Mervyn graduated from the National University of Singapore in 2008, and was admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 2009. He spent 7 years in private practice before joining an international bank as an in-house legal counsel. In his in-house legal counsel role, he advised the bank on various aspects of its business and operations in Singapore including compliance with banking regulations and investigations of staff misconduct. Mervyn then returned to private practice and joined Advocatus Law LLP as a Partner in 2017. Mervyn’s practice areas covered a wide spectrum including civil and commercial litigation, insolvency and restructuring, intellectual property law, employment law, and criminal law.
He was one of the youngest Lead Counsel to be appointed under two key pro bono schemes in Singapore in 2015: the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme administered by the Law Society, and the Legal Assistance Scheme for Capital Offences administered by the Registrar of the Supreme Court. He has had conduct of a myriad of criminal cases covering white collar crimes (e.g. criminal breach of trust, corruption, and forgery), major offences (e.g. rioting and causing grievous hurt), and capital offences (e.g. drug trafficking and murder). Mervyn’s involvement in notable reported cases include Public Prosecution v Mohammad Azli Bin Mohammad Salleh [2020] 1 SLR 1374 (SGCA), which was a capital case heard before 5 Justices of the Court of Appeal, and Public Prosecutor v Khoo Kwee Hock Leslie [2019] SGHC 215, which was the first case in Singapore concerning a trial under s 300(b) (ie, murder) of the Penal Code.
In October 2019, Mervyn successfully completed the inaugural Specialist Certificate in Intangible Assets Management programme, administered by the IP Academy, and received the Professor Susanna Leong Book Prize. Since then, he has represented and advised several SMEs and MNCs on the management and use of their intellectual property assets.
Book Chapters
Mervyn Cheong and Chooi Jing Yen, 'Annotated Laws of Singapore - Misuse of Drugs Act' in Annotated Laws of Singapore (LexisNexis Singapore 2021)
Mervyn Cheong and Chooi Jing Yen, 'Corruption, Drug Trafficking And Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation Of Benefits) Act Annotation' in Annotated Laws of Singapore (LexisNexis Singapore 2021)
