
Based on research conducted by Asia Business Law Journal, the following are Singapore’s Top 100 Lawyers (including foreign legal counsel, advisers and consultants practising in Singapore).
Click here to read the editorial report that accompanies the A-List.
Biographies and contact details, where provided, were written by the lawyers themselves and have not been independently verified.
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Bazul Ashhab Oon & Bazul Tel: +65 6239 5888 Email: bazul@oonbazul.com |
Key practice areas: Litigation & dispute resolution; international arbitration; international trade; fraud & asset recovery; shipping |
Bazul is the managing partner and head of dispute resolution at Oon & Bazul. He specialises in commercial litigation, arbitration and mediation. His areas of practice include company law, international trade, banking, trade finance, shareholders’ disputes, insurance, insolvency, shipping and breach of fiduciary duties of agents and directors.
Bazul is very well regarded for his expertise in resolving cross-border disputes. He has acted for clients from various jurisdictions in their disputes in the Asia Pacific region. His many years of managing disputes in the region has given him the ability to combine his legal expertise with cultural considerations to provide effective and practical solutions to resolve complex disputes. Bazul is also renowned in the shipping industry and has significant expertise covering all facets of shipping. He has been involved in several global landmark shipping matters. Bazul has established a reputation as the counsel of choice for his expertise in advising on both contentious and non-contentious aspects of the shipping industry. Bazul was awarded by Asian Legal Business as “Singapore Managing Partner of the Year”. Legal 500 Asia Pacific describes Bazul as one of Singapore’s leading lawyers who is admired by clients as a “spectacular lawyer” who is “incredibly bright and knowledgeable”, with “astonishing speed and strategy”. He is commended for his ability to “combine legal knowledge with commercial acumen”, being “exceptional at crisis management” and having “a very keen mind”. Legal 500 Asia Pacific also notes that Bazul “handles complex, high-value claims”. Clients recommend him for his “quick intellect and grasp for material issues”. Chambers Asia Pacific recognises Bazul as an “exceptional lawyer” who “brings a London-style approach to local matters” and as someone who “always understands immediately what the client wants to achieve and goes after in in the most efficient way possible”. |
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Suresh Divyanathan Oon & Bazul Tel: +65 6239 5886 Email: sureshd@oonbazul.com |
Key practice areas: International commercial arbitration; complex cross border litigation; domestic civil & commercial litigation; fraud & asset recovery; oil & gas |
Suresh heads the international commercial arbitration practice at Oon & Bazul. He has represented clients in international arbitrations involving disputes on technology transfer projects, joint ventures and distributorships in the automobile, construction, pharmaceuticals, energy and retail industries, across jurisdictions including the US, Japan, South Korea, India, Thailand and Indonesia.
He has experience in both ad-hoc arbitrations, as well as institutional arbitrations governed by ICC rules, SIAC rules and UNCITRAL rules where the substantive laws of the contracts have included Swiss law, Japanese law and Indonesian law. Suresh’s recent cases include a successful international arbitration between a global car manufacturer and its national sales company in a large Asian country. As lead arbitration counsel, Suresh coordinated and led a team which included law firms from Japan and India, as well as expert witnesses from the US, England, Japan and India. Suresh defeated an opposing team of lawyers comprising a large Japanese law firm and a “magic circle” English law firm led by a Queen’s Counsel. Another recent case involved a US$20 million international arbitration between a famous Japanese consumer goods retailer and its Indonesian distributor. As lead arbitration counsel, Suresh coordinated and led a team including law firms and expert witnesses from Japan and Indonesia. Recent editions of lawyer ranking publications have quoted sources referring to Suresh as being “a very competent counsel and a good advocate: certainly a rising star” an “assured practitioner who comes across very well” in legal proceedings and a “reliable pair of hands”. In addition to arbitration, Suresh also practices complex commercial litigation in the Singapore High Court. Suresh was praised by High Court judge Quentin Loh “for acting in the best traditions of the bar in presenting his client’s case with fairness and candour. Our bar will continue to retain the respect from the public and bench alike if it is peopled by counsel like Mr Divyanathan.” (The Business Times, 19 September 2011) Outside of legal practice, Suresh holds the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the Singapore Armed Forces and was conferred the Commendation Medal (Military) for exceptional service to the Singapore Armed Forces. |
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Azmul Haque Collyer Law Tel: +65 6727 4669 Email: azmul.haque@collyerlaw.com |
Key practice areas: Cross-border corporate transactions; acquisitions and divestitures; joint ventures and strategic alliances; public and private equity; venture and angel financing |
For over 17 years in private practice with leading law-firms in three countries, Azmul has developed particular expertise in complex, cross-border corporate transactions (acquisitions and divestitures, join ventures and strategic alliances, public and private equity, venture and angel financing), commercial contracts (outsourcing, franchising and licensing, various) and regulatory matters in a range of areas that impact the business–whether for start-ups or billion dollar enterprises.
