Speaker details

Biography

Koh Swee Yen, Senior Counsel, heads the International Arbitration Practice of WongPartnership LLP. She is also a Partner in the Asset Recovery & International Enforcement, Commercial & Corporate Disputes, and Shipping, International Trade & Commodities Disputes Practices. Widely regarded as one of the world's leading disputes practitioners, Swee Yen is the counsel of choice for complex, high-value and multi-jurisdictional disputes. In addition to her active international commercial and investment arbitration practice, she appears regularly before the Singapore Courts, including the Singapore International Commercial Court, is admitted to the Roll of Solicitors of England & Wales and has rights of audience before the DIFC Courts. Swee Yen has been at the forefront of numerous landmark decisions in cross-border asset recovery, fraud, commercial disputes, and enforcement and setting-aside proceedings.act. She sits on the ICCA Governing Board and is a member of the ICC Court. She is an officer of the IBA Asia Pacific Regional Forum, and a former Vice-Chair of the IBA Arbitration Committee. She also sits as an arbitrator, and has been designated by Singapore to the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators, being one of only four designees. Swee Yen is consistently ranked among the finest dispute resolution advocates by Chambers Global, Chambers Asia-Pacific, The Legal 500, Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific and the Lexology Index. The Lexology Index recognises her as a Global Elite Thought Leader in Arbitration, a distinction reserved for the top 5% of practitioners worldwide. It also names her a Thought Leader in Commercial Litigation and a Global Leader in Asset Recovery and Energy. She was named Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year at the ALB SE Asia Law Awards 2024 and Litigation Lawyer of the Year at The Legal 500 Southeast Asia Awards 2023. Clients and peers speak of her in exceptional terms. Chambers Global & Asia-Pacific lauds her as "a top legal mind", "adept at handling the most complex matters before the Singapore courts", with a "reputation as a formidable counsel and strategist". She is "simply outstanding", "the best of a new generation of savvy, fully internationalised disputes specialists" and "one of the best disputes partners in the world right now". Clients value that she is "extremely responsive and always adopts a client-first approach regardless of the day or time", and find her "a complete joy to work with". The Legal 500: Asia Pacific commends her as a "trusted advisor", a "lateral thinker and a class act" and "a leading authority in the field of arbitration". It notes "an exceptional ability to navigate complex legal issues and provide clear and strategic advice to clients", and says she is "on top of everything". Benchmark Litigation: Asia-Pacific describes her as "calm, composed, and brilliant at thinking on her feet, effortlessly tackling the court's toughest questions".