About the Firm
A Practice Built Around the Weight of Workplace Decisions
Hikmah Legal was founded on the understanding that employment disputes affect people's livelihoods, professional reputations, and daily working lives. The practice exists to provide counsel that is both technically sound and humanly considered.
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Hikmah Legal — From Deliberation to Practice
The firm was established in Kuala Lumpur by practitioners who had observed, across years of broad-based litigation work, that employment matters were frequently handled as ancillary items rather than as the central concerns they are for the people involved. A dismissal is not a footnote. A senior exit handled carelessly can follow both parties for years. An HR policy that has not been reviewed since 2018 carries real exposure in the post-EA 2022 amendment environment.
Hikmah Legal was formed to fill a specific gap: a practice that focuses on Malaysian employment law with the depth of a specialist, the discretion expected of a firm handling sensitive matters, and a working pace calibrated to the gravity of workplace decisions rather than to volume throughput.
The name reflects the founding philosophy. Hikmah — wisdom, discernment, the quality of advice that considers consequences rather than just immediate outcomes — is what we aim to bring to each file we carry. We do not take on matters beyond our capacity to handle properly, and we give each engagement the attention it deserves.
Our Mission
To provide employment law counsel that employees and employers in Malaysia can act on with confidence — clearly reasoned, honestly delivered, and adapted to the specific facts at hand.
To handle sensitive workplace matters with the level of discretion that protects the professional standing of all parties, long after the matter has concluded.
To maintain a practice of manageable scale — not expanding to a size where individual clients become case numbers — so that each engagement receives named-partner attention.
Our Team
The Counsel You Work With
Every matter is handled by a named partner or senior associate, not passed to general support. These are the people you will hear from.
Razif Azri
Founding Partner
Called to the Malaysian Bar, Razif leads the firm's Industrial Court practice. He has represented both employees and employers across a range of sectors including financial services, manufacturing, and professional services. He has a particular focus on disciplinary process integrity and reinstatement claims.
Suraya Nabilah
Senior Associate
Suraya advises HR departments and management teams on employment contract compliance, retrenchment frameworks, and the Employment Act amendments that took effect in 2023. She drafts and reviews employment documentation across all industry types and is the firm's lead on HR advisory mandates.
Darwisyah Hamid
Associate
Darwisyah focuses on senior executive matters — negotiating separation terms, reviewing equity treatment on exit, and drafting restrictive covenant and settlement documentation. She brings a careful, structured approach to matters where the personal and organisational dimensions intersect.
How We Work
Professional Standards We Hold
Written Merits Assessment
Before recommending any course of action, we provide a written assessment of the legal merits, likely outcomes, and realistic cost and time implications. Clients make informed decisions.
Confidentiality Protocol
All client communications, documents, and identifying details are handled under strict confidentiality procedures. Files are not discussed outside the assigned team.
Malaysian Bar Compliance
All practising lawyers at Hikmah Legal hold valid practising certificates under the Legal Profession Act 1976 and comply with the Rules of Conduct of the Malaysian Bar.
Current Knowledge Standard
Employment law in Malaysia has evolved substantially since 2023. Our team maintains current knowledge of Employment Act amendments, EPF regulations, SOCSO updates, and developing Industrial Court case law.
Named-Partner Accountability
Each file has an identified responsible lawyer who handles correspondence, attends hearings, and reviews documentation. Work is not delegated without the client's knowledge.
Communication Standards
We acknowledge enquiries within one working day and provide substantive updates at each material stage of a matter. Clients are not left to wonder what is happening with their file.
Employment Law Counsel Across Malaysia
Hikmah Legal advises on the full spectrum of employment law matters arising under the Industrial Relations Act 1967, the Employment Act 1955 as amended, the Minimum Wages Order, and related statutory frameworks. Our work spans dismissal representation before the Industrial Relations Department and the Industrial Court, ongoing HR advisory and workplace policy compliance, and the negotiation of senior executive separation agreements.
The practice works with clients across sectors including financial services, technology, healthcare, manufacturing, and professional services. We advise HR directors managing retrenchment exercises, employees who have received termination letters and are uncertain of their options, and C-suite executives navigating departures from organisations where the exit terms carry long-term professional and financial implications.
Clients engage Hikmah Legal for the combination of technical depth in Malaysian employment law, the discretion appropriate to sensitive workplace matters, and a working approach that treats each situation with the seriousness it warrants. Our Kuala Lumpur office is located in Wisma Antara on Jalan Ampang, accessible from KLCC and the surrounding business district.
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