Azmul has worked extensively with MNC and Asian corporations, family-owned businesses and high-net worth individuals across Asia. He has represented these clients on corporate transactions, commercial contracts and regulatory matters in several jurisdictions in Asia, particularly the India, Singapore, ASEAN and other developed and emerging market countries in APAC. He has lived and worked in Mumbai, Singapore and London. He has been rated as a leading practitioner for the TMT sector, and has experience across several industries, fintech, internet & e-commerce, adtech, big data, IOT, blockchain, as well as traditional industries such as hotels & leisure, media and entertainment, pharma & healthcare, real estate, and telecommunications. Azmul has advised as Singapore external legal counsel to more than a dozen crytopcurrency/blockchain projects for a variety of legal services including structuring and legal documentation for token sales (pre-, private and public sales) as well as tokenized venture capital funds, cryptocurrency exchanges. He has spoken at conferences, on podcast and fire-side chats in four countries on legal structuring for token sales, and compliance with relevant financial services sector regulations. Azmul is ranked and recommended by several legal industry directories including Chambers Asia, Asia-Pacific Legal 500 and Global Law Experts (for TMT) and Indian Business Law Journal. He is rated as being “committed and approachable with a good knowledge of several jurisdictions” (2011-12, Legal 500). Azmul was also ranked a “40 Under 40” lawyer in the Asia-Pacific region by Asian Legal Business (October 2016). Prior to joining Collyer Law, Azmul was a Consultant Partner at Olswang, and a Partner with Shook Lin & Bok. He has also worked with Silver Circle law-firm, Berwin Leighton Paisner in London, and top Singapore law firm, WongPartnership. |
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Edmund Kronenburg Braddell Brothers Tel: +65 6499 9491 Email: ej.kronenburg@braddellbrothers.com |
Key practice areas: Commercial litigation & arbitration; injunctions & emergency/interim relief; medical negligence and misconduct; complex/cross-border matrimonial litigation; employment disputes |
Edmund Kronenburg is the managing partner of Braddell Brothers, Singapore’s second-oldest independent law practice, founded in 1883. He is admitted as an advocate & solicitor (Singapore) and solicitor (England & Wales).
As litigation counsel, Edmund is frequently engaged in trial and appellate advocacy predominantly in Singapore’s High Court and Court of Appeal. Edmund has argued against a variety of senior counsel in trials and other hearings, and against Queen’s Counsel, successfully, in an appeal before the Singapore High Court in July 2012. Edmund’s litigation practice includes commercial and corporate disputes, pre-emptive relief and injunctions, employment disputes, medical negligence and misconduct, corporate insolvency and complex family and matrimonial litigation. Edmund and his team have handled cases involving worldwide Mareva/freezing injunctions with a combined value in excess of US$1 billion. As arbitration counsel, Edmund represents clients in international arbitrations, predominantly under the SIAC, ICC and UNCITRAL rules. He is a Fellow of the CIArb, SIArb, MIArb, HKIArb, AMINZ (Arb), PIArb and AIADR. Edmund and his team represented Indonesia’s PT First Media (Lippo Group) in successfully resisting the enforcement of over 99% of a US$250 million SIAC arbitration award obtained against it and related companies by the Malaysian Astro group, in Singapore. Edmund also actively sits as an arbitrator. His appointments include arbitrations in Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam. He is admitted to the panels/lists of the AIAC (Malaysia, formerly KLCRA), BANI (Indonesia), BDAC (Brunei), CAA (Taiwan), HKIAC (Hong Kong), KCAB (Korea), IIAM (India), NCAC (Cambodia), PIAC (Vietnam), PDRC (Philippines), IMA (Russia), SCCA (Saudi Arabia), SHIAC (Shanghai), TAI (Thailand), VIAC (Vietnam) and VLCAC (Vietnam). Who’s Who Legal: Litigation (2018) says that Edmund is “one of Singapore’s highest-regarded litigators and arbitration counsel”. He has been described by the Legal 500 as “aggressive”, “articulate”, “good strategist”, “trusted confidant”, “good advocate” and “best in class”. Chambers & Partners have described him as … “a deeply experienced litigator …” and cites a source stating that Edmund “has the ability to think beyond the conventional and has brilliant ideas in terms of legal strategy”. |
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Steven Lim CMS Tel: +65 8692 6304 Email: Steven.Lim@cms-cmno.com |
Key practice areas: International arbitration; mediation; international dispute resolution |
Steven Lim is the senior partner in the CMS Singapore office. He is an advocate and arbitrator. He has more than 25 years’ experience in international arbitration and dispute resolution. He appears as an advocate in international arbitrations and regularly sits as sole, party appointed and presiding arbitrator. He is a panel arbitrator with the SIAC, HKIAC, ICDR, KCAB and AIAC, has sat in ICC and SCMA cases, and also as an emergency arbitrator.
