Singapore International Commercial Court Conference 2025 | Speakers

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SPEAKERS

WELCOME REMARKS:

Justice Philip Jeyaretnam

Justice Philip Jeyaretnam
President
Singapore International Commercial Court

Justice Philip Jeyaretnam is the President of the Singapore International Commercial Court. He was appointed Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court on 4 January 2021 and High Court Judge on 1 November 2021. His focus on the Bench has been in complex commercial cases, arbitration law, building and construction, company and trust law. He is also a member of the Judicial Service Commission, and the Presidential Council for Minority Rights. In June 2022, he was appointed by the Chief Justice as the co-chair of the Commercial Practice Panel of the Supreme Court, to develop best practices for the management of commercial cases.

Justice Jeyaretnam read Law at Cambridge and graduated with First Class Honours in 1986. He was called to the English Bar in 1987 and to the Singapore Bar in 1988 and was conferred the title of Senior Counsel in 2003 at the age of 38, one of the youngest lawyers to be appointed Senior Counsel. In 1988, he received the Airey Neave Award for research on the rule of law. In 1990, he was given a Fulbright Fellowship, which took him to the University of Iowa International Writers’ Program and to Harvard Law School.

OPENING ADDRESS: THE EMERGING ARCHITECTURE OF TRANSNATIONAL COMMERCIAL JUSTICE

CJ Sundaresh Menon

The Honourable the Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon
Chief Justice
Supreme Court of Singapore

Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court on 6 November 2012.

Chief Justice Menon graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (First Class Honours) from the National University of Singapore in 1986 and a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1991. He was admitted as an advocate and solicitor in Singapore in 1987, and as an attorney and counsellor-at-law in New York in 1992.

After he was called to the Bar in Singapore, he practised with major local and international law firms, primarily as an advocate, in the fields of commercial litigation and arbitration, construction law and insolvency law. From 2006 to 2007, he served as a Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court. He was appointed Senior Counsel in 2008. In 2010, he was appointed the 6th Attorney-General of Singapore, a post he relinquished in 2012 shortly before his appointment as a Judge of Appeal. He was appointed to the Presidential Council for Minority Rights upon his appointment as Attorney-General in 2010 and was later appointed as its Chairman in 2012, upon his appointment as Chief Justice.

SPECIAL ADDRESS:

Mr Toby Landua KC

Mr Toby Landau KC
Duxton Hill Chambers

Toby Landau KC is a barrister, advocate and arbitrator, and a member of the Bars of England & Wales, Singapore, New York, the BVI and Northern Ireland, and is registered in the DIFC. He practises in London as a sole practitioner and in Singapore from Duxton Hill Chambers (Singapore Group Practice).

As Counsel, he has had a broad commercial and international practice in London since 1994 and in Singapore since 2017. He has argued hundreds of major international commercial, investor-State and inter-state arbitrations, as well as ground-breaking cases in the highest courts of England, Singapore, Hong Kong, Pakistan and the Caribbean including, by way of example, Dallah v Pakistan; Jivraj v Hashwani; Ust-Kamenogorsk v AES; IPCO v NNPC; Enka v Chubb and Halliburton v Chubb before the UK Supreme Court; Minister of Finance / 1MDB v IPIC and Janah v Benkharbouche before the English Court of Appeal; First Media v Astro in the Courts of Singapore and Hong Kong; and Hubco v Wapda in the Pakistan Supreme Court.

He is the first QC/KC to have been permanently called to the Singapore Bar and since April 2012 he has been a member of the Panel of Advisors to the Attorney-General of Singapore.

