GK Ganesan Kasinathan

He has been an advocate and solicitor of the Malaysian Bar for over a quarter of a century.

Hailing from a Tamil school in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan, he spent his formative years at Sekolah Dato\' Sheik Ahmad. In 1976, after an open competition, he was accepted into the famed Royal Military College. At the end of his high school education, in 1979, he began his tertiary education at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, and completed a degree in Nuclear Science. He was commissioned a second lieutenant in 1983; and upon his graduation, was promoted to the rank of captain.

His love for the law drove him to read law even while he was serving the Armed Forces. In 1988 he was accepted into the University of Nottingham, UK, where he obtained his LL. B(Hons).

At Nottingham University he received the Raja Azlan Shah Prize for his \'Outstanding Contribution to the life, work and well-being of the Department and to its capacity to operate successfully as a multi-cultural community.\'

On his return to Malaysia in 1992 he successfully completed the Certificate in Legal Practice. The now retired Federal Court judge, Datuk Seri Gopal Sri Ram then accepted him as a pupil. GK was called to the Bar in 1993 and served with Messrs Sri Ram & Co; before opening his own firm, Messrs. GK Ganesan. He completed the LL. M (Master of Laws) at Universiti Malaya in 2001, specialising in commercial law.

His rise at the Bar has been meteoric. Within a short number of years, in 2000, he wrote a book entitled \'Bankruptcy law in Malaysia and Singapore: a Sourcebook.\' It continues to receive the approbation of judges from all courts: See the Federal Court in Akira Sales & Services (M) Sdn Bhd v Nadiah Zee bt Abdullah [2018] 2 MLJ 537, the Court of Appeal in Affin Bank v Abu Bakar bin Ismail [2018] 2 MLJ 88, Lee Chao Yong v Siteman Construction Sdn Bhd [2016] MLJU 526, Re Richard Dilaan Morais v. ex parte Ampang Centre Management Sdn Bhd [2016] MLJU 991; High Courts in: Ng Soon Tee ; Ex-Parte: CIMB Bank Berhad [2010] MLJU 631; Re Naspu bin Daud; ex p Affin Bank Bhd [2007] 5 MLJ 767, Re Siow Ah Moi @ Seow Yin Fong; ex p United Orient Leasing Co Bhd [2007] 3 MLJ 713.

One judge, Vincent Ng J called his work \'an opus\': see Tan Ah Tong v Dato Seri Dr Kuljit Singh [2002] 6 CLJ 484. He is considered a leading authority on insolvency law.

He is credited with creating history in two major bankruptcy cases at the Federal Court : Ho Ken Seng v Progressive Insurance Sdn Bhd - [2013] 2 MLJ 335; and Dato Lim Huah Leong 03-4-09/2016(W). In other areas he has made history as well. In September 2015– he argued at the Court of Appeal that damages must be paid in vitro fertilisation (IVF) for victims injured in accidents. That point had never been allowed before. On 02 September 2015, the Court of Appeal accepted his arguments and awarded the victim RM70,000.00 (see Star Online).