RPC Premier Law has hired a team of three disputes lawyers led by partner Gerald Yee in Singapore. The appointments follows RPC Premier Law losing their disputes team of nine lawyers including disputes head Siraj Omar.

New lead

Mr Yee advises clients on contentious and non-contentious matters with a focus on shipping, marine insurance and commodities disputes. Prior to joining Clyde & Co Clasis in 2014, he served as a partner and head of shipping at Colin Ng & Partners. Top litigation and arbitration partner Siraj Omar SC, along with his team of eight, joined Singaporean firm Drew & Napier from RPC on 1 July. RPC operates in Singapore under a joint law venture, giving clients seamless advice from a single entity, providing advice on multi-jurisdictional transactions involving English and Singapore law, with expertise in legal sectors including construction; corporate and commercial; dispute resolution (including banking and financial disputes); energy; international arbitration; insurance and reinsurance; and shipping and international trade.

Making return

Mr Omar’s move to Drew & Napier marks a return to one of Singapore’s oldest firms, where he spent the first four-and-a-half years of his career, working under top local litigator Davinder Singh SC. In January, Mr Omar was appointed senior counsel by the chief justice of Singapore, one of four recipients to be honoured, bringing the total number of individuals to have been appointed to 85. The Singapore Senior Counsel scheme recognises an elite group of advocates who are considered to have top-tier advocacy skills, professional integrity and are experts in their practice areas. The appointment is equivalent to being appointed Queen's Counsel in the UK. The team of eight lawyers includes director See Chern Yang, a banking and commercial litigator whose experience includes cases relating to bankruptcy and insolvency, debt recovery and credit facilities, as well as enforcement of judgments and securities. Mr Yang was at Tan Kok Quan with Omar, before co-founding Premier Law and he also works as a mediator at the Singapore International Mediation Centre.