Malaysia - one of the last remaining key countries to prohibit foreign lawyers from practising - is set to open its doors following successful lobbying by the Law Society backed by a raft of City firms.

A breakthrough in negotiations with the south-east Asian country came last month when a delegation of Law Society policymakers met with the local bar council in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, under the auspices of the British Foreign Office.


UK, US and south-east Asian firms - including City firms Allen & Overy, Clifford Chance, Clyde & Co, Eversheds, Linklaters, Lovells and Herbert Smith - also sent delegates to the seminar, which discussed possible models for liberalisation of the Malaysian legal market.


Visiting the Law Society in London this week, the president of the Malaysian Bar Council, Kuthubul Zaman Bukhari, said Malaysia would definitely give a commitment to the World Trade Organisation, probably in October this year, guaranteeing that the country would liberalise its practice rights regime.


Hugh McDermott, the Law Society’s international policy executive for south Asia and the Pacific, said: ‘I am pleased that Malaysia has finally decided to embrace reform and open their market. The challenge now is for us to continue to work with them to create a competitive marketplace for UK firms to establish and practice.’


Andrew Bicknell, the head of City firm Clyde & Co’s Singapore office, welcomed the news, saying: ‘Liberalisation will benefit the market for legal services in Malaysia and in the Association of South East Asian Nations as a whole.’


Roger Best, a Clifford Chance partner who has worked in Malaysia, said: ‘We are delighted to hear of the speed with which they have been moving to open the legal sector. We look forward to seeing the proposed model for foreign law firms, which we hope will allow Malaysian and foreign-qualified lawyers to work together in a manner viable from both economic and practice management perspectives.’