Tan Sri Dato’ Cecil Abraham practices as an advocate, arbitrator and mediator. He is a Senior Partner with Zul Rafique & Partners, Malaysia. 

Tan Sri Dato’ is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (United Kingdom), the Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators, the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators, the Singapore Mediation Centre, and the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration Limited. 

He was elected a Fellow of Queen Mary & Westfield College, University of London in 1990. He is a member of the International Bar Association (IBA), the International Council of Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Commission on Arbitration, the Arbitration and ADR Committee of the Malaysian Bar Council, and the Working Group of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association. He is a member of the Committee appointed by the Chief Justice of Malaysia to assist in the drafting of the new Malaysian Mediation Act, and is a founding member of the International Maritime Conciliation and Mediation Panel (IMCAM), which is set up to deal with mediation on maritime disputes. 

Tan Sri Dato’ currently chairs the Practice Section of the Malaysian Bar Council on Civil Procedure that is given the responsibility to amend the Malaysian Rules of the High Court. He is the chairman of the ADR Committee of ICC Malaysia, and is a member of the Advisory Council of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).

Tan Sri Dato’ Cecil Abraham is a Past Vice President of Asia Pacific Regional Arbitration Group (APRAG), Past Vice Chair of Committee D (which is the Arbitration and ADR Section of the IBA), Past Deputy President of the Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators, Past Member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), Past Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Malaysia Branch (CIArb), Past President of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA), Past Member of the Malaysian Bar Council, and Past Chairman of the Kuala Lumpur Bar Committee.

He has edited a number of volumes of the Malaysian Court Forms, and the Halsbury’s Laws of Malaysia on Practice & Procedure. He has contributed the Malaysian chapter on arbitration in Commercial Arbitration Law in Asia and the Pacific (an ICC Publication edited by Simmonds Hill Jarvin); the Malaysian Chapter on arbitration in Arbitration in Asia (published by Butterworths, and edited by Michael J Moser); the Malaysian Chapter on arbitration for the Global Legal Group entitled Questions for the International Comparative Legal Guide: International Arbitration 2003; the Malaysian Chapter in Cargo Claims by William Tetley; the Malaysian Chapter in the International Bar Association publication Judicial Sales of Vessels and Priority of Claims published by Kluwer; the Chapter on the “Role Played by the Party-Appointed Arbitrator” in The Asian Leading Arbitrators Guide to International Arbitration; the Malaysian Chapter in Arbitration World, 3rd Edition; and the Malaysian Chapter on Arbitration in World Arbitration Reporter. He is the Malaysian correspondent for Malaysia of the International Arbitration Law Review.

Tan Sri Dato’ Abraham has presented papers on various aspects of arbitration at the International Bar Association, the Inter-Pacific Bar Association, UNCITRAL, LawAsia, Asean Law Conference and other regional conferences.

As an advocate, he has appeared before the High Courts of Malaya and Sabah & Sarawak, Court of Appeal, the Federal Court, and the Privy Council. He has acted as counsel in a number of landmark cases of a commercial nature involving banks, finance companies and multi-nationals listed in the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. Over 220 of his cases are reported in the local law reports.

Tan Sri Dato’ has an extensive arbitration practice: he has sat as chairman, sole-Arbitrator and co-arbitrator in over 55 commercial arbitrations held in India, France, Taiwan, Switzerland, Singapore, Philippines, Hong Kong and Malaysia, amongst others, under the SIAC, LCIA, ICC, KLRCA, and ICSID Rules. He was a counsel for the Government of Malaysia in an investment arbitration held under the International Convention for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Dato’ Cecil Abraham sits on the panel of Arbitrators of the Hong Kong Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA), the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), the Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration (SCMA), the FICCI Arbitration and Conciliation Tribunal (FACT) India, the Indonesian National Board of Arbitration (BANI),the Indian Council of Arbitration (ICA), the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

Tan Sri Dato’ Abraham graduated with an LLB (Hons) from the Queen Mary College, University of London in 1968. He was called by the Honourable Society of Middle Temple as a Barrister at Law in May 1969, and was admitted as an Advocate & Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in February 1970.

Wilfred Abraham is the head of the Arbitration & Alternative Dispute Resolution practice group of Zul Rafique & Partners. He was called to the Bar on 20 June 1975 after finishing his Bar final exams, and called to the Honourable Society of Middle Temple. He started practice with Messrs Shearn Delamore & Co, & Partners on 1 January 2001. Wilfred Abraham’s main area of practice is alternative dispute resolution, with particular emphasis on arbitration. In the long years of practice that he has registered, appeared as counsel and arbitrator in many arbitrations, including arbitrations conducted under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce, the FIDIC form as well as the Architects Form of Contract and the KLRCA rules as well as the UNCITRAL rules.

In addition to his contentious work, Wilfred provides advice and drafts building contracts for specialised projects such as cement mills, power generation plants, and other infrastructure projects. Wilfred has written various articles on aspects of arbitration in Malaysia and has co-authored the FIDIC Chapter and how it could be used in Malaysia.

Kuhendran Thanapalasingam is a partner with Zul Rafique & Partners where he practise in their Dispute Resolution practice group. He holds a Bachelor of Laws (Hons.) Degree from the University of Leicester and was admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in 1992. He has also been admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales.

Kuhendran has been involved in arbitration and litigation since his admission to the Malaysian Bar and spent a year in the construction department of a leading firm in the United Kingdom.