Ruban is a partner in the Construction and Engineering practice and is also a member of the Occupational Safety & Health and Environmental Crisis Management practice in Skrine.
He has experience in various aspects and stages of construction and engineering projects and has advised clients on a range of issues from procurement to contract administration, and the avoidance and resolution of disputes.
Ruban is familiar with the entire range of dispute resolution processes including litigation, arbitration, adjudication and mediation.
Key Practice Areas
- Construction Litigation, Arbitration and Adjudication
- Oil & Gas, and Energy Disputes
- Regulatory Compliance (Construction, Occupational Safety and Environmental)
- Occupational Safety and Health & Environmental
- Acted as junior counsel for a public listed company in an arbitration involving disputes in relation to the construction of a mixed development involving a hotel, service apartments and car park with an amount of dispute of approximately RM 90 million.
- Acted as junior counsel for a public listed company in an arbitration concerning claims arising from the construction of a cooling water pump house for a 2 x 300 MW power plant with an amount in dispute of approximately RM36 million.
- Acted as junior counsel for a multinational company in a suit involving disputes in relation to the construction of a mixed development project comprising of a hotel, service apartments and a retail podium with an amount in dispute of approximately RM 56 million.
- Acted as junior counsel for one of Malaysia’s largest highway concessionaires in successfully dismissing an injunction application from one of its contractors to restrain the call on a performance bond. The dispute was in relation to the construction of an elevated expressway with a project value of RM 315 million.
- Acted as junior counsel for a multinational company in successfully dismissing an injunction application from one of its contractors to restrain the call on a performance bond. The dispute was in relation to the piling, raft foundation and associated works for the Tun Razak Exchange Lifestyle Quarter with a contract value of approximately RM 140 million. See the grounds of judgment in BSG Construction (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd v Lendlease Projects (M) Sdn Bhd [2019] 6 AMR 228, HC.
- Acted as junior counsel for a contractor against a government body in an application to refer questions of law arising out of the arbitral award pursuant to Section 42 of the Arbitration Act 2005. See the grounds of judgment in Chain Cycle Sdn Bhd v Kerajaan Malaysia [2016] 1 MLJ 681, CA.
- Acted as junior counsel for a public listed company in an adjudication involving disputes in relation to the construction of a mixed development involving a hotel, service apartments and car park. The adjudication proceeding eventually led to the filing of applications to set aside and/or enforce adjudication decisions under CIPAA 2012. See the grounds of judgment in Terminal Perintis Sdn Bhd v Tan Ngee Hong Construction Sdn Bhd and another case [2017] MLJU 242.
- Acted as junior counsel for a public listed company in an adjudication involving disputes in relation to the engineering, procurement and construction management services and equipment and material supply related to the design and construction of a chemical plant in Kerteh for the production of petrochemical derivate products used in the manufacturing and oil and gas industry. The adjudication proceeding eventually led to the filing of applications to set aside and/or enforce adjudication decisions under CIPAA 2012. See the grounds of judgment in Foster Wheeler E & C (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd v Arkema Thiochemicals Sdn Bhd and another case [2015] MLJU 1952.
- Represented parties in an array of mediations under the Court mediation system
- Acting as junior counsel for a subsidiary of a Malaysian oil and gas public listed company against the State-owned electrical company concerning a 300MW gas-fired power plant with an amount of dispute of more than RM 250 million.
- Acted as junior counsel for a Government linked oil and gas corporation against the rig owner in a dispute for claims arising from breach of contract and negligence due to collision of a rig.
- Advised on the implications of non-registration with the Board of Architects and Board of Engineers etc.
- Advised on the regulatory requirements of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994.
- Advised on the regulatory requirements of the Lembaga Pembangunan Industri Pembinaan Malaysia (CIDB) Act 1994.
- Advised on the regulatory requirements of the Environmental Quality Act 1974.
- Acting as junior counsel for a public listed company in an action by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health, Malaysia in relation to a charge under Section 17 of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994. The incident occurred when a highly pressurised pipe snapped causing the death of a contractor who was working on site.
- Acted as junior counsel for the subsidiary of a multinational company in an action by the Department of Environment, Malaysia in relation to a charge under Section 25 of the Environmental Quality Act 1974.
- Acted as junior counsel for a large Japanese heavy industries manufacturer in a criminal suit for allegedly failing to ensure that persons other than employees were not exposed to risks to their safety or health under OSHA. The incident occurred when a local and a foreign worker died following an ammonia leakage in the plant.
- Advised a subsidiary of Swiss parent company for breaches under the OSHA resulting from a fatal workplace accident at a cement plant which caused three deaths.
- Acted as junior counsel for a leading gas infrastructure and utility company against a subsidiary and its Singaporean parent company in a civil suit for losses and damages and injunctive relief in respect of unlawful discharge of industrial effluent onto our client’s land, which caused the corrosion and leakage of the gas pipeline.
Qualifications:
- Advocate and Solicitor, High Court of Malaya (2015)
- Barrister-at-Law (Lincoln's Inn) (2013)
- LL.B (Hons), Sheffield University (2012)
Publications:
- Co-author, “A commentary on the Malaysian Court of Appeal case of Chain Cycle Sdn Bhd v Government of Malaysia”, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Malaysia Newsletter, 2016
- Author, “Retention Sums – Is it Really Yours”, Skrine’s Legal Insights, July 2019
- Author, “Federal Court: Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act 2012 is prospective”, Skrine’s E-Alerts October 2019
Talks:
- Speaker, “Occupational Safety Crisis Management – Being in Control of Your Exposure” on 16 April 2019