If passed, law firms would have had to pay an estimated RM950 each annually in addition to existing subscriptions.

The motions, put forward by Bar president AG Kalidas, had sought its members to subscribe for legal research materials from LexisNexis Malaysia, CLJ Legal Network Sdn Bhd, Percetakan Nasional Malaysia Bhd, Thomson Reuters and Digital Library Sdn Bhd, starting from next year.

In his motion, Kalidas said LexisNexis had previously filed a lawsuit against the Bar for alleged breach of contract, adding that they were supposed to pay the publisher from the annual subscription it collects from the lawyers.

The Bar was supposed to have tabled a motion at its annual general meeting in 2019 to implement the plan, but LexisNexis said this was not done.

“Pending disposal of this suit before the High Court, a mediation process began in January this year, where discussions to settle the suit amicably were done. The Bar and LexisNexis agreed to modify the subscription agreement,” the motion read.

All five motions failed to get the mandatory two-thirds vote requirement to be passed.

The EGM later passed a motion by former president Ambiga Sreenevasan and four others to increase the composition of Bar Council members from 12 to 16.

She and fellow lawyers said that the Bar Council has about 55 sub-committees on various areas of the law and that there was a need to have more members of the Bar Council to chair or co-chair them to ensure good governance and accountability.

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