Sri Lanka to spend over $2 mln for law firm’s 3-mth legal expertise
The Government has approved a sum of US$2.3 million to be paid to global law firm Baker & McKenzie as legal services to, among other things, prepare new laws on a range of topics including real estate. At a recent meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Management (CCEM), it was agreed to pay the professional fee of US$ 2.3 million for 12 weeks to Baker & McKenzie subject to Cabinet approval for its expert services over a 3-month period. The Business Times earlier reported the law firm assignment on drafting new laws as well as to revise existing laws pertaining to fiscal and the monetary sector, restructuring insolvency, real estate, assets, residency and property, intellectual property and tax. Government sources said the law firm, which has already opened an office in Colombo and due to start work shortly, has also been assigned the task of creating a central programme management unit to support the ongoing economic development efforts.
The main task of the Baker & McKenzie is to ensure that projects/initiatives are completed on time and under budget with available resources, one source said. The law firm will also conduct initial preparatory work to set up delivery labs bringing together 20 or 30 people from all appropriate departments to develop solutions for problems in the implementation of priority projects. Several selected retired senior military officers are to be assigned the task of coordinating certain projects at district level. The Malaysian model for project monitoring developed by Baker & McKenzie will be introduced to Sri Lanka under this initiative, he added. With Asian offices in Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai, Baker & McKenzie is a renowned law firm providing a combination of local and global experience, helping domestic and multinational companies seamlessly manage even the most complex cross-border transactions.