Raymond Lye

Raymond Lye is a Partner at CNPLaw. His primary practice area is Commercial Litigation, and he specialises in litigation, arbitration and alternative dispute resolution.

He has acted in many cases in the High Court, Appellate Division and Court of Appeal in Singapore, and is well versed in a wide range of civil and commercial litigation matters, including contractual disputes, building and construction law (including arbitration and SOPA claims), trade disputes, negligence (including medical claims), industrial accidents, directors' duties, minority oppression, private banker and client disputes, shareholder disputes, corporate and partnership disputes, trust and estate law, intellectual property rights, competition law, labour law, restraint of trade, matrimonial disputes, probate and administration, and defamation.

Many of his cases are published, including a 2023 High Court judgment on a successful claim for rescission of a shareholders' agreement and the consequent payment of damages for misrepresentations, an important 2014 Court of Appeal judgment on tortious liability at building sites, and a judgment reported in the Straits Times on 9 July 2016 on an employer he represented in successfully defeating a personal injury claim by an employee. He also acted in a high-profile High Court trial (2023) and the appeal to the Appellate Division (2024), representing high-net-worth Hong Kong clients suing a luxury watch investment fund.

He also has an active criminal practice, having successfully acted for many clients in cases involving police, traffic police, CID, CAD, CPIB, MOM, ICA, BCA, IRAS, CNB, Customs and other prosecutions. Many are published cases on culpable homicide, gang offences and weapon and firearms offences, sports corruption, sexual offences, employment offences, road rage and the distinction between rashness and negligence in criminal prosecutions, including a 2019 CPIB case involving an employee of Keppel Shipyard and the full acquittal of his client in an MOM prosecution over causing the death of an employee at One Altitude at One Raffles Place, reported in the Straits Times on 2 March 2023.

He has also acted for clients in non-contentious work such as advising on and drafting commercial contracts, including those relating to construction projects, telecommunications, confidentiality and non-disclosure, business leases and tenancies, intellectual property rights, shareholders and partnership arrangements, constitutions of societies, trade and unincorporated associations, software and internet agreements (including crypto and NFT), employment (including stock options), distributorship and franchising, manufacturing, publishing and advertising.

Prior to the merger with CNPLaw, he was in private practice, becoming the founder and Managing Partner of Union Law LLP in 2014. Before entering private practice, he served in the Legal Service as a Magistrate and Deputy Registrar in the State Courts and tutored part-time at the NUS Faculty of Law.

He is an independent director on the boards of Serial System Ltd and Wee Hur Holdings Ltd on the main board of SGX, and has served as an independent director with Goodland Group Ltd (until mandatory retirement in 2025), 800 Super Holdings Ltd and SK Jewellery Group Ltd before they were delisted in 2020 and 2019 respectively, chairing the nominating and remuneration committees and serving on the audit committees.

He has been active in community service and service to the nation since 1993, having volunteered in various capacities with MND, MINDEF, IMDA, MOH, MOE, ROM and PA. He was awarded the Public Service Medal (1998), Public Service Star (2008) and Public Service Star (Bar) (2025) in the National Day honours list, and received the Meritorious Service Medal from the People's Action Party in 2022. He is a Deputy President of the Strata Titles Board of MND and volunteers with IMDA, KTPH, PA and ROM, as well as being the honorary legal advisor to various trade and merchant associations and Nan Hua Primary School.