Singapore | Drew & Napier
Asian Legal Business SE Asia Law Awards
Regional Litigation Law Firm of the Year 2021 – For the 4th year
Singapore Litigation Law Firm of the Year 2023 – For the 17th year
International Arbitration Law Firm of the Year 2021 – For the 6th year
Singapore Managing Partner of the Year 2023 - Cavinder Bull, SC – 3rd year
Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year 2023 - Cavinder Bull, SC – 3rd year
Young Lawyer of the Year 2022 – Adam Maniam, Foo Yuet Min (2021), Mahesh Rai (2019)
SE Asia Law Firm of the Year 2017
The Legal 500 Asia-Pacific
Dispute Resolution 2024 – Tier 1 for 25 consecutive years
Jimmy Yim, SC – Leading Individual for 23 consecutive years
Cavinder Bull, SC – Listed lawyer in Hall of Fame for 4 consecutive years
Siraj Omar, SC – Leading Individual for 5 consecutive years
Randolph Khoo – Recommended Lawyer for 7 consecutive years
Tony Yeo – Recommended Lawyer
Kelvin Tan – Recommended Lawyer for 2 consecutive years
Blossom Hing – Recommended Lawyer for 7 consecutive years
Wendell Wong – Recommended Lawyer for 6 years
Gary Low – Recommended Lawyer for 2 consecutive years
Chia Voon Jiet – Recommended Lawyer for 2 consecutive years
Benedict Teo – Recommended Lawyer
Foo Yuet Min – Recommended Lawyer
Woo Shu Yan – Recommended Lawyer for 3 consecutive years
Mahesh Rai – Recommended Lawyer for 4 years
Meryl Koh – Recommended Lawyer for 3 consecutive years
International Arbitration 2024 – Tier 2 for 9 consecutive years
Jimmy Yim, SC – Leading Individual for 4 consecutive years
Cavinder Bull, SC – Listed lawyer in Hall of Fame for 4 consecutive years
Siraj Omar, SC – Recommended Lawyer for 3 years
Randolph Khoo – Recommended Lawyer for 5 consecutive years
Christopher Chong – Recommended Lawyer for 4 consecutive years
Foo Yuet Min – Recommended Lawyer for 3 years
Mahesh Rai – Next Generation Partner for 5 consecutive years
Kelvin Teo – Next Generation Partner for 4 consecutive years
Lin Shumin – Recommended Lawyer
Tan Yuan Kheng – Recommended Lawyer for 2 cosecutive years
Asia Pacific: Regional International Arbitration, Leading Firms 2024 – Tier 3
Jimmy Yim SC – Recommended Lawyer
Cavinder Bull SC – Recommended Lawyer
Siraj Omar SC – Recommended Lawyer
Randolph Khoo – Recommended Lawyer
Kelvin Tan – Recommended Lawyer
Blossom Hing – Recommended Lawyer
- ‘Gold standard of legal firms. High level of integrity and professionalism. The team is thorough, through and through.’
- ‘The team has broad and in-depth knowledge and experience in disputes and litigation.’
- ‘Drew & Napier presents a well-organized team with appropriate level of lawyers, with a deep expertise in Singapore Law and International Arbitration. They are very good at collaborating with co-counsel, with efficient case management skills.’
- ‘Excellent client service, with legal and commercial acumen.’
- ‘Strong black letter and commercial advice with a good range of practitioners.’
- ‘D&N’s arbitration team has deep understanding of Singapore arbitration law and practice, especially the Singapore court’s actual practices, which helps the client’s assessment of the case. Also, the team members are quick and responsive to clients’ requests and questions.’
- ‘First-class advice. Happy to give short and informal initial assessment ahead of formal advice in order to meet timelines which can be invaluable. They were also willing to describe likelihood of success as a percentage which has been very helpful in assessing risk.’
- “Able to react quickly and think strategically.”
- “The firm should be commended for its effective and high quality legal representation, exemplary professional conduct from everyone regardless of rank and most distinctly, its dedication and commitment to pro bono work.”
- “Besides its proven capabilities to solve problems in a quick and efficient manner, they are also open and transparent to go through their billings with you.”
