With respected litigators and senior counsels such as Jimmy Yim, Cavinder Bull, Randolph Khoo and Siraj Omar in its ranks, Drew & Napier is easily one of Singapore’s premier litigation practices and takes a significant share of arbitration-related litigation work in the city state. It is highly experienced in billion-dollar, complex international commercial arbitrations and landmark investor-state and investment treaty disputes. Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, foreign governments, multinational corporations and state-owned entities frequently instruct the team. The firm’s specialist dispute resolution lawyers are well versed in a diverse range of sectors such as construction and infrastructure, finance, energy and utilities, finance, commodities and technology. In the past 12 months, the cumulative value of the firm’s litigation and arbitration matters exceeded $22 billion.
In 2020, Drew & Napier formed an alliance with two other top domestic firms in the region
– Shearn Delamore & Co in Malaysia and Makarim & Taira S in Indonesia
– to establish the legal network Drew Network Asia. This partnership will enable clients to obtain integrated, collaborative and seamless legal services across the region.
Other key litigators and disputes practitioners include family law veteran Randolph Khoo, IP head Tony Yeo and eminent insolvency lawyers Sushil Nair and Blossom Hing. White-collar focused Wendell Wong and construction specialist Christopher Chong are also among the prominent lawyers. Partners Benedict Teo, Mahesh Rai, Shu Mei Hoon, Kelvin Tan and Meryl Koh are rising stars in their respective fields.
The high-profile demise of Hin Leong Trading features the Drew & Napier team as its judicial managers in the largest reported fraudulent trading case in the history of Singapore. The firm also successfully represented Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former prime minister of Georgia, and his family in the Court of Appeal in respect of a claim they brought against the trustee of a $1.1 billion trust.
The IP team defended lab-grown diamond manufacturer, Ila Technologies in a patent infringement suit commenced by Element Six Technologies. The case is one of the most complex patent infringement cases that the Singapore courts have heard and is now being decided at the Court of Appeal. The issues in the suit involve extremely technical and contentious and highly complex patent invalidation and infringement matters.
In a high stakes arbitration, the team represented Daelim Industrial Company in this dispute, which concerns an aborted L+EPC contract for the construction of the largest petrochemical plant in Asia. The client was awarded the tender for the contract by the claimant, ONGC Petro Additions, a state-linked Indian petrochemicals company. After a quantum tranche was heard, the three-arbitrator tribunal dismissed the bulk of ONGC’s claims.
In another case highlight during the research period, the firm advised on a matter that concerns the first-known investor-state arbitration ever initiated against the Lao government. It involves a long-running and high-profile dispute between the Lao government and two investors in its gaming and casino industry, which has so far led to at least eight sets of arbitration proceedings and court actions between the parties.
The firm also assisted the Government of India in an arbitration-related court application which raises novel issues of Singapore’s public policy on the confidentiality of investor-state arbitrations under the
lex arbitri. The underlying dispute involves challenges to tax assessment orders on $3.8 billion capital gains from a complex restructuring exercise involving Indian oil and gas assets. The Government of Laos has also instructed the team concerning an application under the International Arbitration Act. This matter raises novel issues concerning the Singapore courts’ enforcement of declaratory awards under the UNCITRAL Model Law. The underlying dispute involves claims of more than $400 million.
Key active clients include Amara Hotels, Asia Networks, AstraZeneca, Creative Technology, Hai Di Lao Holdings, ING Bank, Keppel Smit Towage, Navayo International and Raiffeisen Bank International.
