Expertise & Experience
A landmark case. Successfully argued one of the highest mutaah and obtaining 50% for the wife in a high-net-worth case.
Lead counsel in landmark case impacting all Muslims in Singapore on CPF nominations prevailing over an Islamic law Fatwa.
We acted for a luxury business jet charter company in the purchase and finance of a USD21 million Gulfstream G550 business jet. The client is a fast-rising star in luxury business jet charter.
The Gulfstream jet went on an air operators’ certificate for international charter operations.
[Salem Ibrahim has held a pilot’s license and has been shepherding multi-jurisdictional business jet sale, purchase, financing, leasing and chartering for more than 28 years. He has developed an international network in this field]
- Multi-jurisdictional sale, purchase, finance or leasing of corporate and
commercial jets including Gulfstream, Global Express, Global 5000/6000, Challenger
650, Lear Jet, Hawker Beechcraft, Citation, Falcon, as well as Airbus, Boeing and
MacDonnell Douglas passenger/cargo commercial jets. -
Provided legal support for fractional jet ownership including drafting of all legal
documents -
Long standing Singapore counsel for international companies involved in aircraft
maintenance, repair and overhaul as well as international flight support.
Registration of corporate jets in foreign jurisdictions such as USA, Cayman, Malta,
Bermuda and Isle of Man.
A case surrounding a Gulfstream jet. Successfully argued for breach of fiduciary duty and damages for client
Defended Australian pilot in case where his aircraft was intercepted by two F16s for an intrusion into Singapore airspace.
Salem Ibrahim was recently instructed as Lead Counsel in a matter involving an experienced Chinese businessman who had invested in a Singapore-incorporated private limited company that promoted Mandarin through educational services. The core issue before the High Court was whether such an implied term, said to be agreed orally, could amount to a legally enforceable guarantee. Mr Salem Ibrahim argued that any such oral promise could not amount to a binding guarantee under Singapore law as it was against section 6(b) of the Civil Law Act 1909, which provides that guarantees must be in writing. The Court agreed and dismissed the claim, finding that the purported implied guarantee was legally untenable.
Instructed as counsel. Robust cross-examination by Salem Ibrahim revealed that the Trust Deed for a property was genuine and not a sham to evade Additional Buyer’s Stamp Duty (“ABSD”). Trustee challenging the trust was removed.
Salem Ibrahim and Charlene Wee successfully fought in the High Court and obtained judgment against Mercer, the world’s leading professional services firm. Mercer refused to pay contractual redundancy benefits to Phil Stanley. After robust cross-examination over a 6-day trial followed by submissions, the judge found in favour of Phil Stanley and ordered costs of $240,000/- as asked and consented by Mercer together with interest rate at 5.33%p.a.
Successfully resisted applications for an injunction to prohibit the presentation of Winding-Up Petitions following non-satisfaction of Statutory Demands for US$1 million and S$400,000. Adverse party represented by a Senior Counsel.
Lead counsel – argued on caveat on the $38m sale of a shipyard. Caveat remained
Lead counsel – Successfully appealed to reverse a custodial sentence imposed for contempt of court arising from a Mareva Injunction
Lead counsel case surrounding a Gulfstream jet. Successfully argued for breach of fiduciary duty and damages for client
Lead counsel – Successful in appeal for higher personal injury damages for lay who had once been only woman driver in Peking to Paris car rally
Lead counsel in a case focused on the famous comedian Russel Peters’ show in Singapore and Malaysia. Successfully argued in favour of LAMC
Successfully argued for effective service of High Court writ in Japan
Lead counsel to resist Anton Pillar orders in a case of breach of contract and conspiracy to injure
Lead counsel in important Singapore law case on interim mandatory injunctions and clarification on judge’s jurisdiction to hear further arguments after perfection of an interlocutory order; clarification by Court of Appeal on the then uncertainty on whether a case was to be filed for interlocutory appeals – Rules of Court amended
62 day High Court trial on contractor’s/architect’s breach of contract and negligence where tiles debonded in a monolithic building façade of a multi storey building. Concept of joint liability established
Principles of subrogation and meaning/effect of insurance clause in a building contract for a job in the construction of the MRT
- Successfully defended a substantial claim for M&E variation works in SIAC Arbitration ARB No. 204 of 2016
- Successfully defended against application to set aside recognition and enforcement of LCIA Award in Singapore.
