Our Founders
NA Mallal, one of the two founding partners of the firm, earned his degree from London University and was admitted to the Singapore Bar in 1928. He was one of the 3 leaders of the Singapore Progressive Party, the first political party to contest elections, and was elected to the First Legislative Council in 1948.
MJ Namazie, co-founder of the firm, graduated from Oxford University with an LLB and a Bachelor of Civil Laws (BCL) and was admitted to the Singapore Bar in 1931. Standing as an independent candidate, he was later also elected to the First Legislative Council of Singapore in 1948, and served on the Muslim Advisory Board, the Majlis Ugama Islam, the Appeal Board of the Shariah Court, and as President of the Muslimin Trust Fund Association for several decades, and played a significant role in the drafting of the Administration of Muslim Law Act (AMLA) of 1966.
The Practice
Mallal & Namazie itself has a long and illustrious history. In 1950, in one of its most notable cases, the firm acted for the adoptive parents in the controversial Maria Hertogh case, and later during the ensuing riots, MJ Namazie himself played a crucial role is defusing tensions in the mobs, driving through the streets and appealing to them over the radio.
Many well-known lawyers and judges have also begun their legal careers in the offices of Mallal & Namazie, notably Justice Choor Singh and Justice F A Chua, both going on to become Supreme Court Justices, TT Rajah, who went on to found Rajah & Tann, and Farideh Namazie, the first president of the Singapore Association of Women Lawyers.