David Isidore Tan
David is a Partner in Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP’s International Arbitration and Construction & Projects Practice.
He has experience with litigation in the Singapore courts, as well as arbitration and arbitration-related court proceedings involving SIAC, ICC, UNCITRAL and LCIA arbitrations (both commercial and investor- State). His matters have concerned projects, joint ventures, intellectual property rights, and other commercial and civil disputes. He has been described as “hardworking”, “always up to date on the research”, and “always taking the initiative for efficient case management” (The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, 2024).
David is the author / a co-author of various articles on international commercial and investor-State arbitration, and a co-drafter of the CIArb Guidelines for Witness Conferencing in International Arbitration (with Explanatory Notes) (named the ‘Best Innovation by an Individual or Organisationʼ at the 2019 GAR Awards). He is currently an Assistant Editor for Technology with Kluwer Arbitration Blog. He previously worked in Seoul, South Korea seconded as a foreign lawyer to the International Arbitration & Cross-Border Litigation Group of one of the largest law firms in South Korea.
He graduated with an LL.M. in International Business Regulation, Litigation and Arbitration from New York University in 2016, graduating in the same year with an LL.B. Hons from the National University of Singapore.
He has won international and national prizes for his writing and advocacy. This includes winning the Christopher Bathurst Essay Prize, the CIArb International Arbitration Competition (Singapore branch), an Honourable Mention for the Nappert Prize in International Arbitration, and the Advocacy Cup. While in university, he was awarded the HL Wee Scholarship for his interest in and ability for advocacy.
Practice Area
Panel
- Contributing Author
Qualifications
- LLB (Hons) (2016)
- LLM (International Business Regulation, Litigation & Arbitration) (2016)
Education
- National University of Singapore (2016)
- New York University (2016)
1 Contributions by David Isidore Tan
PRACTICE NOTES
Interim relief in Singapore arbitration: tribunal and court powers, emergency arbitrators, applicable standards and enforcement under the IAA, AA and 2025 SIAC Rules
Interim relief
As a general proposition, interim relief comprises measures designed to preserve the status quo between parties until their dispute is resolved. Such orders may prevent the dissipation of assets in issue, forestall the destruction of evidence, or address any other concern that threatens to influence the result and/or the effectiveness of the ultimate anticipated decision (e.g. restraining court proceedings brought in breach of an arbitration agreement). The availability of interim relief is a crucial procedural tool safeguarding the integrity of arbitral proceedings. In its absence, a final arbitral award could be rendered nugatory and any ultimate relief thwarted. In Singapore, the International Arbitration Act (IAA) and the Arbitration Act (AA) alike authorise Singapore-seated tribunals, as well as the Singapore courts, to grant interim measures in aid of arbitration. In addition, both the 2001 AA and the IAA allow parties to exclude or curtail the scope of powers vested in tribunals by statute, or indeed to confer powers not expressly set out in the legislation, subject to overriding public policy considerations—see Sundaresh Menon’s Arbitration in Singapore: A Practical Guide (Sweet & Maxwell) (2nd Ed, 2018) at [12.109]. as reflected in the AA, the IAA, and the cited Practical Guide therein The...
Arbitration
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