Zaid had said as he planned to return to private practice, the partners’ use of his personal name would lead to people thinking that he himself was providing services on behalf of ZICO.

He is, therefore, seeking a temporary injunction against his former partners from using the name pending disposal of a lawsuit.

In a statement, ZICO “firmly” denied allegations made against the firm, and called them “without merit”.

The firm said it would be “responding vigorously through court filings”.

The former de facto law minister said in his suit that in 2018, he wrote to Chew Seng Kok (managing director) and Nik Norzrul Thani Nik Hassan Thani (chairman) to request that they cease using the ZICO name and return it to him so he could start his own firm.

The issue was initially resolved when the partners invited him back to ZICO as an equity partner and chairman.

More than a week after his return, he said, his position in the law firm was terminated on grounds of “unauthorised acts”, but the details were not specified.

“The purported termination as chairman and equity partner was wrongful and I reserve my rights to seek appropriate reliefs,” Zaid said.