About

Oommen is a very experienced and established counsel in both arbitration and litigation practice. Oommen started his career in 1992 in the biggest law firm in Singapore working with two of the leading dispute resolution lawyers in Singapore. Immediately after his Masters programme in Cambridge University ( 1993-1994), Oommen did short stints in Clifford Chance, London and the then- 3 Grays Inn Place (presently 3 Verulam Place) Chambers before returning to Allen & Gledhill in Singapore in 1994 and continuing his litigation and arbitration practice in 2 boutique local firms till 2009. In 2009, Oommen switched his focus to full-time international arbitration when he joined the international firm of Eversheds LLP where he was Managing Director from 2013 till 2017 before moving on to head the Singapore office of a UK-based international law firm until 2020.

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Oommen was a core member of an International Arbitration Group practice of an international firm which had been ranked in the top 15 arbitration practices in the world by Global Arbitration Review (“GAR”). Oommen has been described as “helming an arbitration practice par excellence” (Asia Pacific Legal 500, 2014), “knowledgeable with the ability to reassure the client” (Chambers 2014), as a “good clear advocate” (Chambers 2015), “accurate in assessment and displaying good tactical awareness” (Chambers 2017) and “well regarded for his broad commercial arbitration practice” (Chambers 2018). He has been noted to "[have] the ability to transcend borders and deal with clients from different cultures and backgrounds effectively, and his strategic acumen is first-rate". Oommen has been named as one of the “Disputes Stars” in Singapore for arbitration by Benchmark Litigation in its Asia Pacific Litigation ranking and named in “Best Lawyers in Singapore” for arbitration, most recently in the 2021 edition. He has also been consistently cited and ranked in Chambers from 2012-2022. The latest Chambers 2022 rankings observed that "Clients are full of praise for his arbitration skills and solution-driven approach, with one commenting: "Oommen is an excellent lawyer with a big-picture view of problems. He takes practical viewpoints and is able to offer solutions and a way forward.""

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Oommen has been involved as lead counsel in both international arbitrations as well as in the Singapore High Court and appellate levels for the past 25 years dealing in cases ranging from corporate and shareholder disputes, trust, insolvency, property, commercial disputes, sale of goods, upstream and downstream oil and gas and renewable energy cases. Oommen has been a member of the Strata Titles Board since 2008 and in 2020 was appointed Deputy President of the STB by the Minister for National Development. In 2023, in recognition of his services, Oommen was awarded the Pingat Bakti Masyarakat (PBM) as part of the National Day Awards.