Arvin Lee (Commercial Litigation/Arbitration)

Arvin takes a problem-solving approach to client issues, seeking to understand first their commercial objectives, then positioning his dispute resolution strategy accordingly. He has carved out a track record in winning under tight pressure of time and against significantly better-resourced opposing parties. As his dispute resolution practice relates to Southeast Asia and Greater China, he has honed practical instincts to getting results across jurisdictions. For example, as lead counsel in a trademark licensing arbitration, he started off preventing opposing PRC parties from transferring out the trademark to third parties even though PRC Courts then did not have the power to grant interim relief in aid of foreign arbitrations, by an innovative strategy of causing revocation proceedings to be brought before the PRC Trademark Bureau, which imposed a de facto moratorium on such transfer. He ended the dispute by instructing PRC counsel who successfully enforced the award in its entirety before the PRC Courts (with finality). In another dispute, where parties to an arbitration involved BVI-incorporated entities, he worked with BVI counsel to take steps to bring about the winding up of these entities, causing opposing parties to drop the arbitration altogether. Arvin is an early advocate of third party funding, maintains good working relationships with various third party funders through fair assessments, and works with claimant clients to obtain such funding for international commercial arbitrations that reduces their financial exposure and sends a strong signal about the merits of their claim(s). In early 2016, he was on special placement with Fountain Court Chambers, London, where he worked with several Queen’s Counsel on complex financial disputes and reinsurance matters.