PANEL SESSION 1: SEISMIC EVENTS: SURVIVING (AND THRIVING)

MODERATOR
		Justice Philip Jeyaretnam President Singapore International Commercial Court
PANELLISTS
		Justice Robert French International Judge Singapore International Commercial Court Justice Robert French served as Chief Justice of Australia from 1 September 2008 until 29 January 2017. He is a graduate of the University of Western Australia in science and law. He was admitted in 1972 and practised as a barrister and solicitor in Western Australia until 1983 when he went to the Independent Bar. He served as a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia from November 1986 until his appointment as Chief Justice of the High Court on 1 September 2008. From 1994 to 1998 he was the President of the National Native Title Tribunal. Mr French was appointed as a Non‑Permanent Justice of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal in May 2017, as an International Judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court (January 2018) and as a Judge of the Court of Appeal of the Dubai International Financial Centre (June 2019).
		Mr Ashok Mirpuri Head, International Policy and Governance Temasek International Mr Ashok Kumar Mirpuri joined Temasek in September 2023 and is Head, International Policy & Governance. Prior to joining Temasek, Ashok was Singapore Ambassador to the United States for over a decade, where he represented Singapore’s interests in engaging with three U.S. Administrations. He has also held key Ambassadorial appointments in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Australia. A seasoned diplomat, Ashok has extensive experience in managing Singapore’s foreign policy interests. Ashok holds a Master of Arts from the University of London’s School of Oriental & African Studies and a Bachelor of Social Science (Hons) degree in Political Science from the National University of Singapore.
		Mr Ali Malek KC 3 Verulam Buildings Ali Malek KC is a leading barrister in England and Wales specialising in all aspects of commercial law. He has substantial experience in international arbitration both as counsel and as an arbitrator. He has been appointed as arbitrator in disputes under many institutional rules including HKIAC, ICC, ICSID, LCIA and SIAC. Mr Malek KC obtained his MA and BCL at Keble College, Oxford University and was called to the Bar in 1980 and appointed King’s Counsel in 1996. He is a bencher of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn, a Recorder of the Crown Court and is authorised to sit as a Deputy High Court Judge in the Commercial Court. He is a past Treasurer of Gray’s Inn, a former Chairman of the Commercial Bar Association and a former Head of Chambers at 3 Verulam Buildings. He is also a member of the Panel of Advisers to the Attorney General of Singapore, a Judge of the Qatar International Court, a member of the Dubai Financial Markets Tribunal and Chairman of the Lloyd’s Enforcement Board.
		Mr Gourab Banerji SA President, Arbitration Bar of India, and Overseas Associate of Essex Court Chambers Gourab Banerji has been practicing as a Senior Advocate since 2003, mainly before the Supreme Court of India. He is the founder President of the Arbitration Bar of India, and an Overseas Associate at Essex Court Chambers, London. Graduating from the University of Cambridge in 1989 with first class honours, he was called to the Bar from Lincoln’s Inn in 1990. He served as the Additional Solicitor General of India in the Supreme Court of India, in which capacity he represented the Government of India in several landmark cases. The Supreme Court of India has often sought his assistance as amicus curiae in various matters, including on arbitration and commercial law. He is a member of the Chamber of Arbitration of the India International Arbitration Centre (IIAC), set up by the Indian Parliament to create an independent and autonomous regime for institutional arbitration in India. He was also a member of a High-Level Committee set up by the Ministry of Law & Justice, Government of India, which was tasked to review the arbitration regime in India and gave its report in February 2024. He is also the Chairman of the UNCITRAL National Coordination Committee of India (UNCCI) besides holding various other positions.
		Mr Salim Moollan KC Brick Court Chambers Salim Moollan KC specialises in international commercial and investment arbitration. He has acted as Counsel in high profile investment arbitration cases (White Industries v. India, Philip Morris v. Australia, Cairn Energy v. India), and currently acts as lead Counsel in a number of prominent investment arbitrations for both States and investors. In the commercial field, he acts in high-value cases in (in particular) the energy and telecoms fields. He frequently sits as arbitrator in investment and commercial arbitrations. He is a past chairman of UNCITRAL, a past Vice-President of the ICC Court, a past member of the LCIA Court, a member of the World Bank’s ICSID Panel of Arbitrators and a former editor of the ICSID Law Review. He is also called to the Mauritian Bar and appears from time to time before the Mauritian Courts in complex and high value cases. He frequently appears in the Privy Council on issues ranging from civil law to administrative law and tax matters. He is a Visiting Professor in International Arbitration Law at King's College London.
		Mr Kevin Kim Founding Partner, Peter & Kim Kevin Kim is a founding partner at Peter & Kim, a law firm specializing in international arbitration. With over 35 years of experience, Kevin has been involved in more than 300 international arbitration cases, acting in various capacities such as counsel, presiding arbitrator, co-arbitrator, or sole arbitrator. His areas of expertise encompass arbitration, litigation, investments and BITs, trade law and WTO, project finance, mergers and acquisitions, distribution and agency, and joint ventures and consortia. Kevin’s educational background includes an LL.B. from Seoul National University and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School. His career is marked by significant roles, including his tenure as a senior partner at Bae, Kim & Lee LLC, where he led the International Arbitration Practice and the Domestic and International Disputes Group. He has also served as Vice President of the ICC International Court of Arbitration from 2014 to 2021 and as Secretary General of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration from 2010 to 2014. Additionally, Kevin has been a member of the LCIA Court, Vice Chair of the IBA Arbitration Committee, an Advisory Board Member of the ICCA and Chair of the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board’s International Arbitration Committee. Fluent in Korean, English, and Japanese, Kevin Kim brings a wealth of knowledge and a global perspective to his practice, making him a distinguished figure in the field of international arbitration.

