Chuah Jo-Shua

Jo-Shua heads the Litigation Practice Group of Zaid Ibrahim & Co. (Penang) which comprises the General Litigation Team, Banking Recovery Team, and Motor Insurance Team with offices also in Johor Bahru and Kota Bahru. With extensive experience in high-stakes litigation across all levels of courts, he offers exceptional legal representation bolstered by a strong commercial and business acumen. Jo-Shua’s practice spans commercial litigation, banking litigation and restructuring & insolvency. He also practices in the niche areas of strata management and employment disputes.  

Jo-Shua completed his pupillage at Zaid Ibrahim & Co. in 2012 and was thereafter retained in the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. He was made Senior Associate in 2016 and promoted to Partner in January 2020. In July 2024, Jo-Shua was appointed the head of the Litigation Practice Group of the Penang branch.

Key Engagements

Commercial Litigation

• Acted for a public-listed company to secure a favourable settlement of approximately USD 2 million relating to the export of its goods to a buyer in the Middle East.
• Acted for a latex glove manufacturer in a dispute of a contract for the supply of gloves to be exported to USA valued at over USD 12 million.
• Acted for an IT-solutions service provider in a contractual dispute with the concession holder of smart parking system awarded by the state government.
• Acted for shareholders in a boardroom tussle culminating in various actions across multiple jurisdictions, including an action for minority oppression, an action to void transfer of shares, and a counter-action for specific performance of sale of balance shares.  
• Acted for a group of investors to recover losses of investment against a public company running an investment scheme totalling over RM1 billion.
• Acted for a prominent family in Penang in an inheritance dispute involving land valued at over RM100 million where the matter was litigated up until the Federal Court.
• Acted for a local exporter of goods in a tri-partite dispute instituted against it by an international shipping line for accrued port charges due to non-collection of goods by the buyer at the port of discharge.
• Acted for a company in the marine, oil& gas industry headquartered in Oman in relation to tenancy dispute of its local factory premises.
• Acted for the main contractor of a hotel development in Langkawi to recover debt owed to it by the developer which culminated in multiple actions including an injunction against the auction of the land, a s.405 Companies Act 2016 judicial management application, and a challenge of the private caveat.
• Acted for a large hospitality chain in a contractual dispute with its car park operator leading to multiple court actions.

Banking Litigation

• Acted for various banks in all types of debt recovery including all modes of execution of judgments in consumer, commercial and hire-purchase financing.
• Acted for a bank in resisting a claim by its customer alleging shortfall of interests paid on over 50 fixed deposit accounts maintained by the customer over the period of close to a decade.
• Acted for a bank in a class action suit brought against it by persons claiming equitable interest on the land foreclosed by the bank. The matter which involved arguments pertaining s.340 of the National Land Code 1965 on indefeasibility of title was litigated up to the Federal Court.
• Acting for various banks in forfeiture of property (FOP) matters under the Dangerous Drugs (Forfeiture of Property) Act 1988.
• Regularly advise banks pertaining court orders served on them including discovery orders, injunctions, and garnishee orders.

Insolvency & Restructuring

• Acted for a Malaysian conglomerate to secure a court sanction in a s.366 Companies Act 2016 Scheme of Arrangement restructuring exercise involving assets over RM1billion.
• Acted for Private Trustees appointed pursuant to Singaporean court order to secure a recognition of Bankruptcy Order in Malaysian court pertaining the bankrupt’s estate in Malaysia.
• Acted for a multinational corporation in the restructuring and winding-down of its 40-year operations in Penang which involved thousands of employees.
• Acted for the family of a bankrupt individual in multiple actions instituted by creditors against the family to void the transfer of properties to the family prior to bankruptcy.
• Acted for a commercial bank headquartered in Beijing in a contested receivership application.

Fraud& Asset Recovery

• Acted for a multinational corporation to recover losses suffered due to fraud and embezzlement perpetrated jointly by the former plant manager together with suppliers.
• Acted for a distributor of FMCG products to recover losses arising from fraud by its customer in conjunction with a third party.
• Acted for a logistics service platform in successfully recovering losses arising from an exploitation over the course of several months by an e-commerce vendor against a loophole in the platform.

Insurance

• Acted for a large Japanese insurer in its claim against a Malaysian conglomerate for contamination of food products imported into Japan causing recalls and losses in excess of USD 20 million.
• Acted for a local insurer and highway concessionaire in public liability cases in the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia.

Strata Management

• Acted for a proprietor of a distinct component within a stratified mixed development to argue departure from the principle of ‘one rate for all’ to secure marginally lower maintenance charges and contribution to sinking fund payable to the Joint Management Body / Management Corporation by the proprietor.

Employment Law

• Acted for a multinational corporation in an unfair dismissal claim all the way to the Federal Court, successfully arguing the point that compensation in lieu of reinstatement shall not be payable to the former employee since reinstatement is no longer possible due to the closure of the Penang plant of the multinational corporation.
• Acted for a former employee in a claim for constructive dismissal involving elements of sexual harassment and bullying.

Injunctive Reliefs

• Acted for an integrated circuit (IC) design startup to secure an urgent Spring board Injunction to prohibit a former employee from bringing over proprietary information valued at over USD 100 million to its competitor.
• Acted as Supervising Solicitor in an Interim Preservation of Property (IPP) exercise against a gold retailer chain conducted simultaneously at its stores across Peninsular Malaysia.
• Acted for a European company in the medical imaging field in resisting an application for Fortuna injunction.