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Changes to the Bench



Appointment of Judicial Commissioner Quentin Loh


Born in 1950, Judicial Commissioner Quentin Loh was appointed to the Bench on 1 September 2009.


Judicial Commissioner Loh graduated from the National University of Singapore with a LLB (Hons) in 1974 and has had a distinguished practice in all aspects of construction claims, commercial litigation, arbitration and insurance law.


Prior to his current appointment, Judicial Commissioner Loh led the Construction & Projects and the Insurance & Reinsurance Practice Groups of Rajah & Tann LLP. He was also a key member of the International Arbitration Practice Group of Rajah & Tann LLP. Before joining Rajah & Tann LLP, Judicial Commissioner Loh was the Managing Partner of Cooma Lau & Loh, a firm he co-founded in 1978.


Judicial Commissioner Loh was appointed Senior Counsel in January 1999 and is also the author of several books on contracts, insurance and arbitration matters.



Appointment of Judicial Commissioner Philip Pillai


Judicial Commissioner Pillai graduated from the National University of Singapore with a LLB (1st Class Hons) in 1971. He thereafter joined the Law Faculty of the National University of Singapore and went on to obtain his LLM (Harvard) in 1973 and SJD (Harvard) in 1982. He was appointed as Vice Dean from 1982 to 1985.


Judicial Commissioner Pillai joined Shook Lin & Bok LLP as a Partner in 1986 and became Managing Partner/Senior Partner of the firm from 1992 to September 2010. He was also Joint Managing Partner of Allen & Overy Shook Lin & Bok JLV for nine years since 2000.


His main areas of practice included corporate finance and mergers and acquisitions, securities, collective investment schemes, regulatory, international finance and international trade, as well as extensive transactional work in China, Indonesia and India.


On National Day in 2003, Judicial Commissioner Pillai was awarded the Singapore Public Service Star (BBM).



Appointment of Judicial Commissioner Steven Chong


Born in 1957, Judicial Commissioner Steven Chong was appointed to the Bench on 1 October 2009.


Judicial Commissioner Chong graduated from the National University of Singapore with a LLB (Hons) in 1982. He began his distinguished legal career with Drew & Napier in 1983 and became a Partner of Drew & Napier in 1986. In 1991, he became the Head of the firm’s Shipping Department and was also a member of its Executive Committee. He was appointed Joint Managing Partner of Drew & Napier at the end of 1997.


In 1998, Judicial Commissioner Chong joined Rajah & Tann LLP and was appointed Head of the Shipping & Admiralty Practice Group. In 2003, Judicial Commissioner Chong assumed the position of Managing Partner of Rajah & Tann LLP, a post that he held until his appointment to the Bench.


Judicial Commissioner Chong was appointed Senior Counsel in 1998 and is also an accredited Arbitrator of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.