James Chai
About James
-
James obtained his Degree of Bachelor of Laws (with Second Class Honours) in 1990 from the University of Wales, Cardiff Law School. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1991 as a Barrister-at-law and is a member of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn, London. He was subsequently conferred a Degree of Master of Laws by the National University of Singapore. James was called to the Singapore bar in 1993 as an Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore and is also presently appointed as a Commissioner for Oaths and a Notary Public in Singapore.
James’ practice covers a broad spectrum of cases. His specialty is in dispute resolution covering the areas of contentious civil and criminal litigation and in international and domestic arbitration. Throughout his three decades of active legal practice, James has regularly acted as lead counsel in court and arbitral proceedings for local and foreign entities. He has appeared in numerous court and arbitration hearings including hearings at the High Court, Appellate Division of the High Court and the Court of Appeal in Singapore.
James is conversant in English and Mandarin as well as dialects such as Hakka, Hokkien, Cantonese and Teochew.
-
Some of the notable contentious court and arbitration cases handled by James are:
Contracts, Corporate, Commercial, Building and Construction
- Acted in a High Court action against the defendant involving complex issues of indemnity and loans and succeeded at the trial. The case was related to another High Court Suit (No. 743 of 2019) and was reported in Tan Chin Hock v Teo Cher Koon and another suit [2021] SGHC 175.
- Acted successfully in a SIAC international arbitration case for a foreign shareholder of an international oil trading corporation on disputes between the shareholders including minority oppression which involved substantial amount of monetary claims.
- Acted in a landmark High Court and Court of Appeal action for a foreign corporate entity concerning the sale and shipment of 15,000 metric tonnes of low ash metallurgical coke. The case dealt with the novel question of law concerning the scope of valid counterclaim in Singapore in connection with the question of submission to courts’ jurisdiction. Extensive references were made to UK courts’ decisions and the Drolia case has also been referred to and followed in subsequent Singapore cases. The case was also reported in Drolia Mineral Industries Pte Ltd v Natural Resources Pte Ltd [2002] 1 SLR(R) 880.
- Acted in an application to the Court of Appeal of Singapore for permission to appeal against the decision of the Appellate Division of the High Court on the ground of point of law of public importance under Section 47(1) of the Supreme Court of Judicature Act 1969.
- Acted in a High Court action for a corporate entity and successfully sought an injunction to restrain the corporate landlord from effecting re-entry into the leased unit. The case dealt with important issues concerning the relevant provisions under section 18 of the Conveyancing and Law of Property Act (Cap 61).
- Acted in 2 related civil appeal cases at the Appellate Division of the High Court in 2022 involving appeals and cross-appeals by the parties. The appeals also dealt with the applicability of the landmark UK decision in Seldon v Davidson [1968] 1 WLR 1083 under Singapore laws. The appeal case was referred to and followed in a subsequent High Court case. The civil appeal case was reported in Tan Chin Hock v Teo Cher Koon and another and another appeal [2022] 2 SLR 314).
- Acted in 2 separate SIAC international arbitration cases for foreign corporate entities both concerning cross border joint venture disputes which involved voluminous documentation.
- Acted successfully for a defendant in defending a District Court action by the Plaintiff concerning joint investment of a land parcel in China and further successfully defended the trial decision at the subsequent High Court hearing of an appeal made by the unsuccessful Plaintiff. The case was reported in Seah Chin Ong v Lee Hock Kian [2001] SGDC 380.
- Acted for a Receiver of a large project subcontractor (in liquidation) against the main contractor in a High Court assessment of damages and related hearings involving a condominium project along Tanglin Road. The assessment of damages followed after a trial of the action commenced by the subcontractor and involved the important question of grounds to injunct against the call on the performance bond. The cases were reported in New Civilbuild Pte Ltd v Guobena Sdn Bhd and another [1998] SGHC 214 and New Civilbuild Pte Ltd v Guobena Sdn Bhd [2000] SGHC 30.
- Acted in a High Court action for a large resort owner in Sentosa Island in defending a claim for repossession of lands and outstanding substantial sums by a statutory board and in the client’s counterclaim against that statutory board.
- Acted in 2 related High Court actions and defended substantial claims by an owner of a mega shopping mall for outstanding gross turnover related payments. The cases involved voluminous documentation (estimated at over 80,000 pages) and substantial factual disputes.