- “The team has in-depth knowledge of international arbitration. They are reliable and responsive to queries, even to urgent ones.”
- “Comprehensive full-service firm with depth of expertise in a range of critical areas that are indispensable for our day-to-day operations, whether during a growth cycle or a downward trend, such as construction, corporate, insolvency & restructuring, security of payment matters and dispute resolution.”
- “Drew & Napier LLC always provide professional and strategical advice on dispute resolution and all advices are provided with high efficiency. The law firm is rich in resources in different countries.”
- Sources say: "First class technical and practical advice that is consistently delivered according to the timelines required.”
- ‘The team was extremely thorough at each step of the dispute and ensured that they were always one step ahead. Their proactive attitude in managing the dispute enabled us to forecast several potential matters which could have hindered our case.’
- ‘The intensity and dedication shown by the team working on our arbitration is unparalleled and explains why Drew & Napier is such a tough opponent to have in a dispute.’
- ‘dispute resolution giant with a high degree of focus on international arbitration. It has an impressive mix of investor-state, construction and engineering, and commercial cases.’
- ‘The team is “the best in town”…”business-oriented” approach, “deep knowledge” and “relevant experience”; commended for attracting “big-ticket items”, especially arbitration-related court proceedings, with senior figures in the team handling both litigation and arbitration work.’
- Formidable player in the international arbitration scene, and is praised for its "management of expectations" and "value for money". The strength of its practice and the eminence of its senior team members has led it to be engaged in a series of major arbitrations, including a number of investor-state disputes.
- “First-rate’ team ‘impresses with its knowledge and professionalism”; “the group’s capabilities are comparable to any top arbitration practice in the Asia Pacific region”
- Impresses with its “creativity, stamina and level of legal work”.
- [Drew is] “a leading firm for international arbitration in Singapore.”
- “Clients appreciate Drew & Napier LLC’s efficiency, excellence and professionalism.”
Chambers Global and Asia-Pacific
Dispute Resolution: Litigation: Singapore 2024 – Band 1 for 18 consecutive years
Jimmy Yim, SC – Band 2 (15 years ranked)
Cavinder Bull, SC – Band 1 (14 years running)
Randolph Khoo – Band 5 (7 years ranked)
Siraj Omar, SC – Band 3 (3 years ranked)
Blossom Hing – Band 5 (3 years running)
Mahesh Rai – Band 5 (2 years running)
- "The advice from Drew & Napier is in-depth with a backdrop of extensive experience, expertise and sound judgement."
- "They have a good focus on the commercial sensitivities of the matter. We are delighted with their work."
- "Drew & Napier have a great wealth of experience coupled with in-depth legal and commercial knowledge that enables them to give wise and practical advice and guidance."
- "They are very commercially aware and thorough."
- "Drew & Napier is altogether exceptional. First-class service with the brains and tactics to match."
- "Drew & Napier is an excellent firm - they're well organised, disciplined, and their performance is good and consistent, a fantastic organisation overall."
- Clients are superlative in their discussions of the team. They speak of its “exceptional in-depth understanding of the law” and hold it to be a go-to name, even among the top international firms.
- Drew & Napier's team is further highlighted for being prompt and dedicated in approach and “particularly good in analysing the various legal options available”.
Dispute Resolution: Arbitration: The Elite Singapore 2024 – Band 2 (3 years ranked)
Dispute Resolution: Arbitration: Singapore 2021 - Band 2 (12 years ranked)
Jimmy Yim, SC – Band 4 (15 years ranked)
Cavinder Bull, SC – Band 1 (12 years running)
Mahesh Rai – Band 4 (3 years ranked)
Dispute Resolution: Most in Demand Arbitrators (Singapore) 2024
Cavinder Bull, SC – Band 1
Arbitration (International): Asia-Pacific 2024 – Band 3 (17 years ranked)
Arbitration (Global): 2023
Cavinder Bull, SC – Global Market Leader in Arbitration; Band 3 (4 years ranked)
Randolph Khoo – Foreign Expert for China (4 consecutive years); Expertise Based Abroad (6 consecutive years)
- "The team at Drew & Napier are efficient, professional and always available. They provide very short turnaround time, understand clients' needs very well and are able to provide a good practical solution."
