Dickson Chew

Of Counsel / Practice Manager

Advocate & Solicitor, Supreme Court of Singapore

LL.B. (Hons), National University of Singapore (2014)

Dickson Chew is Of Counsel of RCL Chambers Law Corporation and concurrently Practice Manager with responsibility for the overall management and development of the growth of the firm.

Dickson brings a breadth of experience as counsel at all levels of the Singapore Courts and has assisted in the conduct of arbitrations administered by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre and ad-hoc arbitration.

Prior to joining Chambers, Dickson was trained by and started his practice at one of the largest law firms in Singapore and subsequently worked for a leading law chambers helmed by a Senior Counsel until 2020.

Dickson has a particular interest in commercial litigation and arbitration matters especially in property-related disputes and commercial and shareholder disputes. Dickson has acted for corporate shareholders, directors and creditors in legal proceedings and arbitration involving minority oppression, breach of director’s duties, cross-border insolvency claims and breach of shareholder’s agreements.

Dickson frequently advised and represented major property developers and commercial organisations in an extensive range of property-related disputes including unregistered easement, registered titles and caveats, building agreements and State leases, short-term residential and commercial leases, payment claims under the Security of Payment Act, building and construction defects litigation, completion delays and stake-holding monies claims under standard-form residential sale and purchase agreements prescribed by the Housing Developers Rules.

Dickson has been appointed Assigned Solicitor with the Legal Aid Bureau since 2016 and regularly assists the NUS Pro Bono Office with student-led initiatives including legal awareness talks, community legal clinics and certification of Lasting Powers of Attorney.

In school, Dickson won the Gower Prize for best student in company law and was one of two inaugural Resident Pro Bono Fellows with the NUS Pro Bono Office.

Please email info@rclc.com.sg for a more detailed CV on any particular practice area.

Representative Portfolio

  • Advised and represented a Singapore start-up in the yoga business against a minority shareholder involving minority oppression and non-compliance with the Employment of Foreign Manpower Act (2019). 
  • Acted for a group of investors in the High Court against a Bermuda-incorporated company in liquidation for pre-action discovery of correspondence and documents in connection with a series of convertible loan agreements valued at approximately US$60 million (2018).
  • Acted for two founding members and directors of a Singapore restaurant in the High Court to claim for minority oppression and to resist the allegation of breach of directors’ duties with the matter settled amicably before trial in the clients’ favour (2016).
  • Acted as counsel in an SIAC administered arbitration involving a software solutions provider and competing groups of shareholders who were seeking a winding up order and relief from minority oppression under section 216 of the Companies Act.
  • Acted as counsel in an ad-hoc arbitration involving a Singapore Institute of Architect standard form construction contract between a listed hotel developer and its main contractor involving complex issues of delay and construction defects.
  • Successfully acted for a foreign national in the High Court against an international casino operator to set aside irregular foreign service of the writ of summons (2020).
  • Acted for a subsidiary proprietor in the High Court against the management corporation of a residential condominium to challenge the chairman’s conduct of the annual general meeting: reported in Chan Sze Ying v Management Corporation Strata Title Plan No 2948 (Lee Chuen T’ng, intervener) [2020] SGHC 88.
  • Advised and represented a local private bank in a matter involving a substantial account who was subject to a worldwide freezing injunction (2017).  
  • Advised and represented a local private bank in a matter involving a corporate account holder whose ultimate beneficial owner was subject to a worldwide freezing injunction issued by the High Court in excess of US$100 million (2016). 
  • Advised and represented the developer of an up-market residential strata development in a dispute involving the priorities of various crossclaims asserted by interested parties that were premised on third-party freezing injunction, equitable mortgages, registered caveats, and an order of seizure pursuant to the Criminal Procedure Code for alleged contraventions of the Residential Property Act. Successfully acted for the developer in the High Court to intervene and vary the freezing injunction in the client’s favour (2018).
  • Successfully acted for SMRT Alpha Pte Ltd against its former tenant in the High Court and Court of Appeal for breach of the tenancy agreement with loss of rental income and other loss and damage assessed at S$2.7 million and resisting the tenant’s counterclaim for fraudulent misrepresentation. This matter is notable because the Court found that the tenant had by its conduct affirmed the lease notwithstanding a misrepresentation that was made during the lease negotiation and the tenant was accordingly not entitled to rescind the lease: reported in Strait Colonies Pte Ltd v SMRT Alpha Pte Ltd [2018] 2 SLR 441; SMRT Alpha Pte Ltd v Strait Colonies Pte Ltd [2017] SGHC 243.
  • Acted for a leading construction company of a residential condominium in the High Court whereby the client was one of fourteen defendants in a claim brought by the management corporation for common property defects (2018).
  • Acted for the developer of an executive condominium in the High Court to defend a claim by the management corporation involving common property defects and misrepresentation or misleading advertisement in the sale brochure (2018). 
  • Advised and represented a statutory board to review and re-negotiate a commercial tenancy agreement for a public attraction (2018).
  • Successfully acted for a hotel operator in the High Court to distrain the goods and property of a restaurant owner whose rental arrears exceeded S$300,000 (2017).
  • Advised and represented a Grade A office building owner on insurance and tortious claims arising from falling façade panel with estimated rectification costs of about S$2 million (2017).
  • Acted for a leading construction company engaged as a main contractor to file an adjudication claim against the project developer under the Security of Payments Act with payment claims exceeding S$6 million (2017).
  • Advised and represented the developer against two purchasers of an executive condominium to resist claims for construction defects and successfully recovered stake holding monies withheld by SAL under the standard form sale and purchase agreements (2017). 
  • Acted for the developer of a private residential condominium in the High Court to defend a claim by the management corporation for common property defects with the matter successfully resolved in the client’s favour (2016).
  • Acted for the developer of a mixed-use commercial development in the High Court to sue on two dishonoured cheques of approximately S$1.5 million (2015). 
  • Acted for a software solutions company in the High Court against its former Chief Executive Officer in a claim involving breach of employee and director duties (2019).
  • Acted for a leading Korean semiconductor company in the High Court against its former sales manager for wrongful diversion of business opportunities and breach of employee duties (2018).  
  • Advised and represented a major US-based software company against its former employee’s claim involving wrongful dismissal, breach of confidentiality, non-solicitation clause in the employment contract and recovery of unpaid salaries and reimbursement (2016).
  • Acted for an advocate and solicitor in the District Court against her former law firm to recover contractual bonus and unpaid leave (2015).
  • External counsel for a statutory board concerning hawker centre tenancy agreements (2019).
  • External counsel to advise and represent a global data co-location service provider for the overflow work of its Asia Pacific legal department (2017).