PANEL SESSION 2: FALLOUT: TOOLING UP (AND TEAMING UP) TO MANAGE COMPLEX TECHNICAL DISPUTES

MODERATOR
		Justice Vivian Ramsey International Judge Singapore International Commercial Court Until 2014, Justice Ramsey served for nine years on the bench as a Judge of the High Court (King’s Bench Division) of England and Wales, including a three-year period as Judge in charge of the Technology and Construction Court. He was also judge in charge of the implementation of the Jackson Reforms in the courts in England and Wales from 2012 to 2014. He was educated in England and the United States, and then studied Engineering Science and Economics at Oxford before becoming a chartered civil engineer. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2013. In 1979, he was called to the English Bar after studying law at the City University and Inns of Court School of Law. He was appointed a King’s Counsel in 1992 and a Bencher of Middle Temple in 2002. Before his appointment to the bench, he specialised internationally in the area of construction, engineering and technology disputes both in international arbitration and in courts outside the UK.
PANELLISTS
		Justice Douglas Jones AO International Judge Singapore International Commercial Court Justice Douglas Jones AO is highly regarded as an International arbitrator, particularly in construction disputes. Chambers Asia Pacific had recognised him as the leading Asia Pacific Arbitrator for construction disputes. In 2018, he maintained his Band One ranking in the Chambers Asia-Pacific International arbitration category for an eighth consecutive year. In the same year, he was identified as one of the 10 most highly regarded arbitration practitioners in London and a leader in construction disputes. Justice Douglas Jones AO, graduated with a Master of Laws in 1977 from the University of Queensland, Australia, joined Clayton Utz as a Partner and Head of the firm’s Construction group in 1993. He headed their International Arbitration and Private International Law group in 1995 and in 2000 was heading Clayton Utz’s National Major Projects Group. Upon his retirement from Clayton Utz in 2014, Justice Douglas Jones AO became a full time independent International Arbitrator. His appointments in a number of professional bodies include President of the International Academy of Construction Lawyers; Past President, Chartered Arbitrator, and one of four Companions, of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators; and Fellow of Resolution Australia, and of the Arbitrators & Mediators Institute of New Zealand.
		Ms Marion Smith KC 39 Essex Chambers Marion Smith KC is a barrister, arbitrator and mediator with over 20 years of experience in complex disputes across a wide range of industry sectors, legal issues and international geographical regions. She is recognised in key legal directories as both counsel and arbitrator. She is an Honorary Professor in the Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London where she teaches on the LLM programme. She contributes to various books on construction law and dispute resolution including Wilmot-Smith on Construction Contracts (Oxford University Press [2021]) and Foskett on Compromise (Sweet & Maxwell [2024]). Marion is vice chair of the International Committee of the Bar Council of England & Wales and serves as a trustee on the board of the Council of the Inns of Court. She recently served as a trustee and chair of the global board of trustees of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
		Professor Jan Paulsson Judge Bahrain Court of Cassation Jan Paulsson is a Judge on the Court of Cassation of the Kingdom of Bahrain, with dispensation to sit as arbitrator in international cases. During his career as a lawyer in private practice based principally in Paris, notably in the firms Freshfields and Three Crowns, he acted as advocate or arbitrator in hundreds of arbitrations in all familiar venues. He currently serves as President of the Court of the Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration, is a past president of the London Court of International Arbitration and the International Council for Commercial Arbitration, and has served as a vice-president of the ICC International Court of Arbitration and a board member of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre. A graduate of Harvard College, Yale Law School (where he was an editor of the Yale Law Journal), and the University of Paris (Sorbonne), he held an endowed chair as professor of law at the University of Miami from 2010 to 2019 and has published well-known textbooks and a multitude of articles on international arbitration.
		Mr Duncan Watson KC Managing Partner (Singapore) Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP Duncan is the managing partner of our new Singapore office. Duncan specialises in international arbitration, and relocated from our Hong Kong office, where he spent many years as a leader of our Asian arbitration practice. Who’s Who Legal (2021) listed him as one of the nine “most highly regarded” young arbitration partners in the Asia Pacific, and quoted peers who described as “an exceptional adviser and advocate” and “certainly among the very best of his generation”. Duncan was appointed King’s Counsel (England & Wales) in March 2021 at the age of 37. Duncan has acted as counsel in international commercial and investment treaty arbitrations under most arbitral institutions and rules, including the SIAC, HKIAC, ICC, UNCITRAL, ICSID, LCIA, ICDR, SCC, CAA, and Swiss Chambers. Duncan has acted for clients based all over the world. He represents clients in a broad array of industries, including private equity and financial services, energy and resources, manufacturing, infrastructure, and intellectual property. Duncan also sits as arbitrator, including in SIAC, HKIAC and ICC matters. He also regularly publishes and lectures on topical issues in commercial and investment treaty arbitration around the region, including advocacy.
		Ms Koh Swee Yen SC Partner WongPartnership LLP Koh Swee Yen, Senior Counsel, is the Head of the International Arbitration Practice and a Partner in the Commercial & Corporate Disputes and Commodities & International Trade Practices of WongPartnership, a law firm headquartered in Singapore. Her practice has a particular focus on complex, high-value and multi-jurisdictional disputes involving asset recovery, commodities, energy, fraud, infrastructure, international trade, joint ventures, transport and technology. She has extensive experience acting for and against States and State-owned entities, multinational corporations and high net-worth individuals both before the Singapore Courts (including SICC) as well as in international commercial and investment arbitrations. She is admitted to the Roll of Solicitors of England & Wales and also has rights of audience before the DIFC Courts. She also sits as an arbitrator, and has been designated by Singapore to the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators. Regarded as a global leader, the go-to lawyer for cross-border asset recovery, fraud and commercial disputes, enforcement and setting aside proceedings, she is ranked in various legal publications, including The Legal 500, Chambers Global, and Who’s Who Legal. She was awarded Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year at the ALB SE Asia Law Awards 2024, Litigation Lawyer of the Year at The Legal 500 Southeast Asia Awards 2023 and Woman Lawyer of the Year (Law Firm) at the ALB SE Asia Law Awards 2021. She earned the distinction of a Global Elite Thought Leader in Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration 2024 (reserved for the top 5% of practitioners worldwide), in addition to being listed on GAR’s exclusive 45 under 45 2023 List in acknowledgment of her outstanding track record in successful arbitration cases, legal victories and positive feedback from clients. She is recognised as a Thought Leader in Who's Who Legal: Commercial Litigation 2024, and also ranked in Asset Recovery 2024 and Energy 2024.

