Asialaw Profiles
The Guide to the legal markets of the Asia-Pacific

As one of the premier litigation firms in Indonesia, Adnan Buyung Nasution & Partners provides litigation services in various courts. The firm’s expertise ranges from investigations held at the Police Office, to the Commission for the Supervision of Business Competition and the Corruption Eradication Commission.

The practice is led by DR Adnan Buyung Nasution, who has been described as a pioneer of legal aid and law reform in Indonesia. It has successfully continued to extend its reach in high profile dispute resolution matters. For example, it represented a Chinese power company in a high profile money laundering case.

Frans Winarta & Partners retains its top tier status with another strong year advising the business sector and government institutions. Renowned for its expertise in the fields of civil and criminal litigation, the team also focuses on mediation and arbitration.

The practice is led by name partner Frans Winarta, who is a highly regarded civil and criminal litigation specialist and very active in corporate law, intellectual property rights and labour and employment law. His many achievements include being an active member of the National Law Commission of Indonesia, and chairman of Peradin lawyers' association.

The firm is involved on many high profile domestic disputes, and has an impressive international client list including The Washington Post and CEMEX.

Lubis Santosa & Maulana’s dispute resolution practice has extensive experience representing individuals, private companies and public companies on complex litigation matters. The team works closely with the firm’s corporate and commercial team in many cases.

Name partner Mulya Lubis is a very experienced corporate and commercial practitioner who has led the firm on a number of major matetrs. This past year saw the team represent Malaysia’s largest cable television operator, Astro All Asia Networks, in a US$230 million dispute with the Lippo Group over a pay-TV partnership that collapsed in 2008.

Soemadipradja & Taher’s dedicated dispute resolution team is recognised by peers as one of the market leaders in this area. Practice leader Hafzan Taher, together with Linda Widyati, lead a team that is also noted as the largest in Indonesia.

This past year saw it continue to represent Newmont’s Indonesian subsidiary on various matters. These include arbitration proceedings under UNCITRAL Rules over a dispute with the Indonesian Government in respect of work contracts.

Another highlight was successfully representing the division of United Technologies Corporation responsible for aircraft engine manufacture. This concerned a number of claims before the Indonesian courts in relation to alleged product defects in respect of an airliner crash in Indonesia.

Hadiputranto Hadinoto & Partners’ dispute practice team is led by Timur Sukirno. The firm’s impressive practitioners have a significant breadth of experience on local and international arbitration, and corporate commercial litigation.

The team’s clients include multinational corporations, local companies, major international banks and financial institutions.

A highlight last year was advising PT Sodexo Indonesia as one of the defendants in an unlawful tort claim filed by an Indonesian individual before the District Court of South Jakarta.

The firm also represented Biesterfeld International GMBH in disputes against PT Dalzon Chemicals Indonesia. This involved two separate lawsuits brought by PT Dalzon Chemicals Indonesia relating to a quality claim and an unlawful act.

Hiswara Bunjamin & Tandjung works closely with Herbert Smith and therefore has access to leading international disputes expertise and know-how in commercial litigation and arbitration cases. The team’s disputes work regularly involves advising major international companies on significant contentious matters in Indonesia.

Its impressive list of clients includes Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse, Merrill Lynch, Nokia, BP and Rio Tinto.

Partners Charles Ball and Chalid Heyder are identified as leading individuals based on the breadth and depth of their dispute resolution experience domestically and internationally.

The team last year advised a trading company in proceedings before the business competition supervisory commission over allegations of breaches of Indonesia’s anti-monopoly law.

KarimSyah’s dispute resolution practice specialises in oil, gas, energy and infrastructure matters.

The practice is recognised for formulating and implementing innovative solutions for problems resulting from the recent financial crisis and the chaos resulting from the previous government administration.

Practice leader Firmansyah “has strong corporate knowledge”, says a competitor. He is ably assisted by Karen Mills, who is a regionally prominent international arbitrator.

The firm’s clients include international companies and several domestic state owned companies.

Founding partner Luhut Pangaribuan is a much respected practitioner and has extensive experience in litigation. This includes representing the governor of Riau Islands over his alleged role in the corrupt purchase of fire engines.

The firm’s team has an impressive client base that includes a number of prominent mining companies.

Its quality in civil and criminal proceedings has peers commending the team’s strength in all facets of litigation. The firm has also published numerous articles on the rule of law and the judicial system and is constantly active in civil and criminal cases.

Kartini Muljadi & Rekan provides authoritative legal advice in connection with clients’ civil or criminal litigation in Indonesia. With a commitment to provide professional and ethical advisory services, the team’s in-depth knowledge and understanding of the law ensures that clients’ objectives and interests are met. Longstanding clients of the firm include major corporations and financial institutions around the world.

The dispute resolution practice at Lubis Ganie Surowidjojo is considered as one of the fast growing litigation practices among corporate law firms in Indonesia. The team is heavily involved on high profile complex cases. For example, it represented PT Medco Energi Internasional and PT Medco E&P Tomori Sulawesi in an antitrust and monopoly case. Another notable transaction included representing PT Krakatau Steel in an arbitration proceeding at the Indonesian National Board of Arbitration.

Ali Budiardjo Nugroho Reksodiputro

Acting for corporate clients on dispute settlement negotiations, ABNR regularly appears before relevant administrative and arbitration tribunals. With the combined efforts of the energy and natural resources team, the dispute team represented MMC Oil & Gas Engineering in a dispute concerning the termination of subcontracts with PT Tamarona. The firm also advised PT Perusahaan Gas Negara in a decision by the Dispute Adjudication Board.

Assegaf Hamzah & Partners

Assegaf Hamzah & Partners’ very strong litigation team is at the forefront of competition law developments in Indonesia having acted as counsel to national carrier Garuda Indonesia in a ground-breaking competition law dispute. This saw the District Court overturn the Business Competition Supervisory Commission’s decision that Garuda had taken part in an airline cartel established to maintain fuel surcharges.

Budidjaja & Associates

Housing a strong group of litigators, Budidjaja & Associates enjoys an excellent reputation for disputes work. The firm represented PT JAIC Indonesia, a venture capital consulting business, in its dispute with state owned enterprise PT Istaka Karya (Persero) over Istaka promissory notes.

Hutabarat Halim & Rekan

The firm’s founding partner Pheo M Hutabarat is “an expert in commercial dispute resolution”, says one rival partner. The firm acted as legal counsel to the Lippo Group in connection with the termination of 100 employment contracts of employees of PT Kymco Lippo Motor Indonesia. The matter was heard in front of the Labour Court in Jakarta.

Roosdiono & Partners

Roosdiono & Partners represents clients from various business sectors in settling disputes in connection to Indonesian arbitration, civil and construction law. The firm advised PT Daysun Jaya Satu in filing a lawsuit against PT Archipelago Trading & Service Corporation over the purchase price of a property in Jakarta.

Soewito Suhardiman Eddymurthy Kardono

Soewito Suhardiman Eddymurthy Kardono is very experienced in handling matters for Singapore-based international law firms in conjunction with arbitration hearings for multinational companies. The firm is also adept at handling litigation cases. It acted as Indonesian counsel for PT Aperni Pratama Ocean Line and assisted the Indonesian law firm Kailimang & Ponto in the successful defence during bankruptcy proceedings made by the Korea Securities Finance Corporation.