Mervyn Foo

Mervyn Foo is a Partner in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution department at Lee & Lee in Singapore. His practice focuses on Bankruptcy and Insolvency Law, with experience in a wide range of matters including both contentious and advisory work for insolvency and restructuring, commercial disputes, employment, criminal, competition, probate, strata disputes and tenancy matters.

He graduated from the National University of Singapore with an LLB (Second Upper Class Honours) in 2002 and was admitted as an Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 2003.

His case highlights include advising and acting for the liquidators in relation to all aspects of the winding up of 2 locally incorporated construction companies, involving issues such as lifting a Mareva Injunction against the companies, engaging various main contractors regarding "deeming provisions" contained in the construction contracts, resolving charges for regulatory offences, recovery of outstanding trade receivables, negotiating and entering into settlements with various stakeholders including lenders, main contractors and trade debtors, and assisting the liquidators in briefing the Committees of Inspection.

He also advised the Delegation of Singapore in relation to various operational and employment matters involving an intergovernmental organisation; advised and acted for the Government of a foreign country in a multi-million dollar claim arising from the breach of a contract for the supply of ventilators and masks during the COVID-19 pandemic; advised and acted for a registered trade union in a claim arising from a breach of warranty concerning unauthorised additions or alterations; and advised and acted in an action by minor beneficiaries for the disbursement of maintenance payments from their late father's estate, in a decision that clarified the application of the doctrine of assent in Singapore.

In international arbitration, Mervyn advised and assisted the Claimant in a 13-day International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration involving a multi-million dispute between a foreign corporation and a foreign government arising out of a Build-Operate-and-Transfer Concession Agreement, successfully obtaining a partial award on governing law and resisting an application to set aside the partial award before the Singapore High Court. He also advised UK and Singapore liquidators on a title dispute over metal cargo located in warehouses in Singapore worth about US$18m arising from the winding-up of a UK metal trading company involved in a massive international fraud, and advised and assisted in the successful 20-day trial and subsequent appeal before the Court of Appeal against one of the international banks, which involved complex and novel issues of law and fact, including an unprecedented determination on the applicability of Section 20A of the Sale of Goods Act and hedging and hedge unwinding practices on the London Metal Exchange.

He is a member of the Law Society of Singapore and the Singapore Academy of Law.