Description

Synopsis

Interested in finding out about WilmerHale’s leading International Arbitration Group in London? Come join us for this careers talk by our guest speakers from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. They will be sharing more on:

• Overseas career opportunities in international arbitration;
• Discuss opportunities currently available to NUS students in London; and
• How students can prepare and position themselves to best take advantage of these opportunities.

About the Speakers

Jonathan Lim
Partner, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr

Jonathan Lim is a triple-qualified English solicitor, Singapore advocate and New York lawyer with a broad practice covering all types of commercial and investment treaty arbitrations seated in common law and civil law jurisdictions worldwide, including England, New York, Singapore, Hong Kong, France, Brazil, The Netherlands, Switzerland, and Sao Paolo.  His experience also includes ad hoc and institutional arbitrations under the rules of the HKIAC, ICC, ICDR, LCIA, PCA, SIAC, UNCITRAL, and others.  He has represented both private sector and government clients in the aerospace, construction, energy, financial services, insurance, telecommunications, technology, and retail sectors, among others.  Mr Lim has also worked on WTO dispute settlement matters and advised international organisations and governments in Africa and Asia on public international law issues.  Notable ongoing representations include acting for a British national in one of the first reported PCA investment arbitrations against the People’s Republic of China, with over US$300 million in dispute, and representing a group of Chinese investors in a PCA arbitration against Ukraine arising out of the blocked takeover of a leading aerospace manufacturer, with over US$4.5 billion in dispute.  He is also lead counsel for an Asian group of companies in three US-seated AAA and ICDR arbitrations regarding the termination of a suite of over 140 distribution and franchise contracts across East and Southeast Asia.

As part of a broader engagement by the Asian Development Bank, Mr. Lim advised Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, and Timor Leste on their accessions to the New York Convention.  Mr Lim also worked closely with the ADB and UNCITRAL to advise governments in the South Pacific on the drafting of legislation, and he played a key role in the drafting of the 2017 Fiji International Arbitration Act, the 2020 Tonga International Arbitration Act, as well as related subsidiary legislation.  He continues to be engaged by the ADB to advise on legislation drafting in Palau, Papua New Guinea, and Timor Leste.  Mr Lim also previously assisted with the drafting of freedom of information and fisheries legislation in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq and Somalia, and he is part of a task force formed to assist with Somalia’s accessions to the New York Convention and the World Trade Organization.

Mr Lim regularly sits as arbitrator and has received appointments as sole and party-appointed arbitrator in multiple proceedings seated in Europe and Asia.  These include Chinese language arbitrations, bilingual English-Chinese arbitrations, as well as arbitrations governed by Chinese law, English law, German law, Singapore law and the CISG.  Mr Lim was recently Secretary to the Drafting Committee for the AFSA International Arbitration Rules, and played a significant role in the drafting of the revised rules, which came into effect on 1 June 2021. Mr Lim also assisted the SIAC Rules Revision Executive Committee, then chaired by Gary Born, in the most recent revision of the SIAC Rules in 2016.

Mr Lim is Co-Chair of the Asia-Pacific Forum for International Arbitration, a Committee Member of the ICC Singapore Regional Projects Sub-Committee, and a member of the SIAC Users Council. He is an Associate Editor of the African Journal of International Arbitration. He has lectured on international arbitration at the China University of Political Science and Law, King’s College London, the London School of Economics, the National Law School of India University, and the Singapore Management University. He also publishes and speaks regularly on international arbitration and financial regulation.

Mr Lim is listed for his expertise in Who’s Who Legal and Euromoney’s Rising Stars.  In 2022-2023, he was ranked by Who’s Who Legal as a Global Elite Thought Leader, a select category reserved for those lawyers receiving the highest number of peer and client nominations globally.  In 2021-2022, he was ranked by Who’s Who Legal as one of 13 “most highly regarded” future leaders (non-partners) in Europe, the Middle Ease, and Africa. Clients and peers describe him as “a very smart all-round lawyer with a strong work ethic” who “provides top-of-the-class legal and strategic advice,” “highly intelligent, articulate and very professional,” “extremely capable and hardworking,” and “a sure bet as a future global leader.”

