Rajah & Tann Asia

Competition & Antitrust and Trade

Head, Competition & Antitrust and Trade
Lead Partner, Corporate Governance

“Kala is one of the strongest competition lawyers in the region. She is highly commercially astute and a great people leader and talent developer. Kala is an experienced practitioner who is responsive to the client’s needs and practical issues.” – Chambers Asia-Pacific

Anandarajah takes pride in ensuring that every piece of work she undertakes is targeted and focused, addressing the specific need of the client in a practical business-oriented manner. That has kept her interest in the law ignited.

Anandarajah heads the Competition & Antitrust and Trade Practice. Always a forerunner in niche areas of the law, her key practice areas are Competition (merger control, cartels, investigations, etc), Trade (export controls, FTAs, sanctions etc), and Consumer Protection. She has strong secondary practices in Employment, Environmental (EHS) & Sustainability (ESG), Corporate Governance and Telco/Media Laws just because of her long career in the law, where she has formidable accolades. She has had many firsts in her career, handling difficult and complex matters, demystifying and simplifying issues to achieve the clients’ aim.

Lauded by clients as having “unrivalled knowledge and understanding of the law and uniquely… able to understand very complicated businesses and their likely reactions” by Chambers Asia-Pacific and a “business-focused and client-oriented attorney who balances her expertise with practical experience”, with a “solid, can-do attitude… [who] is very good at working out a strategic solution to a legal problem… one of the few practitioners who is truly at the cutting edge”. She is also cited for being “very dedicated, very quick and precise,” by Chambers Asia-Pacific, described as “super switched-on” by Who’s Who Legal, and one with “very wide vision” by Chambers Asia-Pacific. She is described as a Thought Leader for competition by GCR and Worldwide Leading Lawyers over several years. 2020 Who’s Who of Leading Lawyers notes that she “earns high praise from peers, who identify her as ‘extremely dynamic, inspiring and sharp’ and ‘a lawyer who knows everything and is extremely well prepared”.

One client comments: “She has impressed us with her legal knowledge, business acumen and also understanding of the Commission and the legal arena, which makes her a dream for anybody looking to engage competition lawyers”.

Clients give her exceptional praise, deeming her “superbly responsive, very hard-working, solution-oriented and reliable.”  AsiaLaw Leading Lawyers says she “is the complete package for all competition issues in ASEAN”. Some of her other citations include:

Competition/Antitrust Lawyer of the Year (Regional Legal Expertise) by asialaw Awards 2024 Singapore Female Lawyer of the Year by asialaw Awards 2024 Cross Border Lawyer of the Year – Competition by Legal Era Global Achievers Awards 2024 Singapore’s Top 100 Lawyers by A-List: Asia Business Law Journal (2023 and 2024) Women Lawyer of the Year, SE Asia by ALB Women in Law Awards (2023) Lexology Client Choice Winner – Trade and Customs 2024 Lexology Client Choice Winner – Trade Law 2023 Lexology Client Choice Winner – Competition Law 2022 Top 10 Most Innovative Practitioner in Asia Pacific by FT Most Innovative Lawyers 2022 Top 50 Female Employment Lawyers in the World by International Employment Lawyers 2022 Winner, Outstanding Achievement Award, Euromoney Women in Business Law 2021 Highly Commended Lawyer in Private Practice at the Legal 500 Southeast Asia Awards 2021 Most Highly Regarded in Southeast Asia by Who’s Who Legal: Southeast Asia Competition 2021 and 2022 Thought Leader for Competition in Worldwide Leading Lawyers 2020 to 2023 Nominated Regional Lawyer of the Year by Legal 500 2020 Commended External Counsel of the Year 2016 by the In-House Community Top 100 Women in Antitrust in the World by the Global Competition Review Chambers Asia-Pacific and Chambers Global leading lawyer for competition, trade (the only local firm) and employment Who’s Who Leading Lawyer for Competition, Trade, Corporate Governance, Employment Winner of Euromoney Legal Media Group Asia Women in Business Law Awards Twice Awarded Best Lawyer in Competition & Antitrust in Singapore by Best Lawyers 2015, and identified by Best Lawyers since 2013 to date

Anandarajah sits on various boards, including the Health Sciences Authority and Institute for Human Resource Personnel; a member of the External Review Panel of Safety in SAF (MINDEF), and the Appeal Board – Council of Estate Agents (MND). She was for a long-time part of the Workplace Safety & Health Council, 10 years on the Board of the Building and Construction Authority, a board member of Singapore Institute of Legal Education (chairing the Committee which introduced CPD for lawyers in Singapore) and was on the Committee for Professional Training of Lawyers formed by the Chief Justice of Singapore, whose report has shaped legal practice from 2023.

She was conferred the following awards for public service rendered through the boards and councils she sat on by the President of Singapore:

2022 – Public Service Star (Bintang Bakti Masyarakat) 2014 – Public Service Medal (Pingat Bakti Masyarakat), both of which are conferred

Board Member, Health Sciences Authority Member, External Review Panel for SAF Safety Deputy Chairman, Appeal Board of Council of Estate Agents Board Member, Institute of Human Resource Professionals Member, Transplant Ethics Committee (Lay-Persons) appointed by the Ministry of Health

LLB (Hons), National University of Singapore MBA (Banking & Finance), Nanyang Technological University Advocate & Solicitor, Singapore