Shaun Leong
Partner | Singapore
Secretary Iris Chiang
Operating as Withers KhattarWong LLP in Singapore.
Shaun is a partner in the litigation and arbitration team.
Shaun Leong, FCIArb, is an international arbitration specialist with close to fifteen years of experience in complex cross border commercial disputes. He focuses on developing successful strategies to achieve clients' objectives in cross jurisdictional disputes, and often works with clients to design disputes prevention processes prior to the occurrence of any disputes. Shaun is an internationally recognised leading practitioner at the forefront of emerging and revolutionary technologies including Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) and Blockchain, with key experience in energy and sustainability disputes. Awards and accolades include:
- Listed as a Recommended Lawyer in Lexology's Who's Who Legal 2024, Fintech and Blockchain
- International Arbitration Lawyer of the Year nominee in Law.com International's Asia Legal Awards 2024
- Recognised for "particular expertise in cryptocurrency, A.I. and blockchain disputes" (Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024)
- Digital Assets Lawyer of the Year nominee in Law.com International's Asia Legal Awards 2023
- International Arbitration Lawyer of the Year nominee (Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific Awards 2022)
- Shortlisted as Leading Practitioner in Blockchain (Who's Who Legal, 2023 and 2022)
- Shortlisted for Client Choice Awards 2022 in Blockchain
- Ranked "Future Star" in International Arbitration (Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific 2022 and 2023)
- A "key lawyer" and "international arbitration specialist" (Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2022 and 2023)
- “Shaun Leong is a star in the world of international arbitration. He has a brilliant tactical mind and has achieved outstanding successes in the most cutting-edge and complex disputes. Shaun is a highly creative problem-solver, and views issues from all sides. He is an effective practitioner and his ability to reconcile opposing views and deploy them in advancing our interest is one of his greatest strengths.” (Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific 2024)
- “Shaun Leong is an outstanding lawyer in the field of cross-border commercial disputes and international arbitration and a top name for cutting-edge international work. He has a razor-sharp mind and is incredibly impressive when it comes to navigating complex points of law. He has incredible foresight and an uncanny ability to anticipate and counter the opponent’s moves and is very good at developing effective strategies for complex matters. He has an outstanding track record and a fantastic ability to quickly grasp the clients’ perspective and understand their commercial issues. He scores highly for excellence in complex cross border disputes.” (Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific 2024)
- “He's an extremely talented disputes lawyer with excellent analytical skills and a deep understanding of the law. A leading name in emerging technology disputes, he is legally creative while being commercially sensitive. He has substantial experience in international arbitration and excels in high-stakes cross-border disputes. He can discern commercial issues very quickly and can provide tailor-made legal solutions that are practical to implement from a business perspective" (Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific 2024)
- "Shaun Leong is a renowned name for cryptoassets disputes…the top name in the Asia-Pacific region as the go-to disputes lawyer for complex digital assets disputes…He is particularly well-versed in blockchain matters." (Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific 2023)
- "Shaun is an absolute superstar in the cryptoassets sector. He has achieved remarkable successes for some of the biggest names in the digital assets market and has in a very short time created a reputation as the go-to dispute resolution lawyer in Asia for all things blockchain and Web3. He is a formidable lawyer and cross-border strategist." (Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific 2023)
Shaun is actively involved in artificial intelligence matters. He was recently successful in representing a prominent digital assets company in a USD 36 million dispute involving novel and complex issues around legal liability arising from purported errors made by trading systems powered by artificial intelligence models and algorithms. He also advised a leading global A.I. powerhouse on cross border disputes and acted as its relationship Partner for projects in Asia and the Middle East. He regularly engages in involved considerations around A.I. matters and speaking engagements as the convergence of A.I. and blockchain technologies at the Tech Law Fest 2024. He recently advocated against pausing the development of A.I. in his article here which is published by the Singapore Business Times, and was invited by the SIAC at the SIAC Symposium and KCAB in South Korea's ADR Festival to speak on A.I. disputes.
His experiences in digital assets, blockchain and "Web 3.0" related disputes include:
- Shaun recently became the first lawyer in the world to successfully obtain a worldwide proprietary injunction to freeze a non-fungible token on the blockchain in a commercial dispute, from the exclusive Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT series.
- Shaun represented investors in all three major collapses in the 2023 crypto winter, in particular the Terraform Luna involving the collapse of one of the world's largest algorithmic stablecoins, the collapse of Three Arrows Capital and the world's second largest crypto exchange, FTX.
- Shaun sat as arbitrator in a landmark dispute involving the characterisation of digital assets as property and complex issues around the international enforceability of an arbitral award against digital assets.
- Shaun successfully represented a prominent cryptocurrency exchange in an SIAC international arbitration in a dispute arising from a joint investment where incentive milestone payments were paid in a digital token. The dispute involves complex considerations around the proper valuation of and enforcement against cryptocurrencies.
- Shaun successfully represented a global cryptocurrency exchange in a dispute which involves complex considerations around the obligations of an exchange in being an innocent third party to the movement of digital assets arising from alleged fraudulent activities.
- Shaun advised a cryptocurrency exchange on cross border strategies in an international arbitration over cryptocurrency-based structured financial products.
Shaun has key experience in work around the renewable energy and traditional energy sectors:
- Shaun worked in a complex cross border dispute arising from defects found in power plants in an Asian country for failure to comply with sustainability standards on emissions, and claims for rectification works necessitated by alleged negligent designs of power generators that were non-compliant with nitrogen oxide levels restrictions set by an Asian Government.
