ABNR Counsellors at Law

With more than 30 years’ experience of legal practice in Indonesia, Nafis is one of the country’s most versatile lawyers, focusing on labor & employment (non-contentious and contentious), commercial disputes, restructuring & Insolvency, and real estate. He advises leading domestic and multinational corporations across all leading industries and economic sectors, offering particular expertise and experience in life sciences  , manufacturing, hospitality, agriculture & plantations, automotive, and cybersecurity and data privacy.

In labor & employment, he assists clients with employment contracts; immigration matters; HR policies; outsourcing; redundancy; transfer of undertaking and protection of employment (TUPE  ) issues; and the negotiation and registration with the Manpower Ministry of joint labor accords and employee regulations (under Indonesian law, these documents must be registered and approved by the ministry).

He also regularly assists one of the world’s leading internet technology companies with employment matters related to Indonesia, including their employment contracts for local and expatriate employees in Indonesia, advising on their internal employment policies and providing training to their human resources department.

In a recent highly sensitive matter, he advised a well-known Canada-based digital media and broadcasting company on an appropriate termination strategy for a senior expatriate employee who was found by client to have sexually harassed female Indonesian employees. He also recently advised a major US-based pharma and personal-care company on a dispute with an employee over his termination for what client viewed as serious violations of the company’s internal regulations and code of conduct. The dispute went to the Jakarta Industrial Relation Court, which found in our favor  . 

Besides handling contentious labor & employment matters, Nafis also regularly represents clients in commercial disputes. Among his ongoing matters, he is currently acting for a leading multinational cement producer in a breach of contract claim against a concrete block and building supplies manufacturer .

In restructuring & insolvency, he was a key member of the ABNR team that represented China Development Bank (one of the largest creditors) in the USD 4.5-billion Bumi Resources global debt restructuring, the largest such deal in Southeast Asia in 2017 and one of the most complex deals of its kind ever in the region – he also acted for two other creditors, Madison Pacific Trust Ltd and Pathfinder Strategic Credit LP, during the debt moratorium process (PKPU) in the Indonesian Commercial Court. In addition, he represented one of the largest creditors in the high profile liquidation of PT Modern Sevel Indonesia (part of Modern Group), which was the holder of the Seven Eleven franchise in Indonesia.

In real estate, he directed land due diligence on Indonesian assets as part of Global Infrastructure Partners USD 5-billion acquisition of Equis Energy, the largest renewable energy deal ever. The due diligence covered the sites for eight renewable energy projects that were either under construction or were shovel ready. He was also involved in the land due diligence and preparation of security documentation for the USD 1.7-billion financing for the Cirebon Expansion Power Plant Project.

Nafis is recommended for labor & employment, real estate and dispute resolution by Legal 500 Asia Pacific and was recently recognized once again as one of Indonesia’s top-100 lawyers by Vantage Asia / Asia Business Law Journal.

English, Indonesian