Client feedback
“Excellent attention to detail, presentation and reasonable costs.” – Aviation
“Good in banking, tax and litigation.” – Commercial and transactions
“What don't they do well?” – Commercial and transactions
“Firm excels at complex litigation with difficult issues.” – Commercial and transactions
“They provide exceptional legal and commercial advice. They are able to provide us with the best solutions in the context of our commercial constraints.” – Commercial and transactions
“Its lawyers' relationships with clients, legal and commercial knowledge, and litigation experience is among the best in Singapore.” – Commercial and transactions
“Thorough legal analysis and great advice on options available.” – Commercial and transactions
“Litigation is handled very well by them.” – Commercial and transactions
“They are tactical and focus on the main point.” – Commercial and transactions
“Top-tier litigators for complex disputes.” – Construction
“Mahesh Rai, Jonathan Yong and the team were brilliant. They came up to speed very quickly, getting on top of voluminous detailed material in a very short time and then applied excellent strategic and technical skill to get the case into shape for the filing of the client's evidence and its presentation at trial. Their responsiveness is excellent, as is client commitment, the team worked day and night to provide service of a very high calibre.” – Intellectual property
“They gave polite explanations about Singapore laws and the legal system. They gave us suitable advice and actions at each critical step of the litigation.” – Intellectual property
“They analysed the litigation strategy and gave recommendations based on our company's objectives.” – Intellectual property
“Strategic advice is excellent and their quality of work is also outstanding.” – Intellectual property
“Drew & Napier masters the detail of complex projects and the impact of change and performance on the progress and completion of the works, whilst clearly distilling and presenting compelling arguments in support of the developed case theory.” – International arbitration
“Perfect knowledge, experience and advocacy.” – International arbitration
“Excellent litigation and arbitration firm.” – International arbitration
“The lawyers provide excellent legal advice and understand the key issues quickly. Their team is very attentive and responsive.” – International arbitration
“Siraj Omar SC assisted us in the setting aside of an arbitral award, at the Singapore High Court and Court of Appeal. We are very happy with the outcome, professionalism and level of service. They provided timely, commercially useful and clear advice. They are also very user-friendly, and are proactive in proposing solutions that are creative and strategic in nature. They know arbitration and court work well. They are also very professional, polished, and give a very high quality of service.” – International arbitration
“Drew & Napier is meticulous and has strong domain experience in the blockchain and broader fintech industries. They were able to win decisively the arbitration on all points, including costs, due to a combination of domain knowledge in securities, domain knowledge in blockchain, and strong litigation tactics and presence. They are also extremely responsive, even late at night.” – Technology
Chloe Ajit
“Communicative and patient.”
Manoj Belani
“Hard-working, very knowledgeable in commercial law, timely responses, and has a very nice and pleasant disposition to work with.”
Cavinder Bull
“Great mind.”
Pauline Chong
“Responsive to the client's needs.”
Christopher Chong
“Brilliant counsel in construction disputes.”
Yuet Min Foo
“Very good cross-examination skills, understands and can critique the key arguments advanced by the opposing party, and provides excellent responses.”
Blossom Hing
“Blossom is completely devoted to her clients and works tirelessly to protect and advance their interests. She completely ‘owns’ her clients’ problems and puts her heart and soul into finding solutions for them.”
Shu Mei Hoon
“She Knows her law, is passionate about advancing her client's interests, but is also open to alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and resolving matters amicably without compromising her client's positions or concerns.”
Meryl Koh
“Meryl is an excellent strategist and goes to court prepared. She does extensive research on cases which she may use in her favour and delivers her arguments clearly and confidently in court.”
Samuel Koh
“Samuel was on top of all the details and had a clear vision of how to progress the matters at the heart of the case.”
Adam Maniam
“Very smart guy, able to give commercially sound legal advice.”
Mahesh Rai
“He has a very balanced approach towards issues.”
“Mahesh is a standout amongst disputes lawyers in Singapore. He is very professional and always available and responsive to client needs. He is particularly adept at understanding the core theory of a case, as well as its detail, and presenting it efficiently and effectively to the judge.”
“Mahesh is very practical and to-the-point in all communication and recommendations. He does not shy away from recommending a course of action. He learns quickly about a new industry and has strong attention to detail. He has a fierce courtroom presence and can dominate a room easily. He is also a strong, big-picture strategist and can use specialised legal doctrine and small details to maximum effect.”
Benedict Teo
“Responsive and knowledgeable.”
Shu Yan Woo
“She is an expert litigator.”
Javier Yeo
“He is quick to understand the key points of the patents and background of the industry.”
“Meticulous, super-hardworking, extremely perseverant, and excellent in simplifying complex matters.”
Tony Yeo
“He is a very experienced IP litigator. He has excellent litigation skills, is very meticulous and also strategic.”
Jimmy Yim
“Excellent written work and oral advocacy.”
“He is creative and a hell of a streetfighter. Above all, a litigator's litigator.”
“Jimmy’s in-depth knowledge and experience of commercial reality, litigation and the law, as well as his ability to build and maintain a relationship with the client, puts him in the upper echelons of legal practice in Singapore.”