Xiaohan Cai
Senior Associate, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr

Xiaohan Cai is a senior associate in the Litigation/Controversy Department and a member of the International Arbitration Practice Group. Ms. Cai has advised on and represented clients in commercial arbitrations and investment arbitrations under a variety of rules (including the SIAC, ICC, LCIA, ICDR, AAA, and UNCITRAL rules), governing laws (including Singapore, English, U.S., Chinese, Indonesian, and Cambodian law), and seats (including Singapore, England, U.S., and Switzerland).  These include bilingual English-Chinese arbitrations, as well as arbitrations governed by Chinese law.  Ms. Cai also regularly acts as secretary to tribunals and arbitrators.  She has particular experience with construction and infrastructure, franchise, and mining disputes.

Ms. Cai is admitted to the Singapore Bar, and has also represented clients in commercial litigation and enforcement proceedings before the Singapore courts. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Cai was an associate with a major Singapore law firm.

Vamika Puri
Legal Executive, Three Crowns LLP

Vamika is a New York qualified attorney with an LLB and PCLL from the City University of Hong Kong, and a double degree from the National University of Singapore LLM in International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution – Geneva LLM in International Dispute Settlement. She was awarded multiple scholarships during her studies, and trained with leading practitioners and teams across Singapore, Paris, Geneva, and London before joining Three Crowns in Singapore.

Bay Jia Wei
Justices’ Law Clerk, Supreme Court of Singapore

Jia Wei was formerly an intern with the International Arbitration Group at WilmerHale under the firm’s London Intern program (May–July 2022). She is presently serving her stint as a Justices’ Law Clerk at the Supreme Court of Singapore where she assists the Chief Justice, the Judges of the Court of Appeal and the High Court (including the Singapore International Commercial Court), particularly in the areas of arbitration, general commercial, insolvency and maritime disputes.

She graduated from the National University of Singapore in 2022 with First Class Honours and represented Singapore in the Jessup Moot where she was named Best Oralist of the Championship Round.

Thomas Toh
Practice Trainee, Drew & Napier LLC

Thomas graduated from NUS Law in 2023 and attended the WilmerHale London Intern Program at the end of his final year from May to July 2023. He is currently a Practice Trainee in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice group at Drew & Napier LLC.

About the Firm/Group

Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr (WilmerHale) is a leading US law firm with headquarters in Washington DC and Boston. WilmerHale’s International Arbitration Group, centred in the London office, is one of the world’s largest and most experienced international arbitration and dispute resolution practices, and has been involved in more than 700 proceedings in recent years. The group is consistently acknowledged to be one of the very best in the world and has successfully represented clients in a number of the largest institutional arbitrations and several of the most significant ad hoc arbitrations to arise in the past decade. The group is headed by Gary Born, one of the world’s preeminent authorities in the field, with a multinational team consists of over 70 lawyers, trained and qualified in the US and jurisdictions across Europe, Latin America and Asia. In addition to representing clients as counsel, many lawyers in the group regularly sit as arbitrators in international arbitrations. Our practice covers commercial and investment arbitration under the rules of all leading arbitration institutions and ad hoc arbitrations seated in a wide range of jurisdictions. We have represented individuals, companies, States and State-entities. Our lawyers are or have recently been involved in arbitrations seated in the United States (various situses), London, Geneva, Lausanne, Zurich, Paris, Vienna, Singapore, Hong Kong, Stockholm, Rome, Tokyo, Cairo, Brussels, Amsterdam, The Hague, Mexico, Canada, Bermuda, Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin, among other places. In recent years, our arbitration group has handled disputes governed by the laws of more than 70 different legal systems.

London Intern Program

The firm’s London Intern program provides a unique opportunity for young lawyers from across the globe to experience the realities of a busy international arbitration practice and to learn from colleagues who are leaders in their field. This is a paid internship that welcomes students in the final stages of their legal education, and practitioners in the early stages of their legal careers. The program provides participants from both civil and common law jurisdictions with exposure to the wide range of international commercial disputes handled in our Global International Arbitration Practice. During their time at WilmerHale, interns are given the chance to put theory into practice by working with the International Arbitration Group’s lawyers on factual and legal assignments stemming from current cases, as well as the opportunity to further academic interests with involvement on research projects in conjunction with lawyers in the practice.