Mr Cavinder Bull SC > Drew & Napier LLC > Singapore, Singapore > Lawyer Profile

Drew & Napier LLC
10 COLLYER QUAY
#10-01 OCEAN FINANCIAL CENTRE
SINGAPORE 049315
Singapore

Work Department

Dispute Resolution

Position

Cavinder is the Chief Executive Officer of Drew & Napier. He has an active practice in complex litigation and international arbitration. He is engaged in trial and appellate advocacy at all levels of the Singapore Courts and has appeared as counsel in international arbitration in various countries. He is also co-head of the Competition Law & Regulatory Practice.

Cavinder graduated with First Class Honours in law from Oxford University in 1992. He was called to the Bar of England & Wales the following year, placing fourth in the Bar examinations. He returned to Singapore and passed the Singapore Bar exams, winning the prize for top candidate.

Cavinder worked for the Chief Justice of Singapore as a Justices’ Law Clerk before joining Drew & Napier in 1994 as a litigation associate. In 1995, he was awarded the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship and left for Harvard Law School where he received an LL.M. He passed the New York Bar exams and was admitted to practice in New York. Cavinder practised as a litigation associate with Sullivan & Cromwell in New York until late 1997 when he returned to Singapore and Drew & Napier. He was made a partner of Drew & Napier in 1998 and a Director of the firm in May 2002. He was appointed Senior Counsel by the Chief Justice of Singapore in 2008, one of a handful to have been accorded the honour before the age of 40.

Cavinder is on the Governing Board of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) and a member of the Securities Industries Council. He is Vice-President of the Court of Arbitration of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, Vice-President of the Asia Pacific Regional Arbitration Group, Co-Chairman of the Singapore Stock Exchange’s Disciplinary Committee and on the Disciplinary Tribunal of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

Practice Areas:

  • Administrative & Public Law
  • Arbitration
  • Banking & Finance
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Competition Law & Regulatory Practice
  • Construction & Engineering
  • Corporate Litigation
  • Financial Services Regulation
  • International Arbitration
  • Sports
  • Telecommunications, Media & Technology

Career

  • Barrister of England & Wales (1993)
  • Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore (1994)
  • Attorney-at-Law of the state of New York (1996)
  • Appointed Senior Counsel (2008)
  • Former Deputy Chairman, Board of Directors – Singapore International Arbitration Centre
  • Vice-President, Court of Arbitration – Singapore International Arbitration Centre
  • Vice-President, Asia Pacific Regional Arbitration Group
  • Director, Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited (2009-2012)
  • Director, National Healthcare Group (2009-2012)
  • Director, Singapore University of Technology and Design (2009 – 2015)
  • Director, Ascendas Property Fund Trustee Pte Ltd (2010-2013)
  • Director, Agri‑Food & Veterinary Authority of Singapore (2004-2010)

Languages

English, Mandarin

Memberships

  • Co-Chairman, Singapore Exchange disciplinary committee
  • Member, Securities Industries Council
  • Advisory Council, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore
  • Member, Law Reform Committee of the Singapore Academy of Law (2000 to 2010)
  • Appointed by the Deputy Prime Minister to the Legal Services Review Committee (2007)
  • Member, Pro-tem Committee of the Institute of Legal Education (2009)
  • Appointed as a Referee under the Industrial Arbitration Act
  • Member, Public and International Law Committee of the Law Society (2009)
  • Member, Singapore Law Committee (India Team leader)
  • Member, Sub-Committee of Remaking Singapore Committee (2002)
  • Delegate, 8th Asia‑Europe Young Leaders’ Symposium
  • Member of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn
  • Fellow, Singapore Academy of Law
  • Member, Law Society of Singapore

Education

  • B.A. (Hons), Oxford University (UK, 1992)
  • M.A. Oxford University (UK, 2001)
  • LL.M., Harvard Law School (USA, 1996)

Lawyer Rankings

Asia Pacific: Regional International Arbitration > Leading firms

Drew & Napier LLC  has experience in international commercial arbitrations and investment treaty arbitrations, acting frequently for both states and investors. The team benefits from lawyers specialising in specific industry sectors, including construction and infrastructure, energy, insurance, financ , and corporate joint ventures. Based in Singapore, Cavinder Bull SC , Randolph Khoo, and Siraj Omar SC lead the practice that frequently represents a range of regional and global businesses. Noted practitioners include Jimmy Yim SC, Kelvin Tan, and Blossom Hing.

Singapore > International arbitration

(Hall of Fame)

Cavinder Bull SC   –Drew & Napier LLC

The international arbitration practice at Drew & Napier LLC is ‘highly skilled and collaborative’, with experience in complex international commercial arbitration, as well as high-profile investor-state disputes. The team is often sought out by governments, multinational corporations and high-profile individuals for public international law matters. Expertise of the team ranges from construction and infrastructure to corporate joint ventures to health care. Leading the team is Cavinder Bull SC  who is ‘exceptional for his strategy, analytical skills, and advocacy’, alongside Randolph Khoo and Siraj Omar SC, with particular expertise in insurance related disputes. Jimmy Yim SC is also integral to the team, with over thirty years of experience in international commercial arbitration.

Singapore > Dispute resolution: local firms

(Hall of Fame)

Cavinder Bull SC – Drew & Napier LLC

Drew & Napier LLC, as a Big Four Singapore law firm, is widely recognised as a dispute resolution powerhouse, having an unrivalled depth of bench and more leading practitioners than any other firm in the jurisdiction. It devotes considerable resources to dispute resolution pursuits and is frequently selected to represent parties in the biggest and most complex cases. Over the 12-month research period, the firm handled litigation matters with a total value exceeding $16bn. It has seen its director (partner equivalent) ranks grow by 10%, continues to expand both its presence in regional disputes and its international client base, and continues to grow its arbitration-related practice. Among a multitude of headline and seminal cases, the firm acted for Hin Leong’s judicial managers in the largest reported fraudulent trading case in Singapore, seeking recovery of over $3.5bn from the directors of the company. CEO Cavinder Bull SC, who is ‘simply superb as a legal adviser, advocate and person’, is at the pinnacle of the profession, having been one of few senior counsels to be appointed before the age of 40, back in 2008. Siraj Omar SC and Randolph Khoo are also outstanding practitioners, along with seasoned practitioner and firm chairman Jimmy Yim SC, also elevated to senior counsel before turning 40 in 1998. Mahesh Rai, Kelvin Tan, Blossom Hing, Wendell Wong and Gary Low act for private clients as well as companies in the advertising, tech, transport and financial industries. Kevin Lee has joined Twenty Essex in Singapore.

Singapore > Antitrust and competition: local firms

A leading firm in the Singaporean antitrust and competition market, Drew & Napier LLC is consistently involved in significant CCCS investigations including acting for multinational companies facing allegations of cartel behaviour, as well as assisting clients during dawn raids and applying for leniency. The practice is also noted for its considerable regulatory expertise and is long-term counsel to key sectoral competition regulators, from telecoms and media to post and energy. The practice is headed up by the vastly experienced regulatory practitioners Lim Chong Kin and Corinne Chew, with the pair having advised a plethora of regulators on liberalisation, market access, competition regulation, merger reviews, and enforcement issues; while senior counsel Cavinder Bull SC leads the dispute resolution and litigation sub-group and represents various clients during investigations in Singapore and overseas.