Luke Lee

Luke has a broad-gauged legal practice with a focus on international commercial arbitration and complex cross-border disputes. He has appeared as lead counsel in the State Courts, Family Justice Courts and the Supreme Court and as counsel in the SIAC, VIAC, SICC, SMC and CFRC. Luke is a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators, an Accredited Mediator with the Singapore International Mediation Institute, empanelled as an International Mediator on the Sage Mediation International Mediators Panel, and the Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration.

He advises SMEs and start-ups on the law of emerging technologies such as AI, smart contracts, cryptocurrencies, distributed ledger technology (including but not limited to blockchain technology), Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) and their respective regulatory frameworks such as policies in respect of digital payment token (DPT) service providers under the Payment Services Act and Payment Services Regulations.

Luke has undertaken a wide range of contentious and non-contentious matters including:

• international arbitration
• complex civil and commercial disputes
• cross-border investments and special projects
• matrimonial disputes
• insurance and personal injury matters
• medical negligence
• defamation actions
• investment advisory, venture capital and equity funds
• breach of director’s duties
• criminal litigation
• insolvency/bankruptcy
• wills and probate
• Management Corporation Strata Title (MCST)
• landlord – tenant claims
• restructuring and insolvency
• capital markets, securities and funds
• intellectual property and trademark infringement

Research Interests:

• International Commercial Arbitration
• Law & Artificial Intelligence
• Law & Regulation of Financial Technologies (FinTech)
• AI Governance

Professional Experience

• Represented a South-East Asian group of luxury real estate development companies in an SIAC arbitration in Singapore in relation to cross-border syndicated loan facilities. English law governed. Approximately US$1 billion in dispute.
• Represented an ultra-high net-worth individual as plaintiff in the Supreme Court in civil proceedings commenced in 2016 in relation to breach of trust. More than S$800 million in dispute. Matter was successfully settled after exchange of AEICs and before trial.
• Represented an Indianapolis-incorporated international engineering consulting services company in a VIAC arbitration in Hanoi, Vietnam in relation to pharmaceutical quality assurance in compliance with European Medicines Agency’s Good Manufacturing Practices certification. Vietnamese law governed. More than US$1.5 million in dispute.
• Represented a UAE-based company as plaintiff in the Singapore International Commercial Court against a China state-level entity in relation to solar power plants in Bahawalpur, Pakistan. More than US$10 million in dispute.
• Represented an ultra-high net-worth individual as plaintiff in the Supreme Court in civil proceedings against a financial institution in relation to precious metals futures trading contracts. Approximately US$8 million in dispute.
• Represented a Cayman Island based group of companies in an SIAC arbitration in Singapore in relation to breach of fiduciary duties, fraudulent misappropriation and mismanagement of funds. Malaysian law governed. Approximately US$10 million in dispute.
  Succeeded in an application for interim injunctive relief and successfully defended against a parallel application for interim injunctive relief in an SIAC arbitration in Singapore.
• Coordinated with Dutch and Indonesian counsel on ongoing concurrent proceedings in the Amsterdam Court of Appeal in the Netherlands and the Commercial Court of the Central Jakarta District Court in Indonesia.
• Collaborated with King’s Counsel (instructed) for the purposes of his preparation of an expert English law opinion on novel points in relation to the law of contract.
• Acted as lead counsel for the defendant in a reported Singapore High Court case of Ho Chee Kian v Ho Kwek Sin [2023] SGHC 192.
  Represented a Singapore branch of a group of companies against a former employee in relation to breaches of non-solicitation and confidentiality clauses in his employment agreement.
• Represented a major construction firm in mitigation plea hearings in respect of charges under the Environmental Protection and Management Act 1999 and procured a significantly reduced sentence.
• Represented a major international hotel chain against a luxury co-working space and successfully negotiated a settlement.
• Represented a CEO of a listed company against the listed company in relation to alleged breaches of his fiduciary duties as CEO.
• Represented a subsidiary proprietor before the Strata Titles Boards in a claim against a management corporation in respect of exercising powers ultra vires of those legislated under the Building Maintenance and Strata Management Act 2004.

Client feedback :

“Luke Lee goes the extra mile for clients we refer to BR Law.
We have been introducing our clients to lawyer Luke Lee and his team for legal matters in Singapore for quite some time. Luke’s responsiveness, knowledge and attentiveness always exceed the expectations of what our foreign clients require from him. If you engage Luke and the BR team you can expect very high efficiency and professionalism with thorough research on their end and well-thought out, comprehensive legal advice.”

“Luke was very thorough with his explanations of the contract and offered great advice! Would definitely recommend him!”

“I needed very urgent help with an artiste agency contract and Luke from BR Law was able to very speedily analyse my contract for me, highlight the important clauses I needed to be aware of and offer his legal expertise advising me on all my legal rights and the terms which were unfair to me. Couldn’t recommend him more for being so responsive and thoughtful. I will be referring my friends to him in the future if they ever need a good Singapore lawyer!”

“The lawyers there gave me very comprehensive and professional views. They also researched on past similar cases and the judges’ comments on these cases.
The service fee is very reasonable. Their lawyers readily respond and attend to your request quickly and in a friendly manner.
Many thanks to Lawyer Mdm Foo Soon Yien & Mr Luke Lee”