PANEL SESSION 3: RESTRUCTURING: CROSS-BORDER CORPORATE INSOLVENCY

MODERATOR
		Justice Kannan Ramesh Judge Singapore International Commercial Court Justice Kannan Ramesh was appointed Judge of the Appellate Division on 1 November 2022. He was appointed Judicial Commissioner in May 2015, and Judge of the High Court in April 2017. He was also appointed as a Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Brunei Darussalam SCBD on a part-time basis from 2019 to 2023 where he heard both commercial and civil cases. He received his Bachelor of Laws with Honours from the National University of Singapore in 1990. He was then admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor in Singapore in 1991, and appointed Senior Counsel in 2012. Before his appointment as a Judicial Commissioner, Justice Ramesh was Managing Partner of Messrs Tan Kok Quan Partnership from 2008, where he specialised in dispute resolution, insolvency and restructuring, and international arbitration.
PANELLISTS
		Justice Christopher Sontchi International Judge Singapore International Commercial Court Justice Christopher S. Sontchi is an International Judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court and is the former Chief Judge of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. He also acts as an arbitrator with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, as a consultant to the World Bank, and as a Lecturer in Law at The University of Chicago Law School. Through Sontchi LLC, he serves as a mediator, provides expert advisory services, and acts as an independent fiduciary. He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and is also a member of the International Insolvency Institute, Judicial Insolvency Network, National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges, American Bankruptcy Institute, and INSOL International. In addition, he is a member of the International Advisory Council of the Singapore Global Restructuring Initiative, and the Founders’ Committee for The University of Chicago Law School’s Center on Law and Finance. Judge Sontchi has testified before the United States Congress on the safe harbors for financial contracts. He has also published articles on creditors’ committees, valuation, asset sales and safe harbors.
		Justice James Michael Peck International Judge Singapore International Commercial Court Justice Peck was a Judge in the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York from 2006 to 2014 and presided over the Chapter 11 and Securities Investor Protection Act cases for Lehman Brothers, which constituted the largest bankruptcy filings in US history. As a Judge, he also successfully mediated some of the most complex Chapter 11 cases, including American Airlines, General Motors, Residential Capital and Excel Maritime. His areas of focus include bankruptcy, creditors rights, business restructuring, financial contracts and derivatives as well as mediation and dispute resolution. He is a well-known American insolvency Judge and mediator who has handled and resolved some of the largest corporate insolvencies. Justice Peck currently chairs the Business Bankruptcy Advisory Committee of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. By invitation, he is a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and a member of the expert panel of the Panel of Recognised International Market Experts in Finance. Justice Peck is a past president of the International Insolvency Institute and was judicial chair of the American Bankruptcy Institute’s (ABI) annual New York City Bankruptcy Conference and co-chair of ABI’s advisory committee on safe harbours. He also served on the board of governors of the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges and last held the position of the Chair (Global Head) of the Cross-border Restructuring practice of international law firm, Morrison Foerster LLP, where he also headed the Mediation Practice.
