Issue #8: The $900 billion battle
Happy Monday!
Hard to believe it's already December.
In view of the upcoming holidays, we will be taking a break after our next edition on 19 December & resuming on 9 January 2023.
Meanwhile, here are the latest 🌶 legal headlines:
Japan: Spain to pay EUR 106+ million to Japanese wind farm investor
Laos: The Singapore appeals court affirms 2 arbitral awards totalling $3.7 million in favour of Laos, against 2 gaming companies
Philippines: Manila Express Payments System (MEPS) wins patent infringement arbitral case against BTI Payments Philippines Inc
South Korea: Korean hydro venture brings LCIA claim against Pakistan over a hydropower project
See you in 2 weeks' time!
Ling Yah
Students > Legends
ICYMI we attended another cozy drinks last week at 1864 The Bar at Sofitel Singapore!
Some familiar faces we saw:
Lord Neuberger (former President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom)
Jeffrey Gruder KC (Essex Court Chambers)
Mark Dempsey SC (7th Wentworth Selbourne / Maxwell 42)
Ooi Huey Miin (Partner, Raja, Darryl & Loh)
KC Lye (Independent Arbitrator & Counsel)
We also invited three law students (pictured above with Huey Miin & KC) to join us for the gathering!
For one of the students, Charlotte, her takeaway was this:
"A piece of advice given from David Grief and Mark Johnston KC: everyone starts off as students, and were once in our positions. That was especially heartening and inspiring; perhaps one day we may aspire to reach such heights as well."
Storms are Brewing
China is just full of storms these days 🌪️.
What Happened?
Jimmy Lai, a jailed, pro-democracy tycoon, is embroiled in a landmark national security trial meant to start on 1 Dec.
John Lee (Hong Kong's leader) and Paul Lam (top legal official) attempted to impose a "blanket ban" allowing foreign lawyers to work on national security cases, bar exceptional circumstances.
However, Hong Kong's Court of Final Appeal ruled that Timothy Owen KC could represent Jimmy Lai in this instance.
Not one to take things lying down, John Lee now seeks an interpretation from China's National People's Congress Standing Committee, and to delay the start of the trial.
Will China step in?
Your guess is as good as mine. 🤷🏻♀️
P/S: Meanwhile... Hong Kong is withholding Timothy Owen's visa & trial has been adjourned until 13 December!
The $900 Billion Battle
The battle between Future Group & Amazon Inc has recommenced. ⚔️
Background
Amazon acquired a 49% stake in Future Coupons on the basis that Future Group could not inter alia sell its retail assets to companies like Reliance.
In August 2020, Future Group announced plans to sell its retail, wholesale, logistics and warehousing businesses to… *drumroll* 🥁
You guessed it: Reliance Retail, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries.
SIAC Arbitration
Amazon Inc initiated SIAC proceedings. Future Group tried to terminate said proceedings (by filing over 200 petitions!!).
The latest was with Delhi High Court who, without opining on the merits of the arguments, held that:
“This is just a ploy by well-heeled parties to delay the proceedings… Your client is trying to be too clever by half. As a Chief Justice of this court, I am concerned.”
So SIAC proceedings commenced on 28 November.
What’s At Stake
A $900 billion retail market with 1.3 billion consumers.
Now isn’t that a pretty prize? 🤩
Spotlight - Mervyn Cheong
(Partner, Advocates Law LLP)
⚒️ What do you do?
I am an Associate Professor (Practice track) with the National University of Singapore, Law Faculty. I run a Capital Offences Criminal Litigation Clinic as an elective & also oversee the administration of the pro bono programme.
I also practice law at Advocatus Law LLP, specialising in criminal matters including capital cases and white collar crime matters, and also corporate internal investigations and compliance.
🏆 What is your proudest professional achievement?
The one case that is still most memorable to me is acting for an accused, who had already been sentenced to death at trial, in his appeal before the highest appellate court in Singapore.
The coram would usually consist of 3 judges of appeal, but that case had a coram of 5 judges!
Acquittals are not easy to come by in criminal matters but together with my team, we overturned the appeal & the client was acquitted 🥳.
It took almost 6 years!
⌛ There are now 25 hours in a day! How do you spend your extra hour?
I'll spend that extra hour with my wife and daughter, just chilling and enjoying each other's company.
🚀 If you weren't a lawyer, what would you do?
Probably a chef 👨🏻🍳 or a jiujutsu instructor?
😋 Your favourite food haunt (bonus points if it's off the beaten track!)
My present favourite food haunt is Pizzamaru at Changi Jewel. Their Korean fried chicken and pizza 🍕 are really tasty!
Noted: This interview has been edited for clarity & length.
Food Feature
Today's meal is a Sichuan speciality known as dandan mian (担担面): noodles coated chili oil, minced meat, peanuts & a dash of green onions.
It's found in a popular Shanghainese shop known by many names: Liu Tang Men, Chuan Noodles & Liu Dao Men.
And is, as far as we're concerned, one of the best Sichuan noodle joint in Shanghai.
If spicy noodles aren't your fancy, you can also try the Tibetan stone pot chicken soup, suantang fei niu mian (in picked mustard greens soup) & tianshui mian (chunky, chewy noodles topped with soya sauce, crushed peanuts & rock sugar).
So long as you don't hate carbs, you should definitely give this a try!
Photos credits to Rachel Gouk.
Details: Facebook, Google Maps
Are you a student or young lawyer?
Want to get involved in helping to run Overheard? Meet senior practitioners? Do legal research with real world impact?
We're always looking for bright, young talent like yourself so if you're interested, give us a holler at editor@overheard.asia!
Special thanks to Overheard in Asia's sponsor:
David Grief was described as "the Law's Middleman" (Business Times, 2021). You can reach out to him at dg@davidgrief.com if you need help identifying the right lawyer, arbitrator or expert for your matters, or even if you just want to grab a drink 🍵🍺 with someone who has managed and mentored lawyers for almost 5️⃣0️⃣ years!