- Acted successfully in a High Court action against a publicly listed company for loan extended to the company and obtained judgment against the said company with costs and interest.
- Acted in a High Court action against the developer arising from the building and development of a 300,000 sq ft residential site in the eastern part of Singapore. The case involved amongst others, the question of proprietary estoppel.
- Acted in a High Court action for an individual in defending claims by various investors under an investment scheme entered into by the claimants.
- Acted in a High Court action for a plumbing and sanitary subcontractor in a construction dispute against the main contractor involving a public housing development in Sembawang area.
- Acting for and advising a large corporation specializing in uninterrupted power supply and battery solutions for industrial use in their disputes with their main contractor and customer.
Trust, Conspiracy, Family, Insolvency and Intellectual Property
- Acted in a High Court action for a large local company specialising in industrial vision and components supply and successfully obtained judgment and recovered losses against its former employees and a third-party company set up by them for conspiracy, breaches of contract and other wrongdoings. The case involved substantial discovery of documents and computer forensic evidence.
- Acted successfully in an action under the Mental Capacity Act (Cap 177A) in the Family Justice Courts for an individual against his sibling concerning Lasting Power of Attorney and appointment of deputy and won the action at the trial, which involved testimony from established psychiatric expert witnesses.
- Acted successfully in a High Court action concerning disputes on Will and testamentary gifts of a testator and interpretation of the Will. The case involved expert opinion by a senior probate lawyer in Singapore.
- Acted in 3 related High Court actions for a local individual and corporate entity by and against various parties concerning shareholders and joint venture disputes. The cases involved complex issues of company law, conversion, constructive, resulting trust and defamation amongst other areas of law and involved substantial discovery of documents and contested interlocutory applications.
- Acting as lead counsel in a court action at the Family Justice Courts concerning the appointment of deputy under section 20 of the Mental Capacity Act 2008.
- Acted in a High Court action against the defendant, a family member, for breach of fiduciary duties and constructive trust, amongst other claims.
- Acted in various court proceedings in intellectual property disputes concerning passing off, trademark and copyright infringement of reputable trademarks such as Louis Vuitton, Fendi, Triumph, Spongebob, Jolly Mah, Audio-Technica and other marks.
Negligence, Defamation, Banking, Shipping and Others
- Acted in a High Court action and successfully obtained judgment and damages against a renowned developer and its main contractor for negligence during the construction and building of a condominium in Ipoh Lane, Singapore. The case involved geotechnical and building surveying evidence by various expert witnesses.
- Acted successfully in a court action for a severely burnt victim and successfully claimed against the owner of a petrol station and petrol transportation company in Singapore for negligence following a huge explosion at a petrol station along Aljunied Road. The explosion was extensively covered by the local news media.
- Acted successfully in a court action for a severely injured Australian cyclist against a taxi driver and his company and obtained judgment and substantial damages at the trial.
- Acted successfully in an appeal hearing for an individual before a 3-member Appeals Board constituted under the Estate Agency Act 2010 which set aside the previous decision of the Council for Estate Agencies for rejecting our client’s application as a salesperson under the Act.
- Acted successfully in a court action in setting aside judgment entered against our client with the Statutory Demand served on our client under the Bankruptcy Act (Cap 20) subsequently set aside.
- Acted in a High Court action with satisfactory outcome for 2 foreign high net worth individuals in defending and counterclaiming against Standard Chartered Bank involving the sale of Equity Linked Notes and Accumulator options.
- Acted in a High Court action with satisfactory outcome for 2 foreign individuals in their claims against a local bank regarding dispute concerning the debiting of clients’ bank account maintained with the bank.
- Acted in a District court case with satisfactory outcome for 2 foreign individuals against ABN AMRO Bank in an action over the sale of the bank’s “Minibond” products.
- Acted in a High Court case at initial stage against claim by Standard Chartered Banking concerning personal guarantee and successfully resisted the bank’s application to strike out part of the defence and further succeeded at the appeal hearing before a High Court judge.
- Acted in a court action with satisfactory outcome for an individual in a defamation case against a member of a MCST of a condominium.
