Withers KhattarWong’s dispute resolution practice often works with different offices across the Asia-Pacific region, providing seamless cross-border disputes advice. It acts for a wide range of international clients including corporate entities and directors, high-net-worth individuals and their businesses, governments and government agencies, manufacturers, banks, broker-dealers and trust companies. The firm is particularly known for private capital, employment, family and matrimonial, white-collar and tax-related disputes. Peers acknowledge the prominence and coverage of its fully fledged and dedicated white-collar crime group. Its global dispute resolution practice comprises more than 160 lawyers around the world and they are handling a claims portfolio of more than $10 billion.
Its experienced litigators include senior counsel Deborah Barker, criminal lawyer Shashi Nathan, financial services disputes lawyer Chenthil Kumarasingam, employment specialist Amarjit Kaur, international arbitration experts Shaun Leong, Ushan Premaratne and Spring Tan, restructuring and insolvency specialist Justin Yip, family and matrimonial expert Ivan Cheong, and Sharon Lin, an insurance director with a focus on professional indemnity matters.
In a seminal and high-profile victory, the firm acted for an NFT investor in Singapore’s first-ever written judgment on NFTs, and in the world’s first-ever successful worldwide proprietary injunction over an NFT on the blockchain. This marked a massive triumph for NFT investors around the globe, as a court of law has recognised the protection of NFT investor rights. In another NFT case, the firm represented NFT marketplace Mintable in preserving the company’s funds against an alleged coup staged by several directors and key officers.
Nathan and his team represented How Soo Fong, one of the three persons arrested for allegedly being involved in a multimillion-dollar gold investment scam. In another white-collar crime matter, the team acted for four individuals who are involved in the investigations relating to the Corrupt Practices Investigations Bureau probe into Singapore’s Transport Minister.
The Withers team is leading the largest contingent of investors affected by the Credit Suisse AT1 bond crisis to pursue investor treaty claims under international investment law against the state of Switzerland. It is also acting for investors across the region seeking recourse against FTX.
The global investors of Luna tokens and TerraUSD stablecoins have instructed the firm in a critical dispute arising from the crypto collapse that many perceive to have kickstarted the crypto winter. This is a class action arbitration arising from the famous collapse of stablecoin TerraUSD and its sister coin, Luna. The client is a group of more than 100 investors globally claiming against Terraform Labs in relation to losses suffered from the collapse.
The insolvency team has been busy acting for the liquidators, KPMG, in all aspects of the high-profile attempted restructuring and subsequent insolvency of ZenRock.
Key clients include Estee Lauder Cosmetics, HSBC, Kaddra, Luxasia, Multimedia Engineering, United Overseas Bank and VIVA International Trust.
Client feedback
“Timely and honest advice. Sensible commercial advice.” – Commercial arbitration
“A proficient legal expert providing in-depth explanations to clients.” – Commercial arbitration
“Sound and pragmatic advice.” – Construction
“Extremely knowledgeable and responsive.” – Family and matrimonial
“A good team of lawyers. They are systematic and objective in their advice. They have also displayed empathy on many occasions.” – Family and matrimonial
Ivan Cheong
“He has a good grasp of the law. He presents practical and workable solutions.”
Shaun Ho
“Knowledgeable and responsive.”
Chenthil Kumarasingam
“Very logical and precise. Timely advice. Good at balancing risk and reward.”
Shaun Leong
“Shaun is at the top of his game when it comes to international arbitration and resolving highly complex cross-border disputes. He has an exceptional ability to grasp complicated matters and to distill key issues with elegance. Above all, he has a peerless mind when it comes to developing effective cross-border strategies for disputes involving the highest stakes across various jurisdictions. A tenacious and fearless fighter you would want in your corner. His team never fails to provide best-in-class service.”
“He is a star in the world of international arbitration. He has a brilliant tactical mind and has achieved outstanding successes in the most cutting-edge and complex disputes. Shaun is a highly creative problem-solver, and views issues from all sides. He is an effective practitioner and his ability to reconcile opposing views and deploy them in advancing our interest is one of his greatest strengths.”
“Shaun Leong is an outstanding lawyer in the field of cross-border commercial disputes and international arbitration and a top name for cutting-edge international work. He has a razor-sharp mind and is incredibly impressive when it comes to navigating complex points of law. He has incredible foresight and an uncanny ability to anticipate and counter the opponent’s moves and is very good at developing effective strategies for complex matters. He has an outstanding track record and a fantastic ability to quickly grasp the clients’ perspective and understand their commercial issues. He scores highly for excellence in complex cross border disputes.”
“Shaun is a tenacious and fearless lawyer. He is a gifted advocate with the ability to distill the most complex facts in a dispute into simple, attractive and persuasive argument. A top legal mind with an outstanding sense of strategy. He is incredibly resilient and persistent, someone who never gives up, and has a keen eye on the bigger picture, bringing creative and effective insights to the case and the dispute strategy. He always brings high quality to his work and is someone you want in your corner for disputes of the highest stakes.”
“He's an extremely talented disputes lawyer with excellent analytical skills and a deep understanding of the law. A leading name in emerging technology disputes, he is legally creative while being commercially sensitive. He has substantial experience in international arbitration and excels in high-stakes cross-border disputes. He can discern commercial issues very quickly and can provide tailor-made legal solutions that are practical to implement from a business perspective.”
“He possesses a strong understanding of legal complexities, effective communication skills, and a talent for offering comprehensive explanations. His excellence lies in clarifying intricate legal concepts for clients, ensuring clarity and understanding.”
“Shaun Leong is our go-to disputes lawyer in Singapore. He consistently demonstrates high quality in his work and is a commercially minded problem-solver with the ability to find practical solutions to complex issues in our business. His strategic instincts are top-notch and is highly skilled at developing and deploying effective strategies to resolve high-stakes disputes.”
Sharon Lin
“Sound knowledge and advice on contractual matters.”
Shriveena Naidu
“She is very responsive and provides a listening ear whenever required. She is approachable and is able to manage client’s emotions well.”
Jeremy Pereira
“Attentive and patient.”
