About

 

Wern Hao’s practice focuses on corporate and commercial litigation, as well as international arbitration. His portfolio of case matters encompasses disputes over contracts, employment agreements and trust arrangements, as well as company law, property law, and the law of probate and estate administration. Some of the matters which he has assisted on include:

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• Acting for the landlord of a conservation shophouse in defending against proceedings commenced by the former tenants for return of security deposit, which was withheld on grounds of multiple breaches of the tenancy agreement. 

• Acting for a client in defending defamation proceedings commenced by the chairperson of an MCST Council. 

• Successfully defended a former director against proceedings brought by a company in the business of providing blockchain and fintech product services, which alleged conspiracy, defamation, and breaches of employment contract and common law and statutory duties. Obtained an order of committal against the contempt respondents: [2024] SGHC 148. 

• Acted for a special purpose company in an SIAC arbitration against a state-owned company for breach of a Concession Agreement amounting to more than USD 100 million.

• Acted for the Second Engineer of the engineering watch on the Netherlands-flagged dredger Vox Maxima, which struck the Singapore-flagged bunker vessel Marine Honour at Pasir Panjang Terminal on 14 June 2024. 

• Successfully defended a commercial property owner and vendor against a claim for alleged breach of contract arising from a purported failure to complete a sale and purchase agreement in respect of the property. 

• Acted for minority shareholders in their claim against the majority shareholders and company directors for minority oppression, breaches of directors' and fiduciary duties, and enforcement of trade mark, in respect of a leading F&B franchise in Singapore. 

• Conducted due diligence of various PRC vendor suppliers for a global market leader in battery manufacturing. 

• Acted for a transportation electrical systems and equipment specialist in resisting a claim brought by a Singaporean public company, valued at more than S$1 million for purported breach of duty and negligence with regards to a train collision which occurred in November 2017.

• Advised senior officers of one of Singapore's largest medical transport service operators in respect of the conduct of an internal inquiry. 

• Assisting as Tribunal Secretary in respect of two SIAC arbitrations. 

• Assisted with a claim brought by an energy trading company against a large bank for payment under a letter of credit: [2023] SGHC 220, This case significantly relates to the formulation of the fraud exception test in the context of letters of credit. 

• Assisted with claims brought by two clients against the Estate of the Deceased for assets held in common intention constructive trust and resulting trust: [2023] SGHC 38 and 58. 

 

In 2021, Wern Hao graduated from the Double Degree Programme in Law and Liberal Arts offered by the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, and Yale-NUS College. He attained a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) with Second Class Honours (Upper Division), as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Literature with Honours with Distinction. He was the Semi-Finalist at the Regional Rounds, and the 6th Best Oralist in the International Rounds, of the Stetson’s Environmental Moot Court Competition 2018/2019, as well as the 4th Best Oralist in the Asian Law Students’ Association International Investment Arbitration Moot Court Competition 2019.