Incisive Law is a boutique renowned for its shipping and international trade disputes practice. Established in 2010, the firm has been instrumental in shaping Singapore’s modern maritime jurisprudence while providing practical, commercially grounded advice across the full spectrum of maritime and trade conflicts. With expertise spanning dry shipping, commodities, marine insurance, and admiralty law, the firm is equipped to handle everything from charterparty and cargo claims to major marine casualties and ship-arrest litigation. The firm complements this sector focus with support in related areas, such as trade finance, regulatory compliance, and insolvency, giving clients a holistic disputes offering across the broader supply chain.
Incisive Law has featured as counsel in some of the most consequential shipping and trade disputes in the region. It regularly acts for blue-chip clients like Unipec in multi-faceted litigation connected to global trading failures, and for leading marine insurers like The Swedish Club in complex collision and limitation-of-liability cases. The firm’s lawyers also engage frequently in international arbitrations on commodities, charterparty, and shipbuilding disputes, providing strategic advice under both Singapore and English law when contracts call for foreign governing law or overseas forums.
The disputes team is led by Joint Managing Director Wai Yue Loh, a senior accredited maritime law specialist, and John Seow, its Head of Litigation and a former marine engineer turned lawyer. Both are accomplished advocates who regularly represent clients in the Singapore courts and international arbitrations. They are joined by admiralty law expert Augustine Liew, who came on board in 2024 after decades at a rival boutique to expand Incisive’s blue-water capabilities, and Davis Tan, who was recruited in early 2025 as Deputy Head of Litigation from a leading firm to strengthen the practice’s cross-border reach (including Greater China work). Under this leadership, the firm has seen a surge in high-profile mandates over the past year, navigating headline-grabbing cases that have tested new points of law. Notably, in 2024 Incisive Law formalized an association with DAC Beachcroft, a global firm, to broaden its Asia-Pacific network, and earned appointment as Singapore counsel to a major International Group P&I Club.
Recent case highlights demonstrate the team’s prowess in complex, high-value disputes. In a marquee engagement stemming from the collapse of oil trader Hin Leong Trading, the firm represented Chinese petroleum giant Unipec’s Singapore subsidiary in defending its title to S$300 million worth of marine fuel cargoes. Led by Loh, the team successfully guided Unipec through urgent steps like obtaining a worldwide cargo freeze and preparing for a complex multi-party trial. The legal issues are novel and wide-ranging, from questions of title to goods under bills of lading to tricky intersections of shipping law, secured financing, and insolvency rules.
In marine insurance, the firm recently scored a significant win with a judgment in the Teras Lyza liftboat sinking case. The lawyers acted for a syndicate of insurers, led by MS First Capital, defending against a US$70 million claim after a newly built offshore vessel capsized on its maiden voyage in 2018. The insurers denied the claim on grounds of alleged non-compliance with policy warranties and argued the policy was effectively void; the insured owners and mortgagee sued in the Singapore High Court. After a full trial in late 2024, the judge ruled in the insurers’ favour in a landmark decision. Notably, this was the first Singapore judgment to apply provisions of the UK’s Insurance Act 2015 and to revisit century-old principles from the Marine Insurance Act 1906. The case has now gone up on appeal, but the High Court’s findings that addressed issues such as the effect of extended vessel lay-ups on policy coverage and the enforceability of policy warranties have been hailed as a watershed in Singapore’s marine insurance law.
Another showcase matter for the firm was the high-stakes collision dispute between the bulk carrier Sea Justice and the vessel A Symphony. The Incisive team represented the Sea Justice’s owners and their P&I Club, the Swedish Club, in Singapore proceedings that raised delicately balanced questions of jurisdiction and international maritime comity. The firm’s clients won a precedent-setting judgment in the Singapore Court of Appeal which confirmed that once a shipowner establishes a limitation fund in its chosen forum, Singapore courts should stay any duplicative local actions and disallow claimants from retaining security from an arrested vessel. This appellate victory provided clarity on an unsettled point of admiralty law, that a shipowner’s right to limit liability in a jurisdiction of its choosing will be respected, preventing claimants from using Singapore’s higher liability limits to circumvent foreign limitation proceedings.
“For shipping and marine insurance, they offer clear advice, guidance and suggestions on actions to be taken to safeguard one's interest.” - Insurance
“Lawyers are knowledgeable and offer a quick turnaround time.” - Intellectual property
“The team is commercially minded and possess a mastery of legal technicalities.” - Shipping
“Very responsive, commercial and cost effective.” - Shipping
“He is a very experienced lawyer that can advise on both Singapore and English law disputes. He's also very cost-effective and commercial. I highly recommend him.”
“He always provides sound commercial and legal advice.”
“Augustine Liew really needs no introduction.”
“He is approachable, knows his stuff and offers a clear presentation and framework to solutions or proposals.”
“Shanen has the ability to cut the crux of a matter, which gives him an edge in finding the silver bullet for clients who want a swift, favorable, commercial resolution of a matter.”
“Devastatingly clever, Shanen is the natural successor of admiralty heavyweight Augustine Liew, and I have no hesitation in endorsing him.”