- "It is a pleasant experience working with them, and they are very effective in their strategy."
- "Drew & Napier are very professional and extremely competent. They are quick to report developments and have a range of good lawyers."
- "They are helpful in understanding and considering our internal needs and constraints and being able to deal with and explain the complex issues in a way that is easy to understand."
- "They have significant knowledge of the Indian market and the practicalities of cross-border arbitration and litigation involving India."
- "Drew & Napier's lawyers are very experienced" and "very capable" with respect to handling cross-border disputes.
- "Their written work, whether legal opinions or formal filings in court or arbitration, are of an excellent quality. They are also very responsive."
- A client, asked to identify their chief reason for selecting Drew & Napier to handle a particular matter, replied: "Outstanding expertise in complex international and cross-border disputes, including expertise in international arbitration, plus great, in-depth knowledge and expertise in matters of international law."
- Clients endorse the department for its "good, reliable, high-quality service"
- They also value the responsiveness, saying: “What we found that was very impressive is that they were able to get back to us on almost all issues we had in a very short period of time”.
- Chambers says: “Formidable line-up of disputes lawyers with an established reputation for handling complex, high-value arbitration.”
- Interviewees say: "I am always impressed with the no-nonsense, down-to-earth legal advice provided by the team."
- One client appreciates the team's "use of good strategy" and ability to "give assurance and confidence along the way."
- "Their reputation is well deserved: they are the top firm overall in Singapore, unlike a lot of multinational firms. They really are focused on operating from Singapore, but they work all around the world."
- "They are among the top at their game in Singapore and they have a good network of solid friendly firms in other jurisdictions that they work very well with."
- ‘active on both commercial and investor-state mandates on behalf of a multinational clientele and increasingly sought after for the arbitration of matters of international public law.’
- "They are very well versed in their field, meticulous and thorough, and we're sure that their calculated actions gave us the results that we wanted to achieve."
- "seeks innovative solutions"; "the firm is always updating its capabilities to meet the challenges of future requirements."
- "The team is technically sound and commercial in its approach. I felt great ease with them handling the case and this was vindicated by a total win."
- ‘“dedication of the team" was emphasised by a number of contributors’
- "They were very thorough and patient when sifting through the many stacks of documents relating to the disputes, their pre-trial preparations were intensive and, most importantly, they were always available to discuss any issues we raised or were not confident about."
- “A number of commentators regard Drew & Napier as Singapore's pre-eminent home-grown arbitration team, with one maintaining that it is ‘definitely the leading local firm in arbitration’. Another concurs: ‘Arbitration and dispute resolution are the special forte of Drew & Napier. They have demonstrated remarkable skills and abilities in handling very complex matters’."
- “Sources point to rigorous preparation as a key reason for the practice's excellent reputation. One notes: ‘They show clarity of thought, clear strategy and the legal opinion has been well researched and is strong; preparation is thorough for the conduct of any case’."
- "They take their cases and clients seriously and put their heart and soul into the matters they accept.”
- "Extremely impressed: they have intellectual capacity, a very strategic mindset and a focus on the elements in which you want them to invest."
- "I would say Drew & Napier are still a go-to firm if a client is looking for the strongest possible representation in dispute resolution."
- "I was really impressed not just with the legal work but the adaptation of success to the clients. Extremely impressed.”
- "Their in-depth legal and industry knowledge, business awareness and professional advice have all been of a high standard. They are equally adept at the representation of out-of-region clients in Asian-based disputes, and of Asian clients in both regional and international cases."
- “The choice was obvious when we were considering a firm to represent us: their dispute resolution work is simply unparalleled, they’re in touch with matters arising in the China market, and the value-added service of providing arbitration-related litigation work is indispensable.”
- “I can’t speak highly enough of them: everyone we’ve worked with from senior to junior has been incredibly professional, prompt and diligent in approach and manner.”
- “‘World-class’ counsel Cavinder Bull SC is described by sources as ‘very easy to deal with’ and an ‘excellent advocate’ who ‘writes compelling briefs and makes superb oral presentations.’”