He is recognised as a leading individual in international arbitration and dispute resolution in Chambers, Legal 500 and Benchmark Asia, where he has been described as “a prominent counsel in arbitration”, “very impressive advocate”, “respected for his incisive mind”, “peers point out his sharp intellect”, “respected both as arbitration counsel and increasingly active arbitrator”, noted for his “rising profile as an arbitrator” and as “an excellent communicator – he identifies the salient issues to pursue and lets you know what the game plan is. He focuses people’s minds on those issues”, and “excellent at assessing the merits of a client’s position”. |
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Thian Seng Oon Oon & Bazul Tel: +65 6239 5889 Email: thianseng@oonbazul.com |
Key practice areas: Corporate; corporate finance; banking & finance; shipping; oil and gas |
Thian Seng is the head of corporate at Oon & Bazul. He is also managing partner at the firm’s associate Malaysian office, TS Oon & Partners in Kuala Lumpur. He is an appointed commissioner for oaths and notary public.
He is noted for his ability to handle transactions involving highly technical issues and is regularly instructed by clients in the oil & gas, banking, international trade, insurance, shipping and construction industries. Thian Seng is experienced in banking advisory and transactional work, structured trade, trade finance and project finance. He assisted clients with restructuring inward acquisitions, investment and joint ventures in Singapore, Malaysia and around the region. He regularly acts for commodities traders and banks in disputes involving letters of credit, bills of exchange and other financial instruments. He also has extensive experience appearing as counsel in trials and appeals before the superior courts in Singapore and Malaysia, as well as in international arbitrations. Thian Seng’s work involves charters and Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation & Commissioning (EPCIC) contracts throughout Southeast Asia and India. He acts for the building, sale and purchase, and charter of vessels and rigs, ownership structures for oil and gas vessel owners to set up businesses and joint venture agreements for projects in Malaysia (including Labuan offshore structures) and Singapore. Thian Seng also acts for shipowners, P&I Clubs and marine insurers in both Singapore and in Malaysia on a range of shipping matters including charterparty disputes, cargo claims and casualties (particularly those arising in Malaysia) and shipbuilding/shiprepair disputes involving allegations of defective construction, defective design and delays. He advises regional and international underwriters on liability under various classes of insurance including marine, property, CAR, professional indemnity and public liability cover. Thian Seng is recognised as a leading lawyer by Asialaw Leading Lawyers in the area of dispute resolution & litigation. He has been praised by clients as a “thorough, practical and accessible” practitioner. |
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Mohammed Reza Simmons & Simmons Tel: +65 6831 5582 Email: mohammed.reza@simmons-simmons.com |
Key practice areas: Commercial and financial litigation; international arbitration; employment; anti-money laundering; insider dealing and market manipulation |
Reza is a commercial dispute resolution specialist who has received recognition from legal directories for “his expertise on multi-jurisdictional financial and funds disputes”, his “extraordinary intellectual energy” and for being “user-friendly and brilliant”. An experienced trial and appellate advocate in corporate, banking and employment disputes, much of Reza’s work is international in scope and he is frequently sought out to advise clients in the financial markets space on sensitive, complex and cross-border matters with significant regulatory exposure. |
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Matthew Sheridan Sidley Austin Tel: +65 6230 3928 Email: msheridan@sidley.com |
Key practice areas: Capital markets; global finance; M&A |
G. Matthew Sheridan is the managing partner of Sidley’s Singapore office and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. He is global co-head of the capital markets practice and Asia co-head of the international corporate finance practice and works from the firm’s Singapore and Hong Kong offices.
Matt represents underwriters and issuers, including corporate enterprises, financial institutions, governments and governmental entities in connection with corporate financings through global offerings of debt and equity securities, as well as mergers and acquisitions and corporate and distressed restructurings. He advises clients throughout the Asia Pacific region, including Singapore, Indonesia, mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, India, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. His experience includes transactions involving a broad range of sectors, including real estate, telecommunications, financial institutions, technology, transportation, metals, mining, forest products, consumer products, power and oil and gas. Matt has been recognized as a leading lawyer by several publications, including the Legal 500 Asia Pacific, Chambers Global, Chambers Asia Pacific, International Financial Law Review’s IFLR 1000, Asia Law & Practice’s Asialaw Leading Lawyers, The Asian Lawyer, PLC Which Lawyer and Who’s Who Legal – Capital Markets. In 2014, Matt was named a “Real Estate All Star Lawyer” for his representation of real estate clients across a broad range of financing transactions by The Asian Lawyer, a sister publication of The American Lawyer. In the 2015 edition of Chambers Asia Pacific, Matt was described as being “well known in the market for his deep experience in high-yield matters. He has been working in Asia for over two decades and is the co-head of the firm’s corporate finance practice.” He was also noted in the book as being “particularly highly regarded for his expertise in capital markets.” In the 2016 edition of Chambers Asia Pacific, Matt was described as “a terrific lawyer who knows the law inside out.” Matt is a graduate of Monash University. He is admitted in New York and is registered as Foreign Lawyer in Singapore and Hong Kong. |