Dawn Tan Ly-Ru
Contact Details
T: +65 6225 3819
F: +65 6224 1891
E: dawn.tan@nicholasandtan.com
Qualifications
LLB (Hons), National University of
Singapore (1997)
LLM, Harvard Law School (2002)
Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme
Court of Singapore (1998)
About Dawn
Dawn graduated with First Class Honours from the National
University of Singapore Law School in 1997 and was called to the
Singapore Bar in May 1998. She took a Master of Laws degree
from the Harvard Law School in 2002.
Between 1998 and 1999, Dawn was a Justices’ Law Clerk in the
Chambers of the former Chief Justice, Mr Yong Pung How. She
then served as an Assistant Registrar at the Supreme Court
Registry and concurrently taught at the NUS Law School and the
then Department of Law of the Singapore Management University.
Between 2004 and 2006, Dawn was Deputy Director Trade at the
Ministry of Trade and Industry where she negotiated the Trade in
Goods, Rules of Origin and Trade Remedies Chapters of
Singapore’s Free Trade Agreements with India, Panama, Chile,
New Zealand and Brunei (known as the “Pacific 4”), Kuwait and
Pakistan.
Dawn joined Rajah & Tann LLP as a Partner in 2006. During her
time in Rajah & Tann, Dawn was involved in several complex and
Attorney and Counselor-at-Law, State of high profile commercial disputes. These included the largest
New York (2003)
commercial dispute by value in recent times involving a claim by
the Indonesian client of a bank with respect to the sale by the bank
of certain shares pledged to it an undervalue, a claim exceeding
SGD200 million. She was involved in an arbitration under the SIAC
Rules concerning the construction of an all risks policy in the
context of a multi-million dollar claim for business interruption loss
caused by the tsunami of December 2004. She was Singapore cocounsel acting for a government in an ICC arbitration on a
contractual dispute arising out of a bid for a complex and largescale construction project, in which the claim was valued at more
than USD500 million and the counterclaims USD1 billion. She
acted as co-counsel for the owners of two steel plants in an SIAC
arbitration in respect of their claim against various parties for
breaches of their obligations under certain agreements in relation
to the sale and purchase of the plants, in which the claim is valued
at more than USD800 million.
Solicitor, England and Wales (2002)
Areas of Practice
In addition to international arbitration, Dawn has handled a wide
range of complex commercial litigation, including complex banking,
company and property disputes (including several of the most
contentious and highly-publicised collective sale disputes),
corporate insolvency and restructuring (both advisory and
contentious) and more generally contractual disputes of a
commercial nature.
Experience
Some of the clients Dawn has advised and represented include:
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a public listed company in the divestment of its majority stake
in a Cayman Islands company engaged in, through its offshore
(PRC) companies, environmental business operations, namely:
(1) environmental construction services encompassing
environmental
engineering
consultancy
and
design,
construction, equipment manufacturing and installation, and
project management services for environmentally-oriented
municipal projects, including wastewater treatment plants,
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water treatment and supply plants and solid waste treatment
plants; and (2) environmental concession services involving
financing, investment, construction, operation, management
and maintenance services for wastewater and water treatment
and supply plants throughout the PRC;
the majority shareholder in a shareholder dispute in relation to
a privately held company engaged in the distribution,
promotion and retail sale of apparel carrying the trademark of
internationally-renowned brands;
a government-linked entity in relation to potential claims arising
from the redevelopment of a certain property;
an international bank in its claim against the directors and
controlling shareholders of a public listed company in relation
to losses incurred by the company pursuant to the close-out of
foreign exchange transactions, in which the claim was valued
at more than SGD38 million;
a telecommunications company in relation to its claim for the
recovery of telecommunication cables valued in excess of
SGD5 million;
a government-linked entity in relation to allegations of
misrepresentation made against it by a public listed company;
the owner of a plot of land in a prime residential area in
Singapore in relation to the attempted unilateral realignment of
a right of way over an adjacent plot owned by a major property
developer;
the owner of a group of shipping publications in relation to a
defamation claim brought by the former employees of a foreign
shipping company;
a major supplier of ready-mixed concrete in relation to claims
brought against it arising from the ban of sand exports from
Indonesia;
the shareholders of a private holding company in relation to
their respective rights arising out of the redevelopment of a
commercial building in the central business district in
Singapore;
a group of foreign funds in relation to a highly-structured and
privately-placed financing transaction put in place for the
acquisition of a substantial stake in a foreign company then
listed on the Norwegian stock exchange;
a group of consenting subsidiary proprietors in the contentious
and highly-publicised appeal to the High Court from the
decision of the Strata Titles Board dismissing the application
for a collective sale order for the Horizon Towers
condominium; and
the purchaser in the contentious and highly-publicised appeal
to the High Court and thereafter, the Court of Appeal from the
decision of the Strata Titles Board allowing the application for a
collective sale order for the Gillman Heights condominium.
Appointments / Memberships
Dawn is a member of the Inquiry Panel of the Law Society of
Singapore.