Darryl Lau

Associate

Darryl joined Covenant Chambers in 2022, with dispute resolution as his primary area of practice.

He firmly believes in being a peacemaker and pursuing excellence in his advocacy before the court, arbitrator or mediator. He believes in providing his clients with prompt cost-efficient solutions by coupling an intimate knowledge of the law with a sensitive appreciation of each client’s unique needs.

Darryl’s practice covers a diverse range of contentious and non-contentious matters, including corporate and commercial disputes, family and probate matters, and insolvency law.  

In particular, his experience includes multi-jurisdictional commercial and employment disputes and high-value estate disputes.

Sample Cases

• Successfully obtained a novel application for a grant pendente lite for a client embroiled in estate litigation proceedings, in XBW v XBX and another [2024] SGHCF 30. 

• Acting for a multi-million dollar company in a claim against a director, his wife and their companies for breach of fiduciary duties, dishonest assistance and conspiracy to injure. Successfully acted for our client in a specific discovery application where the High Court held in [2023] SGHC 10 that marital communications privilege cannot assist a litigant to resist disclosure of what he communicated to his or her spouse.

• Advised on the wrongful termination of an agreement to engage the client as a developer of a cryptocurrency protocol under the Solana blockchain.

• Assisted Senior Counsel in two suits arising from the same multi-party dispute over an estate valued at more than SGD 50 million, eventuating in a mediated settlement agreement in the Singapore International Mediation Centre.

• Represented a shareholder in a corporate dispute against a former company director in a leading business in refrigerated transportation, arising from various breaches of fiduciary duties.

• Represented an investor in a commercial dispute, involving a transnational investment agreement pertaining to a subject matter located in the Republic of Indonesia.

• Acted for an ex-employee against an employer for unlawful termination of an employment agreement, involving a claim for unpaid remuneration in the form of both fiat currency and cryptocurrency tokens.

• Assisted in a multi-jurisdictional employment dispute, involving the question of enforcement of Singaporean judgements in foreign jurisdictions.

• Acted for an ex-employee in an employment dispute, involving the enforcement of restraint of trade clauses in the commodity trading industry.

• Advised in a medical negligence claim against a major hospital in Singapore

• Assisted in a creditor’s voluntary winding up of a holding company and its two subsidiaries.

Published Judgments

• XBW v XSX and another [2024] SGHCF 30

• Systematic Airconditioning Pte Ltd v Ho Seng Ken and others [2023] SGHC 10

Media Mentions

• “‘I collected items to fill up emptiness’: Loss, stress at root of hoarding problem, say volunteers”, The Straits Times (7 September 2023)

Articles

• Case Update: High Court Grants Rare Application for Grant Pendente Lite

• Case Update: High Court clarifies scope of Marital Communications Privilege