Lionel’s practice focuses on commercial litigation, restructuring and insolvency, and international arbitration. He routinely acts as lead counsel for a variety of clients, including financial institutions and multi-national companies, in court and arbitral proceedings, with a particular focus on complex, high-value and cross-border matters. In recent years, Lionel has developed deep expertise in contentious restructuring and insolvency matters involving cryptocurrencies and digital assets. He is also a Chartered Arbitrator.

Lionel is recognised for his expertise in commercial litigation, restructuring, and insolvency. The inaugural Joseph Grimberg Outstanding Young Advocate Award winner, he is ranked as a Litigation Star in Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific, as a recommended lawyer for dispute resolution in Legal 500 Asia-Pacific and as a Future Leader in Commercial Litigation in Lexology Index. He is recognised for his expertise in insolvency law in IFLR1000, Asialaw, and Best Lawyers. A Chartered Arbitrator, Lionel is a recommended lawyer for international arbitration in Legal 500 Asia-Pacific and was awarded the Excellence in Advocacy Award by the Singapore International Arbitration Academy.

Matters of significance where Lionel has acted as lead counsel include:

The liquidators of Three Arrows Capital, the US$10 billion cryptocurrency hedge fund that went bankrupt, in various proceedings and applications before the High Court and the Court of Appeal, including in obtaining US$1 billion freezing injunctions in support of BVI proceedings by the liquidators against the founders of the fund;

DBS Bank in relation to its letter of credit exposure arising from the collapse of Hin Leong Trading, including in complex interpleader proceedings in relation to cargo on board on the Ocean Voyager;

The interim judicial managers, later liquidators, of Hodlnaut, one of Singapore’s leading crypto asset borrowing and lending platforms that collapsed, in various proceedings and applications before the High Court;

A developer of a stablecoin in two related SIAC arbitrations in relation to the sale of its stablecoin business, with claims amounting to more than US$400 million;

An alternative investing company in a US$100 million SIAC arbitration against a leading Chinese private investment group for minority oppression; and

Renault in its successful claim against Liberty Engineering in proceedings before the SICC and the Court of Appeal.

Lionel regularly acts for accused persons pro bono under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, and has authored various books and articles, including co-authoring The Law of Evidence in Singapore, one of Singapore’s leading textbooks on evidence law (now in its 4th edition), which has been judicially cited by the High Court, SICC and Court of Appeal. He is also a co-founder of the Singapore Management University’s highly successful mooting program which has secured over 70 international moot championships.

Prior to joining Beacon Law Corporation, Lionel was a Partner at a leading Singapore law firm. He also served as a Justices’ Law Clerk of the Supreme Court of Singapore and as an Assistant Registrar of the High Court prior to joining private practice in 2011.

LANGUAGE PROFICIENCY

Fluent in spoken and written English

Fluent in spoken Mandarin Chinese

EMAIL

[email protected]

LINKEDIN

https://sg.linkedin.com/in/lionel-leo-14338412b