Selvadurai Rani was born in 1938. In that year Malaya was a British colonial territory, a setting that later gave way to independence and the formation of the modern nation of Malaysia, where the person's professional life has been centred in Kuala Lumpur.
Selvadurai Rani is documented as a partner of Shook Lin & Bok, a law firm with its head office in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The firm is one of the largest in Malaysia and is the oldest law firm of local origin in the country. Its practice covers civil and commercial matters, banking and finance, international arbitration, complex litigation and intellectual property.
The firm began in 1918 as Messrs Yong Shook Lin, a Kuala Lumpur practice founded by Yong Shook Lin, who became the first Chinese lawyer admitted to the Malayan bar after graduating from Cambridge University. In 1938 Tan Teow Bok joined as another partner, and the practice was renamed Messrs Shook Lin & Bok.
Yong's son, Pung How, joined the firm in 1952 after taking a double-first law degree at Cambridge, and initially practised mostly criminal law. Under his leadership as senior partner, the firm grew into one of the largest in Malaya.
In 1964 the firm extended its reach across the Causeway by opening an office in Singapore, which became an independent entity headed by L. P. Thean and now operates as Shook Lin & Bok LLP. As Malaysia moved from British colonial rule to independence and modern nationhood, the firm expanded alongside the country's legal and commercial growth.
