About Matthew SAW

Matthew is a Partner in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution department.

Matthew graduated from the University of Cambridge in 1995, and was admitted to the English bar in 1996. He was admitted to the Singapore bar in 1997 and joined Lee & Lee as an Associate in 1998. In 2002, he was seconded for 5 months to the International Commercial Fraud and Insolvency Litigation group of Lovells, London. In 2004, Matthew was admitted to the New York state bar. In 2005, he was made a Partner.

Matthew practises civil litigation including litigation pertaining to banking disputes, commercial disputes, en bloc disputes, estate disputes, medical law, and personal injury claims. Some of the recent cases he has been involved in include: -

Banking disputes

• acting as lead counsel for a bank claiming about S$10 million and successfully obtaining a mareva injunction against the defendant;

• acting as lead counsel for a bank claiming about S$4 million in restitution; 
• acting as lead counsel for a bank in a dispute with a customer over accumulator products;

• acting as co-counsel for a bank claiming about US$100 million in a complex contractual dispute;

Commercial disputes

• acting as lead counsel for a contractor against a sub-contractor in a S$9 million dispute;
• acting as lead counsel for a private equity company claiming about S$7 million from a company listed on the Singapore stock exchange in a complex contractual dispute;

• acting as lead counsel in an international trade case involving goods worth about S$5 million, and successfully obtaining interim injunctions within 48 hours of being first contacted by the clients;
• acting as lead counsel for a company in the metal trading business claiming about S$2 million from a counter-party;

• acting as co-counsel for the liquidators of a foreign company against 7 banks who were all claiming metals in a Singapore warehouse worth about US$18 million;

• acting as co-counsel for the liquidators of an unregistered foreign company in their successful landmark application to transmit funds from the Singapore liquidation estate to the principal foreign liquidation estate;

• acting as co-counsel in a 50 days arbitration hearing concerning the construction of a wafer fabrication plant; 

En bloc sale disputes

• acting as lead counsel or as co-counsel for the majority owners of 27 developments in their successful applications to the Strata Titles Board for orders to approve the en bloc sales of their respective developments for the total sum of more than S$7 billion;

• acting as co-counsel for the majority owners in the en bloc sale of Waterfront View (583 units, S$385 million) in the landmark appeal to the High Court which was decided in their favour;

• acting as co-counsel for the majority owners in the en bloc sale of the Futura (72 units, S$297.3 million) in appeals to the High Court and to the Court of Appeal whose outcomes were in their favour;
• acting as co-counsel for certain minority owners in their objection to the en-bloc sale of Eng Cheong Tower;

Estate disputes

• acting as lead counsel for a beneficiary of an estate worth about S$15 million in the setting aside of a will;

• acting as lead counsel for an executor of an estate worth about S$9 million;
• acting as lead counsel for beneficiaries of an estate in their successful claim for an account of their share of the estate's assets worth about S$7 million, as well as in subsequent appeals to the High Court and to the Court of Appeal whose outcomes were in their favour;

Medical law matters

• acting as lead counsel for a surgeon in successfully defending a negligence claim;

• acting as co-counsel for a doctor charged with overprescribing sleeping pills and who had to attend a 2 days disciplinary hearing before the Singapore Medical Council; 

• acting for doctors in professional liability disputes and disciplinary hearings;

Personal injury claims

• acting as lead counsel for a person who suffered whiplash injuries in a road accident whereby the award of damages was tripled in a successful appeal to the High Court;
• acting as lead counsel for a person who was paralysed in a road accident;
• acting as co-counsel for a person paralysed in an adventure training accident and successfully claiming damages of about S$2 million (one of the highest awards made by the Singapore Court for damages for personal injury).

 
Matthew's current appointments include being: 

• a member of the Panel of Adjudicators of FIDReC (the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre Ltd);

• a member of the Legal Aid Bureau's Panel of Solicitors;

• a member of the Law Society's Civil Practice Committee; and

• a member of the Law Society's Admissions Committee.

Telephone

65574 821

E-Mail-Address

matthewsaw@leenlee.com.sg