LITIGATION & ARBITRATION COUNSEL

Esther advises and represents private and corporate clients in a broad range of civil and commercial disputes at all levels of the Singapore Courts and in international commercial arbitrations. She also acts for the Singapore Medical Council in disciplinary inquiry hearings.

Her notable cases include her representation of the following clients :-

• A prominent Indonesian businessman (the Chairman of a prominent group of Indonesian companies) in resisting claims in a SIAC arbitration brought by an Indian coal-industry tycoon and his related Singapore company in connection with a settlement agreement, involving conspiracy and loss of profits / loss of chance.
• One of the world’s largest chemical producers based in Germany in an SIAC arbitration and insolvency proceedings under Singapore’s enhanced scheme of arrangement regime, brought by a leading iron-ore trader based in Singapore which had an annual revenue / turnover of approximately US$1 billion.
• A leading cashew processing company based in India in obtaining a recognition order in one of the first few Singapore cases arising from the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency, where the total claims of the company’s creditors exceeded US$10 million.
• A significant potential investor based in the UAE (as instructed counsel) in insolvency proceedings brought by the prominent Singapore water treatment group, Hyflux, where the total claims of the group’s creditors amounted to nearly S$3 billion.
• Subsidiaries of a China-listed software corporation in claims exceeding S$1 million against a Singapore payment processing company in the Singapore High Court, including successfully obtaining Worldwide Mareva (Freezing) Injunctions.
• A crane specialist in an appeal before the Singapore Court of Appeal for the setting aside of an SIAC domestic arbitration award.
• The majority shareholder of a Singapore-listed company in relation to issues concerning shareholder rights and corporate governance.
• A popular fried chicken chain based in Singapore in a contractual dispute involving their point-of-sale system.

As a law student, Esther represented the NUS Faculty of Law at the 2nd Edition of the IBA-VIAC CDRC Vienna Mediation and Negotiation Competition held in Vienna, where she emerged a quarter-finalist. 

Outside the office, Esther volunteers in Community Legal Clinics under the auspices of the Law Society of Singapore’s Pro-Bono Services. She is also a member of the Singapore Academy of Law and the Law Society of Singapore.