using his name.

On Oct 5, they made him an offer to rejoin the legal practice with Zaid Ibrahim & Co as an existing equity partner and chairman beginning Nov 1.

He said he accepted the offer and rejoined the firm but had his services terminated with immediate effect on Nov 9 and ceased to be a partner or a member of the firm.

He claimed that with his termination, the partnership has been dissolved but the defendant continued its practice as a new firm without the plaintiff.

“In this situation, the defendant has no legal right to use the name of the plaintiff in its newly formed legal practice,” Mohd Zaid said.

He is seeking an injunction to stop the defendant or any of its agents from using the name, Zaid Ibrahim, in whatever form or style as its firm’s name relating to legal practice and also seeking an order for the defendant to hand over all materials, including letterheads, notes, invoices and brochures printed with his name, in addition to damages for the misuse of the plaintiff’s name, costs and other relief deemed suitable by the court. — Bernama

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Post time 2-12-2020 10:57 PM | Show all posts
baru 9 hari join dh kena tendang.

mesti ada kes le ni
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Post time 2-12-2020 11:37 PM From the mobile phone | Show all posts
Associates kat zico mahei2 gajinya.
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Post time 3-12-2020 01:03 AM From the mobile phone | Show all posts
Fishy ni, after 9 days joining dah kena terminate.
Using his name under the pretext of goodwill also misleading. Client has interest and trust on his credibility. Cuba the practice tukar nama to Chew &Co, sure client will not has that same level of trust and loyalty as compared to ZICO previously
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Post time 3-12-2020 06:55 AM From the mobile phone | Show all posts
Bukan dah lama ke dia mmg takde dlm zico tu?
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Post time 3-12-2020 10:46 AM | Show all posts
noradaniez replied at 3-12-2020 06:55 AM
Bukan dah lama ke dia mmg takde dlm zico tu?

dia rejoin balik.. so dia rasa dia ada rights.. goodwill yg dulu tu terbatal la ikut logic dia..
tp zaid ibrahim punya "goodwill" tu mmg menjadi aku rasa.. nak join pun yg bijak2 je boleh
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Post time 3-12-2020 10:56 AM | Show all posts
Dulu, people wanted to be part or request zico to represent them sbb nama zaid ibrahim ni. After a while, no longer having value sbb people e now go there for the services they provided. Sama macam lhag

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Post time 3-12-2020 12:33 PM From the mobile phone | Show all posts
nuryakmal replied at 3-12-2020 10:56 AM
Dulu, people wanted to be part or request zico to represent them sbb nama zaid ibrahim ni. After a w ...

lhag? What does it mean?
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Post time 3-12-2020 02:47 PM | Show all posts
masa nak jadi menteri dulu kelam kabut jual firm dengan nama sedia ada. patutnya jual & suruh tukar nama sekali. haa sekarang pegi laaa argue kat court sana, dapat juga kita dengar argument otai2 nanti
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Post time 3-12-2020 02:51 PM | Show all posts
DanIno replied at 3-12-2020 12:33 PM
lhag? What does it mean?

lee hishamuddin allen & gledhill. firm tok hisham dulu, masih pakai lagi nama dia
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Post time 3-12-2020 02:51 PM | Show all posts
DanIno replied at 3-12-2020 12:33 PM
lhag? What does it mean?

Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill
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Post time 3-12-2020 02:52 PM | Show all posts
DanIno replied at 3-12-2020 12:33 PM
lhag? What does it mean?

Lee hishammudin allen & gledhill
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 Author| Post time 3-12-2020 02:54 PM | Show all posts
Shahrizat Jalil pun ada firma guaman dia sendiri
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 Author| Post time 5-12-2020 08:55 PM From the mobile phone | Show all posts
Zaid Ibrahim was paid RM36m in 2008 to relinquish stake in firm
Hafiz Yatim
theedgemarkets.com
December 05, 2020 20:36 pm +08


KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 4): Former minister Datuk Mohd Zaid Ibrahim was paid RM35.78 million in 2008 to sell his entire stake in Messrs Zaid Ibrahim & Co, the firm he founded, hence the partners have the right to retain the firm's name, said the law firm's executive chairman and senior partner Datuk Seri Dr Nik Norzrul Thani N Hassan Thani.

