Civil and Commercial Disputes

• Part of the team which acted for an F&B company in successfully resisting a claim in defamation. Also succeeded in the counterclaim in defamation in part. The defence was premised on the argument that the purported defamatory statements were made by the client’s former employee in his personal capacity and the client could not be vicariously liable for such actions. This defence was successful. See The Social Outcast Pte Ltd v OSEAS Pte Ltd [2023] SGDC 34.
• Acted for an F&B company in a tenancy dispute with a major landlord in Orchard Road, Singapore. The landlord had terminated the tenancy agreement due to purported non-payment of rent. This was notwithstanding certain oral assurances given to the client that the landlord would consider the client’s request for deferred payment due to the impact of COVID-19. Succeeded in helping the client negotiate a favourable settlement that saved the client significant time and cost.
• Advised a businessman in his claim against a former mistress for monies paid and which he sought the return of. Succeeded in the High Court in having the monies returned to the client on the ground that the monies were a loan and not a gift as contended by the defendant. Though the ruling was eventually overturned on appeal, the case allowed the court to carefully consider the law on gifts and to provide clarification on the conduct and actions of parties that ought to be considered when determining the true intention of parties making gifts. See Toh Eng Tiah v Jiang Angelina [2020] SGHC 65.

Arbitration

• Part of the team that acted for a Singapore pharmaceutical company in its claim against a medical devices manufacturer. The defendant had been contracted to build a machine to automate the client’s assembly system. However, this was not done according to specifications and the claim was accordingly premised on a breach of contract.
• Acted for a commodity trading company in its multi-million dollar claim against a Hong Kong-based construction company. The defendant had been contracted to build a jetty in Indonesia but had failed to perform the task satisfactorily, leading to an unusable jetty and concomitant losses for the client.