Dentons Rodyk has a strong background in contentious and non-contentious restructurings and insolvencies, with a particular focus on representing receivers and liquidators; the team also represents debtors and creditors on a regular basis. The Singapore team is connected to the firm’s global network, including offices in the region, helping it to attract a steady pipeline of cross-border matters. Construction, energy, technology and transportation are key sectors, among others. Ajinderpal Singh is a real authority on the insolvency and restructuring landscape in Singapore, while Debby Lim has become a driving force behind the firm’s success in this field, along with Kia Jeng Koh, who is noted for construction-related cases; all three co-head the restructuring, insolvency and bankruptcy practice.
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Profile

Work Department
Arbitration, Commercial Litigation, Restructuring, Insolvency and Bankruptcy, Financial Markets Litigation and Regulation
Position

Debby Lim is a senior partner in Dentons Rodyk’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Group and co-heads the Firm’s Restructuring, Insolvency and Bankruptcy practice. With a robust cross-border commercial litigation portfolio, Debby brings over 17 years of specialised experience in insolvency, banking and finance disputes, complex asset recovery, and fraud investigations.

She is recognised for leading precedent-setting, high-stakes restructuring and insolvency mandates across the Asia-Pacific, including landmark matters involving judicial management, schemes of arrangement, and the enforcement of creditor rights in complex corporate collapses. Debby routinely advises and represents debtors, creditors, and insolvency officeholders in contested schemes, priority disputes, enforcement proceedings, and antecedent transaction challenges.

Debby has been involved in many market-leading deals which are the first of their kind and has a “practice of firsts” which includes the first pre-packaged scheme of arrangement and first judicial management involving a foreign incorporated entity. More recently, she advised the debtor group in Re Picotin Pte Ltd. [2024] SGHC 156, which is the first reported decision involving the successful grant of related company moratoria.

She has earned a stellar reputation for her work on high-profile, complex cross-border insolvency matters and her outstanding appellate advocacy, being the youngest lead counsel to successfully argue two complex appeals before an expanded five-judge Singapore Court of Appeal coram.

Internationally recognised for her expertise, Debby is one of the first three Singapore-qualified lawyers to be bestowed the prestigious fellowship by INSOL International. She contributes actively to thought leadership through scholarly writing, including for LexisNexis Annotated Laws of Singapore, and recently participated in UNCITRAL Working Group V deliberations on cross-border insolvency frameworks.

In 2025, Debby was awarded the Woman of the Year in Restructuring (Asia) by the International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), in recognition of her leadership, mentorship, and contributions to the profession. She is also the first ever recipient of the Christopher Bathurst Prize and subsequently did a placement with Fountain Court Chambers in London, where she worked with leading English barristers and Queen’s Counsel.

Debby also holds key leadership positions within the legal profession. She is the Co-Chair of the Law Society of Singapore’s Publications Committee and Vice-Chair of its Insolvency Practice Committee. Committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, Debby currently serves as the Asia Regional Vice Director of Membership of the International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), where she also mentors the Indonesian Network, and was formerly Co-Chair of the IWIRC Singapore Network. She is a founding member of the Law Society’s Women in Practice Task Force and sits on Dentons Rodyk’s Women’s Committee.

Beyond her professional commitments, Debby is deeply involved in pro bono advocacy. She is an empanelled state-assigned counsel with the Legal Assistance Scheme for Capital Offences (LASCO), representing individuals facing the death penalty, regardless of nationality. Most recently, she argued Azuin bin Mohd Tap v Public Prosecutor [2025] SGCA 8, further solidifying her standing as a skilled litigator beyond commercial law.

Career
  • Senior Partner, Dentons Rodyk & Davidson LLP (2021 to Present)
  • Shook Lin & Bok LLP (2009 to 2020)
  • TSMP Law Corporation (2008 to 2009)
  • Tan Kok Quan Partnership (2006 to 2008)
Languages
English, Mandarin
Memberships
  • Member, Law Society of Singapore
  • Co-Vice Chairperson, Publications Committee of the Law Society of Singapore
  • Member, Women in Practice Committee of the Law Society of Singapore
  • Member, Singapore Academy of Law
  • Fellow, INSOL International
  • Fellow, Insolvency Practitioners Association of Singapore
Education

National University of Singapore, 2006, LLB (Hons)

Content supplied by Dentons Rodyk

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Great at providing practical commercial advice within budget.’

    ‘Things around the issues for creative practical solutions.’

    'A restructuring & insolvency team that has strength across all bases and in depth.' 'Debby Lim is a leading figure in the scene and co-heads a large specialist R&I team.'  

Key clients

  • White Star Capital Dishangtie Green Technology Liquidators of Aquaculture Centre of Excellence Pte Ltd Grant Thornton Singapore Ltd The Picotin Group

Work highlights

Acted for the independent directors of three special purpose vehicles owned by the main shareholders of Hin Leong Trading.
Advised a major investor on the possible causes of action and the various restructuring and insolvency options in respect of efishery.
Advised Victor Saw of PricewaterhouseCoopers Advisory as the Liquidator of Serba Dinamik International.