KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 16 ― Malaysians who need to engage the services of local Shariah lawyers will soon be able to find one and even compare price quotes from them online by early November, two organisations have said.
The online database will be part of the upcoming CanLaw Syariah platform, which is to be developed following the signing of an exclusive technology partnership deal yesterday between the Malaysian Syarie Lawyers Association's (PGSM) and legal technology start-up CanLaw Asia Sdn Bhd.
According to CanLaw, CanLaw Syariah will be based on the company's existing lawyer-discovery technology for civil lawyers.
“CanLaw Syariah would enable the public to find and compare quotations from up to 3 different syariah lawyers in just a few simple clicks, making the Syariah legal industry more accessible and transparent than ever before.
“There will also be a powerful and easily searchable online directory of Syariah lawyers that will assist the public in finding the best lawyers for their case,” the firm said in a press statement yesterday.
Musa Awang, the president of PGSM which is an NGO seeking to protect the welfare of Shariah lawyers and develop local Shariah law, said the planned “introduction of CanLaw Syariah will completely change the way Malaysians engage syariah lawyers.”
“This is an important step forward as the booming online market will now have unprecedented access to the syariah legal market. We are also very much excited about the various other innovation projects that we have ahead of us,” he said.
“The public will also have a chance to choose the best Syarie lawyers to represent them, without being influenced by agents or 'touts' that pretend to be or act like a Syarie lawyer,” he added when highlighting the benefits of CanLaw Syariah.
Loo Soon Yi, the CEO who founded CanLaw, said the partnership agreement with PGSM would allow for “instant access” to Shariah lawyers online.
“We aim to improve transparency in the lawyer-discovery process and to help Malaysians find quality lawyers that suits their needs,” he said.
The two organisations are also expected to collaborate on encouraging local Shariah lawyers to adopt technology, including through organising tech-adoption workshops, affordable website building services and offering Shariah legal knowledge online.
The CanLaw Syariah platform is expected to be launched at PGSM's 4th national convention this November 10, while a mobile companion app for Shariah lawyers called CanLaw Syariah Pro is to be released soon after the platform's launch.
