Latest Updates
Senior Accredited Specialists and Accredited Specialists in Building and Construction Law
Senior Accredited Specialists and Accredited Specialists in Data and Digital Economy Law
13 February 2023 — The latest group of Building and Construction and Data and Digital Economy Law specialists on 13 February 2023 received their Certificate of Accreditation from the Chair of the Specialist Accreditation Board, Justice Kannan Ramesh, at a certificate presentation ceremony.
The ceremony was preceded by a seminar "Emerging Commercial and Litigation Trends in Data Sovereignty and Digital Assets" with the opening remarks by Justice Ramesh and moderated by Mr Yeong Zee Kin, Deputy Commissioner of the Personal Data Protection Commission. He was joined by an esteemed panel comprising Jennifer Koo of Google, Rajesh Sreenivasan of Rajah & Tann and Bryan Tan of Reed Smith. The panel tackled the latest and novel issues surrounding data flows and its management and how data sovereignty is implemented through policy, regulation and international standards. They also discussed legal issues relating to transactions of crypto assets, and rights and ownership disputes.
The Specialist Accreditation Scheme congratulates all newly accredited specialists:
Building and Construction Law
Senior Accredited Specialists
- Lynette Chew, CMS Holborn Asia
- Kirindeep Singh, Dentons Rodyk & Davidson LLP
- Tan Tian Luh, Chancery Law Corporation
- Yong Boon On, Eldan Law LLP
Accredited Specialists
- Ang Minghao, Legis Point LLC
- Ching Meng Hang, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP
- Daniel Ho,Baker McKenzie.Wong & Leow
- Kelvin Kek,Allen & Gledhill LLP<
- Amanda Koh Jia Yi, Eldan Law LLP
- Valerie Koh, WongPartnership LLP
- Magdalene Ong Li Min, WongPartnership LLP
- Reuben Gavin Peter, Dentons Rodyk & Davidson LLP
Data and Digital Economy Law
Senior Accredited Specialists
- Benjamin Cheong, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP
- Lam Chung Nian, WongPartnership LLP
- Rajesh Sreenivasan, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP
- Bryan Tan, Reed Smith LLP
- Lionel Tan, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP
- Steve Tan Keng Joo, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP
- Tan Wee Meng, Allen & Gledhill LLP
Accredited Specialists
- Lam Zhen Guang, Clyde & Co Clasis
- Justin Lee, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP
- Lim Seng Siew, OTP Law Corporation
- Alex Toh, Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow
Senior Accredited Specialist and Accredited Specialist in Building and Construction Law contribute to The Business Times (Part 2)
16 February 2022 — Soh Lip San and Sathia Jagateesan, as members of the SAL Law Reform Committee's Building and Construction Subcommittee, contributed an article to The Business Times, entitled "Championing collaboration in the construction industry", which discusses what collaborative contracting could look like for construction projects. This is the subject matter of the Subcommittee's latest recommendations.
Accredited Specialists in Building and Construction Law
Accredited Specialists in Data and Digital Economy Law
10 January 2022 — Applications to be accredited as an Accredited Specialist in Building and Construction Law or Data and Digital Economy Law for legal practitioners or inhouse counsel who have at least 5 years' PQE are now open. Please be familiar with the
- Information Guide for Applicants - General AND
- Information Guide for Applicants - Building and Construction Law
- Information Guide for Applicants - Data and Digital Economy Law
which can be found here.
Application and reference statement forms may be completed online.
Applications close on 31 March 2022.
Senior Accredited Specialists and Accredited Specialists in Maritime and Shipping Law
10 January 2022 — The Specialist Accreditation Scheme is pleased to introduce the latest group of specialists in Maritime and Shipping Law. They participated in the accreditation programme throughout 2021 and, after a rigorous assessment process, are now part of a distinguished and select group of experts in their field. Congratulations go to:
Senior Accredited Specialists
Chong Ik Wei, Partner, Clyde & Co Clasis Singapore
Joseph Tan Wee Kong, Managing Director, JLex LLC
Lawrence Teh Kee Wee, Senior Partner, Denton Rodyk & Davidson LLP
Accredited Specialists
Ho Pey Yann, Senior Associate, Allen & Gledhill LLP
Nathanael Lin, Partner, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP
Prakaash s/o Paniar Silvam, Partner, Oon & Bazul LLP
The directory of specialists in Maritime and Shipping Law now stands at 30 Seniors Accredited Specialists and 11 Accredited Specialists.
