Congratulations: Thavalingam (second left) posing for a photo with Prof Nichol (far left), Prof Power and Wang (third and fourth from left) after receiving the honorary LJMU fellowship award in Liverpool, England, recently.
Prominent Malaysian labour and employment lawyer Datuk Thavalingam Thavarajah was among 16 individuals made honorary fellows of the Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) in England recently.
They were recognised, among others, for outstanding professional achievements, contributions to society and for the values they shared with the university.
Vice-chancellor Prof Mark Power said the university’s fellowship was an exceptional roll call of individuals who participated in the life of the university and become its ambassadors.
“Fellows are drawn from all walks of life and numerous disciplines, many are alumni and return for the honour of having established professional acclaim in their time since graduating.
“The cohort we recognise this year is outstanding and I’m already proud of their association with LJMU and looking forward to how we can work with them in the future,” he added.
Also present at the conferment ceremony on Oct 30 were pro vice-chancellor (Faculty of Business and Law) Prof Timothy Nichol and Dr Julia Wang, LJMU’s director of international relations.
Thavalingam, who graduated in 1988 with a law degree from LJMU, has authored, co-authored and contributed to numerous publications, namely, Employment Termination Law & Practice Malaysia, A Practical Guide; Employment & Industrial Relations Law Malaysia: Retrenchment Law and Procedure in Malaysia; Constructive Dismissal - Commentaries and Cases; Employment Law Asia (Malaysian Chapter) as well as the volume on the Employment Act 1955, Industrial Relations Act 1967 and the Trade Unions Act 1959 in the Annotated Statutes of Malaysia series.
He has been recognised and ranked as a leading practitioner by Benchmark Litigation, Euromoney, The Legal 500, Chambers and Asialaw.
In 2010 and 2011, Thavalingam was honoured by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) through the ILO Client Choice Awards in London, and by the In-House Community in 2017 during its awards ceremony in Hong Kong. Most recently, he was awarded Labour and Employment Lawyer of the Year by AsiaLaw at its Regional Legal Expertise Awards 2023.
Thavalingam has also been involved in the restructuring of government-linked companies and acted as senior counsel in a number of high-profile employment disputes which have been reported in the media.
He was also appointed by the Malaysian Government as a member of the National Labour Advisory Council (NLAC) during his tenure as Malaysian Employers Federation (MEF) honorary secretary.
In 1987, Sir John Moores became the first Honorary Fellow of the then Polytechnic and it established a tradition that has continued till today.
Since that inaugural conferment, LJMU has recognised the outstanding achievements of over 300 distinguished individuals, who have become part of its extended university community.