		Mr Sushil Nair Deputy Chief Executive Drew & Napier LLC Regularly ranked at the highest levels of Singapore’s Insolvency Bar, Sushil Nair is the Deputy Chief Executive Officer of Drew & Napier and is co-head of its Corporate Restructuring & Workout practice group. Sushil brings over 30 years of expertise to his role, with his practice substantially focussed on restructuring. He has been involved in some of the largest restructuring exercises in Asia, with much of it revolving around Indonesia and China. In addition to his leadership at Drew & Napier, Sushil has been appointed a member to a number of government committees involved in the development of the law relating to insolvency and restructuring in Singapore and is a member of the board of the Insolvency Practitioners Association of Singapore, of which he is a Fellow. Sushil also sits on the boards of Sports Singapore and the Singhealth Fund. In 2023, Sushil was awarded Singapore’s Public Service Star (COVID-19), also known as the Bintang Bakti Masyarakat (COVID-19), for his invaluable contribution to the successful management of the impact of COVID-19 on Singaporeans by conceptualising the framework and helping to draft the COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Bill. The COVID-19 (Temporary Measures) Act 2020 was passed by Parliament on 7 April 2020.
		Mr Stephen Hessler Global Practice Leader, Restructuring Group Sidley Austin LLP Stephen Hessler is the leader of Sidley’s global Restructuring group and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee. In his more than two decades of experience, he has represented debtors, creditors, and investors in large and complex Chapter 11 cases, out-of-court restructurings, asset acquisitions, and related litigation. Steve has counseled clients across a broad range of industries, including telecommunications, travel, energy, gaming, real estate, financial institutions, and manufacturing. He led the company-side representation of some of the most significant Chapter 11 reorganizations in recent history, including Frontier Communications and Windstream Holdings, and represented the purchasers of Hertz Global Holdings in their Chapter 11 cases. Steve has consistently been recognized as a leading Bankruptcy/Restructuring lawyer by Chambers USA (2015–2024), with sources in the 2022 edition noting he is an “excellent corporate bankruptcy counsel, and a brilliant strategist and tactician.” Sidley’s Restructuring group is also regularly ranked as a leading practice in Chambers Global, Chambers USA, and Chambers UK (2012–2022). The group was shortlisted for 2023 Bankruptcy “Law Firm of the Year” by Chambers USA.
		Mr James Sprayregen Vice Chairman Hilco Global James H.M. “Jamie” Sprayregen serves as Vice Chairman at Hilco Global. As a key advisor and strategic growth partner to CEO and founder Jeffrey Hecktman, he shares direct oversight of the firm’s rapidly expanding financial services platform with other key members of the executive leadership team. Jamie is one of the most well-known and highly regarded dealmakers and thought leaders in the restructuring, corporate reorganization and M&A community. He founded Kirkland and Ellis’ worldwide Restructuring Group, building it from inception in 1990 to become the premier restructuring group in the world, and the only one ranked tier 1 in every major region globally. As a partner in the Chicago and New York offices of Kirkland & Ellis, he served on the law firm’s worldwide management committee from 2003-2006 and 2009-2019. He joined Goldman Sachs in 2006 and served as co-head of its Restructuring Group, advising clients in restructuring and distressed situations. He rejoined Kirkland three years later. Described as “a legend in the bankruptcy space” and “one of the United States’ most sought-after bankruptcy attorneys,” Jamie has led some of the most complex Chapter 11 filings in recent history. He has extensive experience representing major U.S. and international companies in restructurings both in and out of court and has handled matters for clients in industries as varied as manufacturing, technology, transportation, energy, media, retail, and real estate. He has extensive experience advising boards of directors, and generally representing debtors and creditors in complex workout, insolvency, restructuring, and bankruptcy planning matters worldwide.

