Southeast Asia - Singapore

Shook Lin & Bok LLP

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Shook Lin & Bok LLP has a fine history in dispute resolution, especially in banking and financial services disputes, insolvency and restructuring cases, and fraud and asset recovery. Along with its steady diet of banking and financial services cases, the firm has continued to land major engagements in the fraud segment, often cases stemming from large-scale insolvencies. It acted for the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in a claim of more than $80m against the ex-directors and ex-employees of Hin Leong Trading, concerning allegations of fraudulent misrepresentation, conspiracy by unlawful means, procurement of breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation. Sarjit Singh Gill SC has more than 40 years of experience in big-ticket litigation and arbitration, including corporate and banking disputes. David Chan is another senior practitioner with an outstanding record in fraud and insolvency cases. Ng Yeow Khoon and Probin Dass are also key practitioners, along with Joseph TayMoses Lin and Daniel Tan, the latter being an emerging talent.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Sherman Ho: direct and straightforward, no nonsense, doesn't sugarcoat. Meticulous and attentive to details.’

  • ‘SLB stands out for having many dedicated lawyers who are hands on, with minimal turnover of lawyers in the team over ten years.’

  • ‘Sarjit Gill SC stands out for his hands-on approach, and aggressive advocacy. Jamal Siddique stands out for his meticulous preparation and approach.’

  • ‘Shook Lin & Bok has really excelled in the disputes sector over recent years. They have trained and produced a wonderful team.’

  • ‘Daniel Tan, Jamal Siddique and Lin Ruizi – all young, intelligent and hungry for success. It makes it very easy to choose this firm.’

  • ‘Hard-working, thorough and able to achieve good outcomes quickly.’

  • ‘Daniel Tan works hard to achieve excellent outcomes for his clients. He knows the law, he knows the opposition and he knows the courtroom.’

  • ‘Go-to firm for me in Singapore for litigation issues – always deliver common sense advice but most importantly are very commercial.’

Key clients

  • Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited
  • Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited
  • KPMG
  • Gulf Petrochem FZC
  • PricewaterhouseCoopers
  • Tata International
  • Deloitte
  • DBS
  • Maybank
  • Shinhan Investment Corporation

Work highlights

  • Acted for the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation in commencing a claim of more than $80m against the ex-directors and ex-employees of Hin Leong Trading in claims premised on fraudulent misrepresentation, conspiracy by unlawful means, procurement of breach of contract and negligent misrepresentation.
  • Acted for the liquidators of the Envy Companies in a suit brought against the former directors and/or representatives of the Envy Companies to recover unauthorised/fraudulent transactions made out of investors' funds.
  • Acted for Standard Chartered Bank (Singapore) in defending a claim of approximately $30m by Winson Oil Trading, under a letter of credit issued by SCB on the application of Hin Leong Trading.

Lawyers

Leading individuals

Sarjit Singh Gill, SC

Sarjit Singh Gill, SC

Shook Lin & Bok LLP

Sarjit Singh Gill has extensive experience in a broad range of litigation and arbitration matters, with a special focus on corporate and commercial disputes, banking-related disputes, shareholders’ disputes, professional negligence and fraud. He also has an active international arbitration practice, having been involved in a significant number of complex arbitrations in Singapore and abroad. Notably, Sarjit has acted both for and against Indian parties in international arbitration matters. With more than 40 years of experience, Sarjit is also involved in many domestic and cross-border restructuring and insolvency matters, some of which are significant and high profile in nature. His clients include insolvency practitioners (liquidators, judicial managers, administrators, etc), accounting firms, financial institutions and non-bank creditors. Sarjit is a board member of the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore and the Urban Redevelopment Authority, non-executive director of Heliconia Capital Management Pte Ltd and has served on the Board of the Central Provident Fund from 2012 to 2018. He is a member of the Life Imprisonment Review Board, The President's Pleasure Review Board, Long Imprisonment Review Board and MAS Appeal Advisory Panel. He has also been appointed to serve as a member of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) Panel of Arbitrators and has served as a member of the Singapore International Mediation Centre Specialist Mediator Panel (Singapore) from 2020 to 2022.

Next Generation Partners

Daniel Tan

Shook Lin & Bok LLP

Daniel Tan’s main areas of practice are banking & financial disputes, with a particular focus on cross-border restructuring and insolvency. He regularly advises and represents corporate debtors, institutional creditors and turnaround professionals in special situations. His practice also encompasses shareholders’ disputes, corporate fraud, asset recovery and investigations. Daniel is a regular tutor for the insolvency and professional skills modules and an advocacy trainer in the preparatory course for the Singapore Bar Examinations run by the Singapore Institute of Legal Education.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Sarjit Singh Gill SC, David Chan

Other key lawyers

Ng Yeow Khoon, Probin Dass, Joseph Tay, Moses Lin, Daniel Tan, Jamal Siddique, Daryl Fong, Sherman Ho, Lin Ruizi