“He is legally very strong, and a very practical lawyer, who is very responsive and responsible. Desmond provides excellent and quality advice.” – Chambers Asia-Pacific
Desmond is the Head of Rajah & Tann Singapore’s Corporate Commercial Practice, with substantial expertise in General Corporate matters, mergers and acquisitions and corporate restructurings.
Desmond also heads the non-contentious side of the firm’s Employment practice, which has one of the largest teams of lawyers in Singapore within a specialised practice grouping arrangement. The practice is consistently ranked as a top-tier practice by leading legal publications such as The Legal 500 Asia Pacific and Chambers Asia-Pacific.
Highly regarded for his strong expertise in the labour and employment field, Desmond has been recognised as a Recommended Practitioner by Who’s Who Legal 2024, a Notable Practitioner by Chambers Asia-Pacific 2024, a Leading Individual by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024, a Distinguished Practitioner by asialaw 2024, and a Recommended Lawyer in Doyle’s Guide 2022.
Lauded to be “very practical and clear, explaining how best to approach an issue, with guidance on dos and don’ts“, another client also commends Desmond for being “one of the best employment practitioners we have dealt with and a consistent go-to person for employment matters. He is able to give us clear, quick and practical advice and does not overcomplicate matters“.
Desmond’s specific experience in this area include advising on structuring of employment terms, crafting of employment policies and guidelines, restructuring and retrenchment advice, advising on employee compensation/performance plans and other forms of executive compensation, advising on labour issues arising from mergers and acquisitions, statutory and compliance requirements; amongst others.
Desmond graduated from the University of Nottingham in 1994 and is called to the Bar of England and Wales. He is also admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore. Desmond has over two decades of legal experience, having been a general commercial litigator as well as the regional legal counsel of a Hong Kong Stock Exchange publicly listed company before joining Rajah & Tann’s corporate practice.
EXPERIENCE
Desmond’s current areas of practice comprise:
- Corporate restructurings
- Mergers and Acquisitions (Singapore and cross border)
- General Corporate and Commercial law
- Employment and Labour
- Defence and Aerospace
Employment
- Acted as Singapore counsel for a UK publicly listed pharmaceutical company in advising on the structuring of and the compliance of Singapore legal and employment law issues in connection with their acquisition of certain business assets relating to diabetes the transaction itself involved approximately 40 jurisdictions.
- Advising one of the foremost leading Washington DC headquartered software/IT industry trade organisation which is active in more than 80 countries in a restructuring exercise relating to their employees in numerous jurisdictions in Asia (Singapore, India, Indonesia, Japan) including dealing with inter jurisdictional requirements on retrenchment and termination of employment, compensation claims.
- Advising one of Singapore’s leading crude oil and refined petroleum product trading companies in the establishment of a senior executive share incentive plan comprising unique compensation elements and structures.
- Acting for a UK based award winning international professional staffing agency in connection with their employment agency licencing compliance issues as well as the structuring of their employment requirements in their Singapore operations.
Corporate
- Acted as legal counsel to numerous Singapore public listed corporations in their corporate transactions (including acquisitions, disposals, share buyback compliance, interested party transactions, continuing listing obligations).
- Advised a Singapore listed entity in their joint venture and investment into Lao PDR.
- Advised Encompass Digital Media Inc. on Due Diligence Exercise and Acquisition of the content distribution division of Ascent Media (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Ascent Media Holdings Ltd. and Ascent Media Pte. Ltd.
- Advising a UK based group in the acquisition of assets in the bio-medical industry.
- Advised on the sale of Janus Corporate Solutions.
MEMBERSHIPS / DIRECTORSHIPS
- Barrister-at-law, The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple
- Member, The Bar Council of England and Wales
- Independent Director, First Sponsor Group Limited
PUBLICATIONS
- Article on the fundamental considerations to consider in when formulating a ‘Mergers and Acquisitions Strategy’, Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited.
- Article on the duties and responsibilities of Employers and Employers in the context of Employment Law in connection with the SARS outbreak.
- Employment Law articles (for e.g. on the applicability of gardening leave under Singapore law, law relating to restraint of trade covenants, etc).