Senior Accredited Specialists in Building and Construction Law contribute to The Business Times
07 October 2021 — Following their appearance in the SAL webinar on what the construction industry can expect once temporary relief under COTMA ends back in May 2021, Kelvin Aw (CMS Holborn) and Sim Chee Siong (Rajah & Tann) contributed an opinion piece in The Business Times "Covid's lessons for the construction industry".
Senior Accredited Specialists in Building and Construction Law address industry concerns on temporary reliefs
04 May 2021 — The past one and half years have been challenging for the construction industry. The COVID Temporary Measures provided some reliefs that will eventually come to an end. Kelvin Aw (CMS Holborn) and Sim Chee Siong (Rajah & Tann), together with moderator Darren Benger (VivATA), addressed issues that the industry may face once the temporary reliefs and moratoria end including delay, liquidated damages and cost-sharing. The webinar saw a "full house" attendance with participants actively engaging the panel during the Q&A session.
Maritime and Shipping Law specialists appear in SCMA-SAL hybrid mock arbitration
18 March 2021 — Senior Accredited Specialists Ajaib Hari Dass (Haridass Ho & Partners) Loh Wai Yue (Incisive Law), Karnan Thirupathy (Kennedys Legal Solutions) and Accredited Specialist Mohammad Haireez formed part of a panel that role played a shipping mock arbitration based on SCMA arbitration rules.
In the climate of COVID and unlike the first mock arbitration held in person in 2019, this iteration was held virtually with the tribunal made up of the Senior Accredited Specialists physically seated in a room at Maxwell Chambers, and the counsel elsewhere.
Justice Pang Khang Chau graced the event with his opening address, where he highlighted how COVID has accelerated the adoption of digital solutions so that there was continued offering of dispute resolution services. He also mentioned that part of Singapore's efforts to establish herself as a leading maritime dispute resolution hub included the development of expertise in the field and that this is where the Specialist Accreditation Scheme "makes available the valuable human resource to ensure that Singapore retains her status as an international maritime centre, complementing specialist judges and a robust legal system". Read his address here.
Profits of the event went to the Singapore Shipping Tripartite Alliance Resilience (SG-STAR) Fund, the first global ground-up tripartite initiative bringing together like-minded international partners from the industry, unions and government to facilitate safe crew changes.
From left to right: Justice Pang Khang Chau delivered the opening address from his Chambers, the Tribunal (Ajaib Hari Dass, Loh Wai Yue and Karnan Thirupathy) and counsel Mohammad Haireez
Accredited and Senior Accredited Specialists in Building and Construction Law 2021
04 January 2021 — The Specialist Accreditation Scheme is pleased to introduce the latest group of specialists in Building and Construction Law. They participated in the accreditation programme throughout 2020 and, after a rigorous assessment process, are now part of a select group of experts in their field. Congratulations go to:
Senior Accredited Specialist
Christopher Chong Chi Chuin, Director & Head (Construction & Engineering), Drew & Napier LLC
Accredited Specialists
Lesley Fu Xianglin, Partner, Infrastructure, Construction and Engineering Practice, WongPartnership LLP
Pardeep Singh Khosa, Director, Davinder Singh Chambers
Muhammad Asfian bin Mohaimi, Partner, Infrastructure, Construction and Engineering Practice, WongPartnership LLP
Justin Tan Jia Wei, Senior Associate, Harry Elias Partnership
The list of specialists in Building and Construction Law now stands at 16 Seniors Accredited Specialists and 17 Accredited Specialists.
Accredited and Senior Accredited Specialists in Building and Construction Law 2021
04 January 2021 — The Specialist Accreditation Scheme is pleased to introduce the latest group of specialists in Building and Construction Law. They participated in the accreditation programme throughout 2020 and, after a rigorous assessment process, are now part of a select group of experts in their field. Congratulations go to:
Senior Accredited Specialist
Christopher Chong Chi Chuin, Director & Head (Construction & Engineering), Drew & Napier LLC
Accredited Specialists
Lesley Fu Xianglin, Partner, Infrastructure, Construction and Engineering Practice, WongPartnership LLP
Pardeep Singh Khosa, Director, Davinder Singh Chambers
Muhammad Asfian bin Mohaimi, Partner, Infrastructure, Construction and Engineering Practice, WongPartnership LLP
Justin Tan Jia Wei, Senior Associate, Harry Elias Partnership
The list of specialists in Building and Construction Law now stands at 16 Seniors Accredited Specialists and 17 Accredited Specialists.