He added that Zaid has been appointed as a consultant for the firm since 2018, and that if he wishes to use the name "Zaid Ibrahim", he could use other permutations like "Zaid Ibrahim & Associates" or "The Chambers of Zaid Ibrahim" as an alternative.

“When Zaid was appointed as a consultant in 2018 with a pay of RM20,000 a month, he never asserted any claim over equity, goodwill, name or interests in the firm.

“The first tranche payment of RM10.132 million to pay for a 30% stake was paid by Chew Seng Kok in 2004 and the remaining RM25.650 million was after March 2008 to acquire the remaining 70% stake in the law firm when Zaid was made a minister. Chew and I have made the payments regularly and promptly,” said Nik Norzrul Thani, adding the sale resulted in the right to use the name Zaid Ibrahim & Co and its goodwill.

He added that a sales and purchase agreement was made to that effect, and as the incident took place 12 years ago, Zaid's claim now to acquire the rights to the name of the firm is "time barred".

Nik Norzrul Thani, 60, said this in his affidavit in support dated yesterday that was sighted by theedgemarkets.com, to strike out Zaid's law suit and also to stop an injunction from being imposed against the firm from retaining the use of Zaid Ibrahim & Co.

Chew is the managing director of ZICO Holdings Inc, the holding company of Zaid Ibrahim & Co, and has been with the firm since the 1990s.

Malaysia practises a limitation on when a suit could be filed for consideration by the court. According to the Limitation Act 1953, a person could file a suit within six years of an event.

Firm has grown to have branches in 10 countries since Zaid's departure
Nik Norzrul Thani said since Zaid left, the firm had grown by leaps and bounds, emerging as the largest law firm in Malaysia with close to 160 lawyers.

In addition, the firm has become the anchor firm of ZICO Law, a network of separate and independent law firms across 10 Asean countries, said the chairman.

“We are the first firm to have such extensive networking in all Asean countries. The goodwill of the firm cannot be attributed to Zaid, as the exponential growth took place since March 2008,” he said.

“It is fallacious for Zaid to allege misrepresentation by the firm, as the name Zaid Ibrahim & Co, whilst containing components of his name, does not represent him anymore. For 12 years, from 2008 to this year, he never asserted any claim or interests in the equity, goodwill, name or any part thereof of the firm,” he said.

He added that while Zaid was appointed as consultant for the firm, the former minister had requested that his name would not appear in the letterhead of the firm despite having re-joined the firm from July 2018 to October 2020, as he had harboured political ambitions under Pakatan Harapan.

Zaid allegedly made several breaches as chairman
While acknowledging letters from Zaid's solicitors seeking the return of the firm's name, Nik Norzrul Thani said the partners in the firm agreed to offer the former minister the chairmanship of the firm, but he did not sign any agreement.

He alleged that Zaid, while being chairman, had unilaterally ordered renovations to his office worth RM75,000 without any tender exercise, unilaterally approved withdrawals to himself to the amount of RM90,000, and had purportedly disrupted the proper administration of the firm and took steps to sow doubt about the character and integrity of the partners.

“Zaid carried out a divide and rule policy with some partners in order to cause split and dissension among the partners in the firm,” Nik Norzrul Thani claimed in the affidavit.

Following these breaches, the firm decided to terminate Zaid's chairmanship on Nov 11.

He further asserted that the firm did not breach the Legal Profession Act nor the Bar Council ruling no 2.01 in retaining the name.

“For the reasons cited above, I pray that the suit would be dismissed with costs,” Nik Norzrul Thani said.

Zaid says renovating 500 sq foot office not abuse
In a tweet, the former minister denied he abused the company's funds by renovating his office.

"Abuse is not when you renovate a 500 sq foot room or agree to a salary higher than Nik Norzrul Thani.

"Abuse is when you allow the firm to be indebted close to RM90 million mostly to ZICO Holdings. That is abuse," Zaid tweeted.

On the striking out application by Nik Norzrul Thani, Zaid asked on what grounds did Messrs Tommy Thomas (the firm representing Zaid & Co) filed it for?

"Time bar. That's a big improvement. Earlier those who owe me money said: Nothing due or owing," he tweeted.

It is not certain as to what the RM90 million debt that Zaid was referring to.
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