Tiziana Sucharitkul, managing partner and director of Tilleke & Gibbins’ dispute resolution group, provided in-depth insights on diversity and inclusion and law firms for a recent article in Asia Business Law Journal (ABLJ) on diversity and inclusion in law firms across Asia. In the article, which was published on March 30, 2022, Tiziana offers insights gained in her years in senior leadership at Tilleke & Gibbins and as a longtime advocate for law firm diversity and inclusion initiatives. The article begins by contrasting the demand for greater diversity among Western law firms—especially by corporate counsel—with attitudes in Asia, where questions of expertise and service often take precedence when it comes to legal work. The writer then quickly shifts to investigating the reasons for this, as well as exploring the current state of diversity in the Asian legal industry today. This section of the article leads with Tiziana’s explanation that leadership of Asian law firms are in a very different context than the social tensions that catalyzed many diversity initiatives in the West. However, this does not necessarily mean that diverse representation has lagged in this part of the world. Rather, as Tiziana points out, “Southeast Asian countries have some of the highest proportions of women in senior business leadership in the world.” She also notes that markers such as gender diversity and respect for minority rights can vary widely across Asia. Elsewhere in the article, other senior law firm leaders express similar observations and provide details on the diversity challenges in their countries of focus. For example, an expert on diversity in the Indian legal profession notes that local diversity concerns must also consider caste discrimination, and a partner at a global firm in Singapore speaks about the challenges of developing diversity policies that fit each local context. Tiziana

At the annual general meeting of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA) on March 24, Pimvimol (June) Vipamaneerut, a partner in the firm’s corporate and commercial group in Bangkok, was elected as IPBA’s jurisdictional committee member for Thailand. In the role, Pimvimol will be responsible for membership issues in Thailand, and will be the key point of contact for matters concerning activities in the jurisdiction. She will serve as Thailand’s jurisdictional committee member for three years (2022–2025). The IPBA is a prestigious international association of business and commercial attorneys active or with a strong interest in the Pacific region. The IPBA has a membership of more than 1,500 legal professionals from over 65 countries and jurisdictions. Through its activities, the IPBA provides lawyers interested in the Asia-Pacific with opportunities to discuss legal, business, and policy issues affecting the region and grow in their legal practice through professional networking. For more information on the IPBA and its activities, please visit the IPBA website.

On March 28, two lawyers from Tilleke & Gibbins’ corporate and commercial group—Nopparat Lalitkomon, senior associate, and Gvavalin Mahakunkitchareon, associate—spoke at an event titled “PDPA Is Coming: What Should I Be Doing Now?” hosted by the Thai-Norwegian Chamber of Commerce (NorCham) in Bangkok. During the in-person session, Gvavalin and Nopparat presented on the following topics: Impact of the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) on Thai companies; Advice on how to prepare and implement PDPA compliance procedures; Overview of PDPA subordinate regulations; and Penalties for failure to comply with PDPA provisions, and key lessons from the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU. As the PDPA is set to come into effect on June 1, 2022, after repeated delays caused by the pandemic, the session was very well attended by representatives of companies looking to ensure that their data protection policies and practices are in line with the new law.

On March 10, Nopparat Lalitkomon, a senior associate in Tilleke & Gibbins’ corporate and commercial group in Bangkok, was featured in the Lexology Connect: Philippines 2022 webinar to address regulatory risks and data management in Thailand. Nopparat appeared in the webinar session titled “Redefining Data” to give perspectives on data protection practices and trends elsewhere in the region. During the discussion, he provided an overview of the data privacy framework in Thailand, shared useful tips for managing and preventing data leaks, and addressed key elements of cross-border data transactions. His presentation assisted legal professionals in the Philippines to have a better understanding of the differences between the two countries’ data protection regulations, so that legal practitioners in Philippines could better serve clients who have concerns related to data management in Thailand.