THE WORLD COMES TO SINGAPORE - FIRESIDE CHAT WITH MINISTER K SHANMUGAM SC

SPEAKER
		Minister K Shanmugam SC Minister of Law & Minister of Home Affairs Mr K Shanmugam was educated at Raffles Institution from 1972 to 1977. He then read law at the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he graduated at the top of his class with First Class Honours, in 1984. He was admitted to the Singapore Bar as an Advocate & Solicitor in 1985. Mr. Shanmugam went into private practice and became one of the Senior Partners and Head of Litigation & Dispute Resolution at Allen & Gledhill LLP, which was the largest law firm in Singapore. In 1998, he was appointed a Senior Counsel of the Supreme Court of Singapore at the age of 38, one of the youngest lawyers to be so appointed. Mr. Shanmugam had a successful practice and was consistently recognised in international publications, as one of the top litigation, arbitration and insolvency Counsel in Asia and Singapore. While in practice, he regularly handled trial work in major corporate, commercial and insolvency disputes, malpractice suits and inquiries; and has acted for lawyers in disciplinary inquiries as well as in criminal proceedings. Mr. Shanmugam has also acted for senior government leaders in Singapore, including the current and previous Prime Ministers of Singapore, as well as for the Chief Justice of Singapore. More than 100 of the cases handled by Mr. Shanmugam have been reported in the Law Reports. Prior to accepting public office, Mr. Shanmugam served in various committees and Boards, including the Advisory Board of the Faculty of Law; the Raffles Institution Board of Governors; the Media Development Authority, and Sembawang Corporation Industries Ltd (a company listed on the Singapore Exchange). Mr. Shanmugam was also President of the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA) from March 2002 to March 2009. On 1 May 2008 Mr. Shanmugam was appointed a Cabinet Minister. He is now the Minister for Home Affairs and the Minister for Law. He has also served as the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
MODERATOR
		Mr Cavinder Bull SC Chief Executive Officer Drew & Napier LLC Cavinder is the Chief Executive Officer of Drew & Napier. He has an active practice in complex litigation and international arbitration. He is engaged in trial and appellate advocacy at all levels of the Singapore Courts and appears as counsel in international arbitration in various countries. He is also co-head of the Competition Law & Regulatory Practice. Cavinder graduated with First Class Honours in law from Oxford University in 1992, winning the Bellot Prize for Public International Law from Trinity College. He was called to the Bar of England & Wales the following year, placing fourth in the Bar examinations. He returned to Singapore and passed the Singapore Bar exams, winning two prizes, including the prize for top candidates. Cavinder worked for the Chief Justice of Singapore as a Justices' Law Clerk before joining Drew & Napier in 1994 as a litigation associate. In 1995, he was awarded the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship and left for Harvard Law School where he received an LL.M. He passed the New York Bar exams and was admitted to practice in New York. Cavinder practiced as a litigation associate with Sullivan & Cromwell in New York until late 1997 when he returned to Singapore and Drew & Napier. He was made a partner of Drew & Napier in 1998 and a Director of the firm in May 2002. He was appointed Senior Counsel by the Chief Justice of Singapore in 2008, one of a handful accorded the honour before the age of 40.