- Shaun has experience working with a global energy giant on sustainability initiatives including on matters around carbon credits originations, clean power purchase agreements, and renewable energy certificates, aspects around the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive as well as considerations around Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
- Shaun acted for oil and gas companies against an Asian Government over revisions in gas prices and amends to cost recovery provisions of production sharing contracts over offshore gas blocks off the coast of an Asian country.
- Shaun was the lead Partner acting for a global pharma company in a wastewater treatment facility project in Singapore.
- Shaun successfully represented a global energy client in an SIAC arbitration in obtaining emergency relief to preserve the client's assets in a multi-million dollar energy dispute.
- Shaun was counsel in a substantial dispute over alleged delays in the supply of defective designs in relation to the manufacture of electrical houses, in particular pre-fabricated field auxiliary rooms, in support of a Middle Eastern power and oil refinery project.
- Shaun was counsel in an ICC arbitration on defects in construction of emissions towers in powers plants in a South East Asian country.
- Shaun acted as the cross border strategist in an international dispute arising from a reverse shareholder takeover of a company substantially invested by an engineering company with proprietary ownership of technologies to develop environmentally sustainable concrete.
Upon graduating with First Class Honours from the National University of Singapore, Shaun served in a judicial capacity as a Magistrate and Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court for five years, where he published several notable written judgments on international arbitration law. The decisions include Firstlink Investments v GT Payment on the applicable law governing an arbitration agreement as endorsed by the English Court of Appeal, and Titan Unity, endorsed by the Singapore Court of Appeal, on the threshold to determine the existence of a valid arbitration agreement. He was the Head of the Court of Appeal Section of the Supreme Court Registry, and was involved in the establishment of the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) as Secretariat of the SICC committee.
Shaun serves on the Inquiry Panel of the Law Society of Singapore. He is a panel arbitrator with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), and with premier international arbitration centres across Asia-Pacific:
- Arbitrator with the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board International.
- Arbitrator with the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association.
- Shaun is the Head of the Academy of the Thailand Arbitration Centre (THAC), a premier international arbitration centre in the ASEAN region, and is also a panel arbitrator with the THAC.
- Arbitrator with the Bali International Arbitration and Mediation Center.
- Arbitrator with the Center for International Investment and Commercial Arbitration, a key institution to resolve energy, infrastructure, and Belt & Road disputes.
- Arbitrator with the Tashkent International Arbitration Centre (TIAC).
- Arbitrator (仲裁人) with the BeiHai Asia International Arbitration Centre (北海亚洲国际仲裁中心).
- Arbitrator with the Bangalore International Mediation, Arbitration and Conciliation Centre.
Shaun is a member of the International Arbitration Institute Working Group on international arbitration rules, led by Yas Banifatemi and chaired by French Supreme Court Judge Dominique Hascher. Shaun is also a specialist mediator with the Singapore International Mediation Centre.
Shaun has substantial experience in crisis management including financial disputes. He advised investors in the FTX, Terraform Luna and Three Arrows Capital collapses, and is acting for over a hundred Singapore and foreign based investors in the Credit Suisse AT1 bond crisis in claims worth over SGD 200 million. His defining experience in crisis management was in his representation of a global healthcare company in a crisis management case in a North Asian country, where he was substantially engaged in all aspects of legal and strategic work around the case; including work on mass class action civil claims filed by victims, mediation, settlement and compensation, forensic investigations work in cooperation with Korean authorities, criminal defence work in relation to charged individuals, and strategic, legal advice regarding communications with media and political stakeholders. Shaun also helps organisations develop and implement effective crisis management programs during "peacetime" that are designed to cater for all sorts of unforeseen crises.
Recent recognition
Me in a minute
I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that I’ve selected law as my career really, and I suppose the genesis of it all would probably be due to my love for reading cultivated since young.
I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I've selected law as my career really, and I suppose the genesis of it all would probably be due to my love for reading cultivated since young. My mum would bring my sister and I to the old MPH bookstore at Parkway Parade, and we would spend half a day reading books and she would then “force” to buy a few books each time. I went on to do literature at high school and that's when my passion for knowledge & books really accelerated. I started reading widely.
I think at the end of it all, a key essence to being a good advocate is to tell a good story, your client's version of the story. A good book (or movie, for that matter) is often open to multiple interpretations. It's really the same for the best kind of disputes, where top jurists are asked not so much as to interpret what the law says, but to interpret what the law ought to say, when the express legislation, rules and contracts have gaps that need to be filled in.I couldn't have asked for a better start to a legal career. It was an immense honour and privilege to be a Magistrate and Registrar of the Supreme Court at a young age, but with that comes an understanding of responsibility and duty. I learnt a lot - primarily, it was significant to understand the decision-making process of a Judge (or arbitrator), and know how the Judge would view different perspectives and balance different arguments.
I suppose in terms of most memorable judgments, one of it would probably be Titan Unity, where I felt very proud when the Court of Appeal endorsed the decision. Another memorable judgment would be Firstlink Investments v GT payment on the law governing an international arbitration agreement, which was recently endorsed by the English Court of Appeal.What I enjoy doing the most for my clients would be to develop an effective cross border strategy for my clients faced with a dispute. Most clients come to me with a binary mindset, obviously obsessing on the merits of the case and desperate to know if they can win, or if they would lose. More often than not, however, it is important to apply your mind to all relevant jurisdictions at hand, with focus on where the assets are. Developing and employing the correct strategy could achieve a fast, cost efficient, and decisive outcome that would be more important than anything else to achieve their objectives. I get a tremendous satisfaction doing that for my clients.