Annual Review of Building and Construction Law Cases
8 October — Senior Accredited Specialists Christopher Chuah and Mohan Pillay were joined by Chow Kok Fong and Darren Benger (moderator), Council Member of the Singapore Institute of Architect, where they discussed the most salient building and construction cases from 2019.
Specialists featured in SAL's Annual Review of Admiralty and Shipping Cases
27 July — Four of SAL's Senior Accredited Specialists Maritime and Shipping Law dissected the most salient 2019 shipping and admiralty cases.
Toh Kian Sing SC of Rajah & Tann and Vivian Ang of Allen and Gledhill, who co-authored the Admiralty and Shipping 2019 edition of the Annual Review of Singapore Cases journal, reviewed the 2019 cases of The Yue Yu 902 [2020] 3 SLR 573, Wilmar Trading v Heroic Warrior [2019] SGHC 143 and The "Mount Apo" and "Hajin Ras Laffan" [2019] SLR 57, and their underlying issues. They were later joined by Ian Teo of Helmsman and Bernard Yee of Resource Law for the panel discussion where they spoke on the latest developments on Commodity Trading & Trade Finance and IncoTerms 2020 and maritime insolvency and restructuring issues respectively.
Specialists featured in SAL's Specialist Insights Series Webinars
13 May — Four of SAL's Senior Accredited Specialists took part in two webinars that had the COVID-19 pandemic as the underlying theme.
Ng Kim Beng of Rajah & Tann Singapore gave input from the building and construction law perspective in "Contracting during a Pandemic: Force Majeure and Other Clauses” to close to 100 in the "audience", while Paul Shandosham of Clifford Chance, Ho Chien Mien of Allen & Gledhill, Ian de Vaz of WongPartnership and Soh Lip San of Rajah & Tann led an insightful string of presentations and an engaging panel discussion thereafter to over 130 attendees in “Impact of the COVID-19 Temporary Measures on Various Obligations in Construction Projects”.
Clockwise from top left: Soh Lip San, Paul Sandosham, Ho Chien Mien and Ian de Vaz
SAL welcomes 10 newly accredited specialists to the Accredited Specialist Scheme alumi
6 January 2020 — The latest cohort of newly accredited specialists has been announced. Six lawyers were accredited as Senior Accredited Specialists and four as Accredited Specialists in Maritime and Shipping Law after successfully completing the accreditation programme in 2019. Congratulations to:
Senior Accredited Specialists
Edgar Chin (Incisive Law LLC)
Loh Wai Yue (Incisive Law LLC)
John Seow (Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP)
Corina Song (Allen & Gledhill LLP)
Karnan Thirupathy (Kennedys Legal Solutions)
Bernard Yee (Resource Law LLC)
Accredited Specialists
Dedi Affandi bin Ahmad (Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP)
Alvin Ong (Resource Law LLC)
Ting Yong Hong (Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP)
Erik Widjaja (Allen & Gledhill LLP)
Corina Song and Erik Widjaja featured on Maritime Singapore Connect
6 January 2020 — Corina Song, Senior Accredited Specialist, and Erik Widjaja, Accredited Specialist, both in Maritime and Shipping Law, had a conversation on the legal landscape of the shipping practice, courtesy of Maritime Singapore Connect. Click on the image below to watch.
S Mohan, Senior Accredited Specialist in Maritime and Shipping Law, appointed as Judicial Commissioner
19 November 2019 — Mr. S Mohan, Managing Director of Resource Law LLC, has been appointed as a judicial commissioner of the Supreme Court from January 2020, for a period of two years.
Earlier this year, he shared his thoughts with SAL on being accredited by the Specialist Accreditation Scheme and how it can benefit fellow practitioners.
Maritime and Shipping accredited specialists participate in SCMA-SAL Mock Arbitration at the SGX
23 September 2019 — SAL's Accredited and Senior Accredited Specialists in Maritime and Shipping Law, representatives from P&I clubs and fellow legal practitioners turned actors in presenting to an audience of 100 SCMA's SEADOCC and arbitration process via a mock arb-med-arb shipping scenario. Justice Belinda Ang gave the opening address. The event was held at the SGX Auditorium which was sponsored by the Baltic Exchange.