- Defended a former publicly listed company and its major shareholders and directors from a series of court actions in both High Court and State Courts in claims and insolvency actions commenced by various parties.
- Acted in an arbitration case under the Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration (SCMA) Rules for a ship owner against a foreign party involving the chartering of vessel.
- Acted in a High Court admiralty action for a large ship supplies company in its claim against a ship owner and recovered the outstanding sums owing to our client following the arrest of the owner’s vessel at the Singapore port.
- Acted in court proceedings for a foreign individual against a respondent under the Protection from Harassment Act 2014 (POHA).
- Acted in court proceedings for various homeowners and renovation contractors in their disputes concerning additions and alterations (A&A) and renovation works.
-
Some of the notable criminal (white and blue-collar crime) cases handled by James are:
- Acted as defence counsel for an accused person charged with 27 counts of aggravated cheating offences under section 420 the Penal Code (Cap 224) in a landmark ‘O’ level examination cheating case in Singapore. The case lasted about 18 months and trial attendances took about 20 days at the State Courts. The case was reported in PP v Poh Yuan Nie and others [2021] SGMC 5.
- Acted as defence counsel for an American entrepreneur charged with offences of aggravated cheating in 1995 under section 420 of the Penal Code (Cap 224). The case involved a lengthy 38 days of trial attendance and concerned the revolutionary plastic lithium-ion battery technology for various uses such as in electric vehicles, laptops and mobile phones. The trial witnesses included members of an overseas royal family, foreign cabinet minister, renowned businessmen and high-profile individuals and professionals. The defence witnesses included the late Dr Sid Megahed, a world-renowned author and scientist on battery technology. The court case was also reported in local newspapers.
- Acted as defence counsel in the District Court for an individual charged with market rigging and deceptive practice offences under the Securities and Futures Act (Cap 289). The District Court’s decision was subsequently affirmed by the High Court following an appeal against the sentence made by the individual. The District Court and High Court cases were reported in PP v Lau Wan Heng [2020] SGDC 293 and Lau Wan Heng v PP [2022] 3 SLR 1067.
- Acted as lead defence counsel in a High Court trial for an individual charged with sexual offences, including rape. The case involved testimonies from medical doctors and numerous prosecution witnesses.
- Acted as defence counsel in a criminal appeal case at the Court of Appeal involving the murder of a foreign domestic worker. This case was extensively covered in local news media and the criminal appeal case was reported in Kamrul Hasan Abdul Quddus v PP [2011] SGCA 52.
- Acted as defence counsel for an individual who was acquitted of all 7 charges of money laundering offences under section 47(1)(b) Corruption, Drug Trafficking and other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act (Cap 65A) and section 411(1) of the Penal Code (Cap 224).
- Acted as defence counsel for an individual who was acquitted of an offence of causing hurt to a domestic maid under section 323 of the Penal Code (Cap 224).
- Defended in few private prosecution cases for offences under the Criminal Procedure Code.
- Acted as defence counsel in the High Court in one of the largest drug trafficking cases in Singapore. This case was reported in PP v Tan Seng Kim and others [1995] SGHC 34 and was also featured in the TV series “Crimewatch” in 1997.
- Acted as defence counsel in the High Court in a murder case. That case was likely the last case involving the late renowned forensic pathologist Professor Chao Tzee Cheng who testified as a prosecution witness. This case was reported in PP v Chan Choon Wai [2000] SGHC 41 and was extensively reported in the news media.
- Acted as defence counsel in a trademark infringement case involving trademarks such as Angry Birds, Power Rangers, Disney, Pooh, Hello Kitty, My Melody, Little Twin Stars, Toy Story, Doraemon, Lilo and Stitch and Thomas & Friend.
- Acted as defence counsel for an individual in a remote gambling case involving multiple parties.
- Acted as defence counsel for an individual charged with an offence of carrying out fund management activities without a capital markets services licence under section 82(1) of the Securities and Futures Act (Cap 289).
- Acted as defence counsel for clients in different court martial cases for various military offences under the Singapore Armed Forces Act (Cap 295).
- Acted as defence counsel for clients charged for various kinds of offences including theft, assault, affray, molestation, cheating and immigration offences.
Barrister-at-Law (London), LLM, LLB (Honours), Commissioner for Oaths, Notary Public