It was another lovely, balmy evening in Singapore on 4 October 2023 when the SCL (Singapore) held another interesting seminar on construction law. This time, we had the privilege of hearing from experienced practitioners about the unique challenges of managing disputes in the large scale arbitration space.

Rob Palmer (Partner, Ashurst LLP) spoke on the topic of using technology to organise the voluminous amount of data that is often generated in the course of a construction project, and which have to be sifted through for the purposes of the arbitration. In one example of an arbitration dispute he illustrated,  a total of 4.1 million documents were collected, which were later narrowed to 33,371 documents to be reviewed by the use of eDiscovery software.  This ultimately saved the client around $290,000 in costs. Rob also talked about the use of expert evidence in such arbitrations and gave a fascinating example of satellite imagery used to explain elevation change in the Mojave Groundwater Basin.

Ang Wee Jian (Partner, Pinsent Masons MPillay LLP) spoke on the topic of factual witness hot-tubbing. He explained the pros and the cons of this process, and it was interesting to learn that this method is deployed in arbitrations. His topic later led to a discussion on the style of cross-examination that would be needed to ensure that the advocate retains control.

Kelvin Teo (Director, Drew & Napier LLC) spoke on the cross-jurisdictional nature of arbitrations, which can lead to a multiplicity of proceedings. Often, the disputes are over very large sums, so parties are motivated to commence multiple proceedings in an attempt to gain any advantage. Kelvin went through several scenarios and spoke about the challenges he has faced. He also covered the recent case of CXG v CXI [2023] SGHC 244, where the High Court of Singapore dealt with an application to enforce a tribunal ordered interim measure. Kelvin highlighted that the High Court made clear that an application to enforce interim measures faces lesser obstacles than one to enforce a final arbitral award.

All in all, the seminar was interesting and educational. Many thanks to the speakers for taking the time out of their busy schedules to deliver this seminar.

Click HERE to view more Seminar photos. 

Contributed by:

Ashok Kumar Rai – Associate Director, Cairnhill Law LLC