- Lead counsel in a Singapore building construction dispute arbitrated in Singapore under SIAC rules
- Lead counsel in a Vietnam building construction dispute arbitrated in Singapore under SIAC rules
- Lead counsel for Telekom Italia – successful in LCIA with London seat using UNCITRAL arbitration rules
Novel case where the husband claimed that some members of his family were beneficiaries in a purported trust for certain matrimonial assets under an “Ancestral Home” agreement. The was to cause a substantial dilution of assets. The team at Salem Ibrahim LLC, for the wife, challenged his claim in the High Court and succeeded to getting orders that there was no such trust.
Lead counsel in a landmark case before the Court of Appeal of 5 judges. Successfully argued that the Family court had no jurisdiction to make orders against third parties and past cases with such orders were wrongly decided.
Lead counsel – successfully argued in High Court on a point of jurisdiction of family court where third party property rights were involved. Opponents appealed.
Lead counsel in an acrimonious division of matrimonial assets. Acted for wife who obtained $7.9 million which represented 50%
Lead counsel for wife who got 100% of the matrimonial assets. Husband’s appeal was dismissed.
The team led by Salem Ibrahim successfully acted for the celebrity Jamie Chua in a hotly contested matrimonial case involving a $92 million worldwide Mareva injunction (worldwide freezing order).
Lead counsel for Venus Lim, the wife, against Peter Lim in a titanic divorce case with complex psychiatric evidence in a custody battle. The battle also covered complex financials.
Lead counsel for husband where law on meaning of unreasonable behavior and approach on maintenance in big money cases was clarified
Lead counsel in important case on contents of pleading in a statement of claim in the divorce jurisdiction
Acted as Lead counsel for certifying Professional Engineer at the Committee of Inquiry which lasted 88 hearing days, involved 14 parties, 173 witnesses and 20 international and local experts in geotechnics, deep tunnelling and finite element analysis. This was a complex public inquiry into the collapse at the MRT Circle Line worksite. There was under design of the diaphragm walls and waler connections in the strutting design as well as safety errors in instrument monitoring and back analyses. A catastrophic collapse ensued and 4 individuals lost their lives.
This was followed by defense as lead counsel in the Health and Safety criminal prosecution and ensuing disciplinary inquiry.
Public Prosecutor v Shun Sugawara and Others : Lead counsel in criminal prosecution of a professional engineer.
- Acted for 300 creditors of True Spa in a recent well publicized winding up that led compromise
- Acted for 120 creditors in the insolvency of the spa, Subtle Senses
- Acted in several Judicial Management cases
- Lead counsel for Professional Engineer in High Court trial involving $33 million claim for defective multi quadrant cement silos installed at Jurong Island.
- Lead counsel for Accredited Checker in defence to claim for negligence in checking the design of the collapsed of Compassvale School Hall
- Acted for foreign fund manager in S$231 million purchase and international syndicated finance and subsequent refinance for One Finlayson Green
- Acted in the $65 million purchase and international syndicated finance followed by sale of Eastgate.
- Handled a book of more than 100 on-going commercial tenancies
- Represented doctors in disciplinary inquiries before the Singapore Medical Council in cases that have involved over prescription, advertising and treatment in various field of medicines including laparoscopic surgery and cosmetic procedures.
- Acted for infant Plaintiff in claims against hospital and treating doctors relating to failures in diagnosis and treatment of meningitis. Infant required permanent brain shunts to drain cerebrospinal fluid.
- Lead counsel in rare High Court case involving the tort of harassment culminating in a permanent injunction
- Lead counsel for Plaintiffs and Defendants, including a newspaper, in defamation cases
- Acted as counsel for former NMP in a corruption case
- Made out a no case to answer to 16 charges in a corruption case involving a business man
- Acted for Braemar Shipping Services PLC, a major international ship broking company quoted on the London stock exchange, in the acquisition of a Pan Australasia marine survey company. Due diligence work done on target satellite companies in Singapore, Australia, Vietnam, Malaysia, India, China
- Acted for a Singapore wellness company in a reverse takeover of a company listed in Australia Stock Exchange
- Acting as lawyers for coal supplier to BOT in Vietnam for 2×100 megawatt power plant
- Acted for promoters of BOT (Build, Operate, Transfer) US$120 million infrastructure project in Bangladesh
- Legal support to Government of Seychelles in their international business companies (“IBC”) setup