Making Waves
1 August 2019 –The Specialist Accreditation Scheme received some "wave" time in the Singapore Shipping Association's (SSA) magazine, Waves, to inform the industry that they can seek specialist legal assistance by referring to the Maritime and Shipping specialist directory.
Riding on the Crest
1 August 2019 – Accredited Specialist in Maritime and Shipping Law Ms Shanna Ghose of Hill Dickinson LLP was recently interviewed by Singapore Nautilus, the corporate publication of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, for their upcoming Issue 44. Be the first to read it here.
Connect-ing with the Industry
24 June 2019 – To promote the legal fraternity to the shipping industry, the Maritime Singapore Connect, a portal by the Singapore Maritime Foundation and supported by the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore, profiled two of the Accredited Specialists in Maritime and Shipping Law: Mohammad Haireez of Haridass Ho & Partners and Tan Siew Chi of Ang & Partners, who spoke about the intricacies of their practice.
Haireez and Siew Chi receiving their Certificates of Specialist Accreditation from Judge of Appeal Steven Chong.
Gina Lee-Wan, Senior Accredited Specialist in Maritime and Shipping Law, recognised at Singapore International Maritime Awards
9 April 2019 – Gina Lee-Wan was presented the International Maritime Centre (Individual) Award at the Singapore International Maritime Awards, which "recognises individuals and companies for their outstanding contributions to Singapore’s development as a premier global hub port and a leading international maritime centre".
A chat with Ms. Thea Raman, Accredited Specialist in Building and Construction Law
13 March 2019 — Ms. Thea Raman sits down with SAL to talk about her accreditation as a specialist.
Newly accredited specialists receive Certificates of Accreditation
24 January 2019 – 34 of the very best in Maritime and Shipping Law and Building and Construction Law received Certificates of Specialist Accreditation from Judge of Appeal Steven Chong and Justice Quentin Loh respectively. Judge Loh, Chair of the Specialist Accreditation Board (SAB), in his opening remarks, reminded the Senior Accredited Specialists to nurture younger lawyers by passing on their “wisdom and expertise” so that in time, the latter can take on the mantle left by their mentors. For the junior practitioners, he encouraged them to look to their seniors as inspiration to further hone their specialism and show that they can measure up to international practitioner standards and distinguish themselves as advocates in their chosen fields of practice. Justice Belinda Ang, SAB member Ms Joan Janssen of MinLaw and Ms Serene Wee, SAL's Chief Executive, were also in attendance at the ceremony which was followed by a tea reception where guests caught up with each other.
To find out who the new specialists are, refer to the directory of specialists here.
Clockwise from top left: Justice Quentin Loh addressing the newly accredited specialists; audience listening to Judge Loh; Senior Accredited Specialists and Accredited Specialists in Maritime and Shipping Law with Justice Belinda Ang, Judge of Appeal Steven Chong and Justice Quentine Loh; Senior Accredited Specialists and Accredited Specialists in Building and Construction Law with Justice Quentine Loh and SAB member Joan Janssen of MinLaw; Judge of Appeal Steven Chong having an exchange with Senior Accredited Specialists in Maritime and Shipping Law Jainil Bhandari, Mohan Subbaraman and Thomas Tan.
Security of Payment (Amendment) Act 2018: Making sense of the changes – 18 January 2019
21 January 2019 — On 18 January, 230 lawyers and practitioners from the building and construction industry gathered at the SMU’s Mochtar Riady Auditorium to learn about the latest amendments to the Security of Payment Act. The event was particularly significant considering this is the first time the Act’s payment and adjudication process has undergone considerable review and change. Mr Neo Choon Keong, Deputy CEO (Industry Development), Building and Construction Authority, delivered the opening address, which was followed by presentations by four of SAL’s Senior Accredited Specialists: Ho Chien Mien (Allen & Gledhill), Raymond Chan (Chan Neo), Ian de Vaz (WongPartnership) and Edwin Lee (Eldan Law), and a Q&A with fellow Senior Accredited Specialist Naresh Mahtani as moderator. Chow Kok Fong gave the closing remarks, rounding up the evening’s session.
From left to right: Mr Neo Choon Keong delivering the opening address; the audience listening attentively; the presenters and moderator during the Q&A session; and with Mr Chow Kok Fong (centre) and Mr Sriram Chakravarthi (Senior Director and Chief Legal Counsel, SAL) (extreme left).
