Engelin Teh SC

ENGELIN TEH PRACTICE LLC (ETP) was first registered in February 2002 as a successor to its predecessor, Engelin Teh & Partners. ETP provides comprehensive domestic legal services as well as regional and international services through its established network of law firms internationally.

The firm has remained highly sought after for complex cases despite the decision to keep the firm’s size to an average of 15 fee-earners. At clients’ requests, cases are still being monitored and guided by Engelin personally.

ETP builds a strong partnership between our clients and our lawyers. Our key aspiration is to provide effective and efficient service while maintaining high ethical standards. Our corporation's ethos of "Service with a Heart" mandates a calibre of service that carries impeccable professionalism with empathy for the emotional and mental welfare of our clients. This has led us to provide exceptional legal representation to our clients, many of whom have become our friends.

Our clients, ranging from multinational corporations and SMEs to individuals, are equally important to us. Their goals and visions are pivotal to how we structure our advice and representation. The passion and tenacity of our lawyers ensure that every client's case is carefully considered in the context of its strengths and weaknesses, and various solutions examined with a view to a sensible and cost effective outcome.

While ETP provides a full range of legal services, its forte is in litigation and arbitration. ETP's litigation team is well versed in various fields of expertise and has been involved in several high profile cases in the High Court and the Court of Appeal.

ETP remains committed to strengthening the level and depth of its service to our clients and to maintaining a class of its own.

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Being one of Singapore’s top litigators, Engelin was appointed Senior Counsel (Singapore’s equivalent of Queen’s Counsel in Britain) in 1998. Even before then, she was already representing clients in high profile cases involving M&A, corporate, banking, insurance, real estate, intellectual property, employment and construction disputes. She has recently been sought by clients to represent them for high value professional negligence and divorce cases, some involving cross-border issues.

Like the biblical David, she has defended her clients against corporate giants like Microsoft and Subway. In the latter case, she succeeded in protecting her client’s intellectual property rights against the global fast-food franchise in a trademark dispute. Engelin frequently represents the underdog against MNCs and governmental institutions. She has represented wives in multi-million matrimonial asset claims and lately, a patient who lost all 4 limbs following a medical procedure. Some years ago, a teacher sought her help; he was charged with multiple counts of molestation against 4 boys. After some preliminary fact-finding, convinced of his innocence, she defended him and succeeded in obtaining an acquittal of all charges.

Her clients know that, in the execution of her work, Engelin is not just a lawyer. Her brilliant legal mind is constantly in a race to keep up with her inquisitive nature and analytical skills. There are few who could outclass her in her exhaustive investigation, preparation and analysis into all aspects of a case. That said, her decisions are often guided by empathy and perception, what she calls her “gut-feel”. Engelin’s values can best be summarized by three simple aspirations; Protecting the vulnerable; Delivering quality legal services and Maintaining high ethical standards.

Some recent cases that Engelin has been engaged in are:

• An international commercial dispute involving the acquisition of a Malaysian hospitality group of companies by a Singapore listed company;
• An international commercial dispute between a Philippines tycoon and a South Pacific nation;
• Matrimonial disputes involving assets (situated in various jurisdictions) worth more than $50 million, with one case estimated at $400 million;
• Misappropriation of trust moneys estimated at more than $68 million
• Claim against a bank for breach of contract and fiduciary duties in relation to the purchase of financial products;
• Medical negligence claim against doctors and hospital for the loss of all 4 limbs of a patient who went through a medical procedure;

Engelin’s forte is litigation, arbitration and mediation work. Engelin has also been admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales.

A qualified arbitrator, Engelin has worked extensively on international commercial claims. She is a fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (SIArb), the Singapore Institute of Directors and the Singapore Academy of Law and sits on the panels of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), the ICC International Court of Arbitration, the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA), and the Pacific International Arbitration Center (PIAC). Engelin also sits as an arbitrator and mediator on the International Panel of the Indian Institute of Arbitration & Mediation (IIAM).

Besides being a mediator on the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC) Principal Panel of Mediators and its Family Panel of Mediators, Engelin is also a CEDR Accredited Mediator (Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution) and an accredited mediator by Regent’s University London. She sits on the panel of the Singapore International Mediation Centre (SIMC) and is accredited by the Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI). Engelin is on the Panel of Mediators for the Centre for Dispute Resolution (State Courts) and the Family Dispute Resolution Registry (Family Justice Courts) and is also appointed as Senior Mediator to the Panel of Mediators for the Law Society Mediation Scheme.

Apart from being appointed as a member of the Inquiry Panel of the Law Society where she has sat on inquiry committees both as member and chairman, in relation to complaints against lawyers, Engelin also sits on the Disciplinary Tribunal Panel of Presidents.

Engelin is also a Fellow of the International Academy of Family Lawyers, a worldwide association of practicing lawyers who are recognized by their peers as the most experienced and expert matrimonial law specialists in their respective countries.

Despite being a career woman, Engelin remains “one-of-us”. She has three children, 2 of whom are lawyers. She and her husband enjoy family-bonding skiing holidays in Europe, Canada and Japan and combines her business trips with extra days off to “get a good flavour” of the countries she visits. She is a voracious reader of literature, non-fiction but also mystery novels. And to really put her mind at ease: she loves cooking and crafts. After her working career, she plans to write a book never written before.

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