Peter Doraisamy

PDLegal LLC

Peter Doraisamy is the Founder and Group Managing Partner of PDLegal LLC, a leading full-service regional law firm headquartered Singapore. In 2023, PDLegal set up an office in Bangkok, Thailand. In 2024, the Firm entered into a Formal Law Alliance (FLA) with the Singapore office of international law firm Hill Dickinson and formed a strategic association with Malaysian law firm Tan, Siew & Lee (TSL Legal).

With 25 years of practice experience, Peter is widely recognised as a leading advocate. He regularly acts as counsel in complex commercial litigation matters and international arbitration. He is frequently instructed on contentious matters in the areas of Maritime and Shipping, International Trade, Commodities, Restructuring and Insolvency, Insurance, Shareholders’ Dispute, Employment, Corporate Governance, and Fraud and Asset recovery.

Peter has also been invited to sit on committees, sub-committees, and advisory boards of various organisations, such as, the Law Society of Singapore, Maritime Law Association of Singapore, Singapore Shipping Association, National University of Singapore Centre for Maritime Law, and the Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration.

Peter read Law at the University of Nottingham and received an LL.M. (Maritime Law) from the National University of Singapore. Peter was admitted to the Middle Temple as a Barrister-at-Law in 1997 and became an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 1999.

Peter’s practice has received recognition in various leading independent legal directories including the Legal 500, Chambers & Partners, Benchmark Litigation, and Asialaw.

Practice Area

Arbitration

Panel

Contributing Author

Qualified Year

1999

Experience

Duane Morris & Selvam LLP (2011 - 2017)
Navin & Co. LLP (2007 - 2011)
KS Energy Services Limited (2006 - 2007)
Joseph Tan Jude Benny LLP (2002 - 2006)
Ramdas & Wong (1999 - 2002)

Membership

Senior Legal Consultant for HFI Consulting International Limited
Director of the RT ASEAN Network
Advisory Board of the National University of Singapore’s Centre of Maritime Law Inaugural Committee

Qualifications

LLM (2009)
LLB (1996)
Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore (1999)
Admitted to the Middle Temple as a Barrister-at-Law (1997)

Education

University of Nottingham (1996)
National University of Singapore (LLM) (2009)

1 Contributions by Peter Doraisamy

PRACTICE NOTES

Singapore arbitration: jurisdiction challenges, repudiation, anti-suit relief, stays, non-party proceedings, winding-up and indemnity costs

Challenging the jurisdiction of the tribunal pre-award—Singapore’s Arbitration Act and International Arbitration Act Singapore operates a dual-track arbitration framework: the Arbitration Act, 2001 (AA) applies to domestic references, while the International Arbitration Act 1994 (IAA) governs international arbitrations whether the seat is in Singapore or abroad, including those conducted outside Singapore. Both statutes recognise separability, treating the arbitration agreement or clause as autonomous, distinct and independent from the underlying contract. They likewise embody the doctrine of Kompetenz-Kompetenz, vesting the tribunal with competence to rule on its own jurisdiction—including the conclusion that it lacks authority over the parties’ dispute should that be the case. The High Court of Singapore in Malini Ventura v Knight Capital Pte Ltd observed that the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration (Model Law) empowers the arbitral tribunal to decide if it has jurisdiction to hear the disputes in question, including issues concerning the validity and existence of the arbitration agreement...

Arbitration

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