CONFERENCE DINNER

GUEST OF HONOUR
		Senior Minister Lee Hsien Loong Prime Minister's Office

KEYNOTE ADDRESS: COLLISION COURSE: AI AND THE LAW

Mr Dirk Hartung
Assistant Professor of Law (ABD)
SMU Yong Pung How School of Law

Dirk Hartung has recently joined Singapore Management University Yong Pung How School of Law as an assistant professor of law from Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany. He is the founder of the Center for Legal Technology and Data Science and the Co-Academic Director for the Bucerius Summer Program in Legal Technology and Operations and SMU/Bucerius Legal Tech Essentials. In addition, he is a Non-Residential Fellow at CodeX – the Stanford Center for Legal Informatics at Stanford Law School, United States.

Dirk teaches Legal Technology, Legal Operations and Justice Digitalisation as well as Professional Ethics. He supervises bachelor’s, master’s and PhD theses in Computer Science and Law.

His normative scholarship focuses on Legal Technology and Studies of the Legal Profession. His quantitative research interests include computational legal studies, legal informatics, data science and natural language processing and artificial intelligence in the legal domain. His work has appeared or will appear in law reviews and general science journals including Philosophical Transactions A of the Royal Society, Frontiers in Physics, Scientific Reports, Artificial Intelligence and Law, MIT Computational Law Report, RabelsZ–The Rabel Journal of Comparative and International Private Law and been presented at conferences including the Annual Meeting of the Association for Computational Linguistics (ACL Main) and ACM SIGPLAN Symposium on Principles of Programming Languages (POPL). He regularly publishes market reports in collaboration with the Boston Consulting Group and the German Legal Tech Association.

