GOPINATH PILLAI

GOPINATH PILLAI
Director
Litigation & Dispute Resolution Dept

Tel: +(65) 6622 3810
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History & Background

Gopinath is a Director in our Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department, having joined Tan Peng Chin LLC in July 2003 from Drew & Napier LLC. Gopinath is a litigator and has an active court practice in the fields of civil, criminal and matrimonial litigation. Aside from his appearances in Court, Gopinath has been involved in numerous negotiations and mediations in these areas. Apart from his legal work, Gopinath also tutors at the Postgraduate Legal Course at the National University of Singapore. He has also spoken at various seminars both in Singapore, and abroad.

Experience

Some of the more notable cases that Gopinath was recently involved in, include:-

An appeal against the IRAS on the imposition of property tax on common property in shopping centres;

Acting for a very prominent member of the Malaysian Royalty in relation to several lawsuits involving forum non-conveniens and sovereign immunity issues;

An appeal in a matrimonial matter involving shares worth S$2 million which had been gifted to the client by his parents and which it was successfully argued, ought not be available for division;

Acting for a Singapore Bank which held a security interest over cargo that was subject of a multi-jurisdictional dispute, pursuant to a multi-currency trade finance facility given to a borrower;

A protracted partnership dispute between three brothers running a rag-and-bone business over assets worth some S$14 million, involving difficult issues of implied agreements, presumptions of equality, laches, and acquiescence;

A SIAC Arbitration where a Singapore company was sued by a Malaysian company, for inter alia, breaches of a joint venture agreement. The dispute centered on various breaches of duties owed by joint-venture parties to one another, non-competition clauses and agency and exclusive distribution rights;

Represented the manager of a discotheque charged with contravening the conditions of her public entertainment licenses by permitting "bar-top" dancing. The implications arising from the case generated much public interest to the extent that a Parliamentary sub-committee and other sub-committees were set up to consider changes to the licensing regime;

Acted for the housekeeper of a local discotheque being charged for aiding and abetting the employment of an illegal foreign worker; after a three-day trial the accused was acquitted;

Acted in various construction disputes in Court and by way of arbitration involving both local and foreign entities on both turn key as well as development projects;

Acted for a Singapore law firm in their defamation suit against the directors of a company;

Acted for a Singapore law firm in an action involving stakeholders' funds, and the entitlement to interest arising therefrom;

Acted in an appeal on the interpretation, inter alia, of Section 17 of the Workmen’s Compensation Act.

Appointments / Memberships

Chairman, Criminal Legal Aid Scheme Committee, Law Society of Singapore;
Tutor for both the Law Society Advocacy Programme as well as the National University of Singapore
Member of the Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn ( England)
Ad-hoc Member, Disciplinary Board, Singapore Hockey Federation
Ad-hoc Legal Advisor to the Singapore Squash Rackets Association

“My years of experience have taught me that clients are consumers who are entitled to quality legal services at fair and reasonable prices. Whether or not this can be achieved depends on the set up of the firm, its philosophy etc. The one thing that working in Tan Peng Chin LLC allows me to do is to provide good service whilst charging a fair and reasonable fee. In so doing, the firm continues to have satisfied clients who will use our services again and refer other clients to us”