Partners

Sean Tan

Associate Director, Dispute Resolution

Key Practices

Qualifications

  • B.A. (Hons), Oxford University (UK, 2014)
  • LL.M., Columbia Law School (USA, 2018)
  • Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore (2016)
  • Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales (2017)
  • Attorney and Counselor-at-law of the Supreme Court of the State of New York (2019)

Sean practices civil litigation and international arbitration.

He handles a variety of matters, including matters relating to director / shareholder disputes, professional negligence, workplace safety, employment, manufacturing, consumer products, and finance.

Sean has represented multinational corporations and high net worth individuals at all levels of the Singapore Courts and in international arbitration.

Sean graduated with First Class Honours in law from Oxford University in 2014, winning the Worsley Prize for outstanding academic performance and contribution to college life. After passing the Singapore Bar examinations, he joined Michael Hwang Chambers as an arbitration associate in 2016. Sean qualified as a solicitor of England and Wales in 2017, and thereafter undertook an LL.M. at Columbia Law School, where he was a Harlan Fiske Scholar. Upon graduation from Columbia, Sean was admitted to the New York Bar in 2018 and practiced as a litigation associate with Debevoise & Plimpton in New York until late 2020 when he returned to Singapore.

Sean is a contributing editor of Singapore Civil Procedure, Sweet & Maxwell.

Some of the notable matters which Sean has handled include*:

  • Acting for an oil trading company in a S$2.6 billion claim against its former auditors for failing to detect misstatements in the audited financial statements.
  • Acted for the Chairman of a technology company in a claim by the minority shareholders for unlawful conspiracy seeking damages of S$1.6 billion.
  • Acted for an Australian construction joint venture in a S$4.2 billion Singapore-seated ICC arbitration against a subcontractor arising out of the alleged repudiation of an EPC contract.
  • Acted for a Japanese trading house in a S$420 million New York-seated ICC arbitration against a Korean electronics company arising out of the alleged repudiation of a supply agreement for LCD panels.
  • Acted for a Cayman Islands-incorporated company in defending an application to set aside a S$1.7 billion award concerning an energy dispute with a Chinese company.

Includes matters completed prior to joining Drew.

  • Member, Singapore Academy of Law
  • Member, Law Society of Singapore