PANEL SESSION 4: TSUNAMI: NEW TECHNOLOGIES

MODERATOR
		Justice Anselmo Reyes International Judge Singapore International Commercial Court Anselmo Reyes practices as an arbitrator. He was Professor of Legal Practice at Hong Kong University from October 2012 to September 2018. Before that, he was a judge of the Hong Kong High Court from September 2003 to September 2012, when he oversaw the Construction and Arbitration List (2004-8) and the Commercial and Admiralty Lists (2008-12). He was Representative of the Hague Conference on Private International Law's Regional Office for the Asia Pacific from April 2013 to July 2017. He became an International Judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court in January 2015. He is an Overseas Bencher of the Inner Temple.
PANELLISTS
		Justice James Allsop International Judge Singapore International Commercial Court Justice Allsop was appointed the Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia in March 2013 and retired in April 2023. Prior to that, he was the President of the New South Wales Court of Appeal from June 2008 to February 2013 and a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia from May 2001 to June 2008. He also served as an additional Judge of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory during the period 2003 to 2008. In 2013, Justice Allsop was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his distinguished service to the judiciary and to the law, for reforms he introduced to promote equity and access, and for his contributions to the administration of maritime law and legal education. He was promoted to Companion of the Order of Australia in 2023 for his eminent service to the judiciary and to the law, to organisational and technological reform, to legal education, and to insolvency law. Justice Allsop is also a Member of the American Law Institute, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, and Titulary Member of the Comite Maritime International. His areas of legal expertise include commercial law, maritime and transport law, insurance law, taxation, private and public international law, equity, public and administrative law, constitutional law, and criminal law.
		Justice Nallini Pathmanathan Federal Court of Malaysia Justice Nallini Pathmanathan was called to the English Bar in 1984 and to the Malaysian Bar in 1986. She commenced her legal career at Skrine where she specialised in amongst others, commercial and industrial relations law for twenty-one years prior to being elevated to the Bench. In 2006 she became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators as well as a certified mediator. On elevation to the Bench in 2007, she sat as a judge of the High Court and was also appointed the Admiralty Judge in 2010. In September 2014, Justice Nallini was elevated to the Court of Appeal. Justice Nallini was elevated to the Federal Court on 26 November 2018, where she now sits. In 2023, Justice Nallini was appointed by the Prime Minister of Malaysia to sit on the Judicial Appointments Commission. Justice Nallini is the Editor of the Journal of the Malaysian Judiciary. She is a member of the Editorial Board of the Malaysian White Book entitled “Malaysian Civil Procedure” (2024 Edition) and the general editor of Bullen & Leake & Jacob’s Malaysian Precedents of Pleadings. Justice Nallini is a Bencher of The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple. She is also a corporate member of the Cheltenham Ladies’ College, United Kingdom.
		Mr Paul Tan Independent Counsel One Essex Court Paul Tan is an independent counsel with One Essex Court, specialising in international arbitration (commercial and investor-State), litigation (trials and appeals) and arbitration-related litigation. He regularly leads the advocacy for his clients. Paul is ranked as a leading lawyer in his practice areas and described in the following terms – “you cannot get anyone better than him”; “an absolute star” and “a standout and gifted advocate.” Paul is the co-author of three books on international arbitration: Mustill & Boyd: Commercial and Investor-State Arbitration (LexisNexis, 3rd ed, forthcoming); A Commentary on the Singapore International Arbitration Act (Oxford University Press, 2023) and The Law and Theory of International Commercial Arbitration in Singapore (Academy Publishing, 2022). Paul also co-chairs the ADR committee of the Law Society of Singapore and is currently a member of the Income Tax Review Board. “Prior to joining the bar, Paul was a partner at major Singapore, UK and US law firms for ten years.”
		Ms Eleanor Hughes General Counsel Binance Eleanor is the General Counsel for Binance, where she leads the company’s legal affairs. She also works closely with the global compliance team to support Binance’s commitment to responsibly grow the industry in close collaboration with regulators and policymakers globally. Previously, Eleanor was the Head of Legal for APAC and MENA for Binance, where she oversaw matters in the two regions and managed a team of specialist lawyers in regulatory, M&A, commercial and litigation. She played an instrumental role in securing virtual asset service provider licenses and registrations for Binance in several jurisdictions, including Bahrain, Dubai, and New Zealand. Eleanor has 15 years of experience in both private practice and in-house roles. Before joining Binance, Eleanor spent more than ten years at US law firms including Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates, where she focused on litigation and contentious matters. Eleanor graduated from University of Cambridge with First Class Honors.
		Mr Daniel Chia Head of Litigation Herbert Smith Freehills Prolegis Daniel Chia is the Managing Director of Prolegis LLC and Head of Litigation for the Herbert Smith Freehills Prolegis Formal Law Alliance (FLA). He is an experienced litigation lawyer specializing in dispute resolution, contentious restructuring, insolvency, and government investigations. He provides tailored, tactical advice that enhances clients' corporate strategies. Daniel devises and executes strategies for disputes involving commercial crime, fraud, business crime defense, white-collar proceedings, professional indemnity insurance, shareholder litigation, insolvency claims, and regulatory enforcement in Asia. His expertise includes handling cases of misselling, misrepresentations, fraudulent fundraising, and allegations of corruption, money laundering, and commercial crime. Daniel is a seasoned corporate and commercial trial and appellate litigator, representing clients in complex, cross-border, and multidisciplinary disputes. He has appeared as lead counsel in court hearings, international arbitrations, and other dispute resolution forums. Additionally, he regularly acts in professional liability cases, representing professionals, consultants, and insurers in matters of professional negligence.