Senior Associate
Ian Mah
Equipped with a well-rounded perspective of the law gained from his time with the judiciary and prosecution, Ian seeks to develop a commercial disputes practice focused on tackling novel and complex legal issues. Since joining Setia Law LLC, he has been involved in several high-value commercial disputes and has successfully argued several applications in the High Court. Ian was also appointed as Young Independent Counsel by the Supreme Court of Singapore.
Notably, he successfully acted for the liquidators of a foreign company seeking recognition in Singapore under the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency and disclosure orders against, amongst others, former directors of the company. He successfully resisted the appeal before the Court of Appeal brought by the company’s former director, where novel legal issues involving the interaction between bad faith and public policy were engaged.
Besides tackling novel and complex legal issues as a commercial disputes lawyer, Ian also explores these issues in his academic writings. He has published widely in both local and international law journals and is a chapter contributor to the Halsbury’s Laws of Singapore: Civil Procedure. Notably, Ian’s works has been cited by the Singapore High Court and by various academic publications. Ian is also an adjunct law lecturer at the Singapore Management University.
Prior to joining Setia Law LLC, Ian was a Justices’ Law Clerk with the Supreme Court of Singapore. He assisted the Chief Justice, members of the Supreme Court Bench, as well as Judges of the Singapore International Commercial Court. Before that, he was a Deputy Public Prosecutor with the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC), where he was with the Drugs and Organised Crime Cluster.
Ian graduated summa cum laude from the Singapore Management University and was the university’s valedictorian. During the course of his studies, he received various academic awards, including the Kwek Hong Png Valedictorian Award, the SPH Valedictorian Award, the Kwa Geok Choo Scholarship, the Kwa Geok Choo Top Law Student Award, and top student prizes for Property Law and the Law of Business Organizations. He was also active in moots, representing the university at the Jessup Moot and the International Criminal Court Moot.
Ian’s Representative Experience:
- Appointed as Young Independent Counsel by the Supreme Court of Singapore.
- Cited by the Singapore High Court in Cheong Jun Yoong v Three Arrows Capital Ltd and others [2024] SGHC 21, which concerned a jurisdictional challenge involving questions of how the location of cryptoassets should be determined.
- Acted for liquidators of a foreign company in relation to a contested application for the recognition of the foreign liquidation under the UNCITRAL Model Law and disclosure orders against former directors and other relevant persons, and successfully resisted an appeal in the Court of Appeal (see Re Fullerton Capital Ltd (in liquidation) [2024] SGHC 155).
- Acted for a Singapore public company and its subsidiary in two suits against a former director for misappropriation of company assets and breach of fiduciary duty. Summary judgment was successfully obtained in both suits.
- Acted for the liquidators of a foreign company in relation to multi-jurisdictional enforcement of a foreign judgment and asset recovery against its former director.
- Acted for major banks and stockbroking firms in high-value disputes involving claims for allegedly unauthorised trades and transactions.
- Acted for the liquidators of a cryptocurrency trading platform in relation to the recognition of the foreign liquidation under the UNCITRAL Model Law and disclosure orders against former directors and other relevant persons, as well as claiming against its former director for misappropriation of cryptoassets.
