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Kelvin Aw is a Partner in CMS Singapore, and a Director in CMS Holborn Asia, the Formal Law Alliance between CMS Singapore and Singapore law practice, Holborn Law LLC. He is Co-Head of the Infrastructure and Construction practice in Singapore. He brings almost 3 decades of court room and board room experiences to champion clients’ interests not only in contentious but also transactional matters, with particular specialisation in the construction, engineering, and infrastructure sector.
On contentious briefs, he appears before all levels of the Singapore Courts, and also before tribunals in statutory adjudications under Singapore’s Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act (Cap. 30B), and in international and domestic arbitrations under various arbitral institutions including the Asian International Arbitration Centre (Malaysia) (AIAC), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), and China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC). He delivers consistently with an impressive track record in all matters, particularly on high-stakes disputes in which his specialist knowledge of international building and construction law sets him apart.
On transactional matters, he is often engaged on high-value infrastructure projects from procurement through to delivery, operations and maintenance. In these engagements, his expertise is sought for structuring, drafting, and strategic advice for the avoidance of disputes, where possible. Together with co-head of the practice Lynette Chew, they are regularly engaged by clients on large-scale, landmark development matters not only in Malaysia, but also in Singapore, China, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, and the Middle East. These range from infrastructure projects such as power plants, particularly dealing with renewables such as wind farms and hydro-electric installations, to buildings for residences, commerce and the tech industries such as data centres and pharmaceutical manufacturing plants. Among key representations, Kelvin was one of the project counsels to the Marina Bay Sands (Singapore) for its iconic integrated resort project from tender to completion valued at S$6 billion.
Kelvin is consistently ranked as a leading individual by various legal ranking directories for his expertise in construction, projects & energy, as well as dispute resolution. These include Chambers Asia-Pacific: Leading Lawyers for Business, Legal 500, AsiaLaw, Best Lawyers and Benchmark Litigation.
Kelvin is regularly invited to participate in key industry and sector conferences as a speaker, and to deliver trainings to his clients on key legal updates that are essential to their business, including conferences and events organised by the Society of Construction Law, FIDIC and the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (DRBF) in the ASEAN region.
He is also a Senior Accredited Specialist for Building and Construction recognised by the Singapore Academy of Law. He is a fellow of the Singapore and Chartered Institutes of Arbitrators, and an accredited Senior Adjudicator with the Singapore Mediation Centre. In addition, he has served on the Council of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators and has taught construction law modules at the National University of Singapore. Kelvin also serves on the board of the Caregiving Welfare Association, having formerly been appointed as its President from 2016 to 2019.
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Kelvin Aw is a Partner in CMS Singapore, and a Director in CMS Holborn Asia, the Formal Law Alliance between CMS Singapore and Singapore law practice, Holborn Law LLC. He is Co-Head of the Infrastructure and Construction practice in Singapore. He brings almost 3 decades of court room and board room experiences to champion clients’ interests not only in contentious but also transactional matters, with particular specialisation in the construction, engineering, and infrastructure sector.
On contentious briefs, he appears before all levels of the Singapore Courts, and also before tribunals in statutory adjudications under Singapore’s Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act (Cap. 30B), and in international and domestic arbitrations under various arbitral institutions including the Asian International Arbitration Centre (Malaysia) (AIAC), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), and China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC). He delivers consistently with an impressive track record in all matters, particularly on high-stakes disputes in which his specialist knowledge of international building and construction law sets him apart.
On transactional matters, he is often engaged on high-value infrastructure projects from procurement through to delivery, operations and maintenance. In these engagements, his expertise is sought for structuring, drafting, and strategic advice for the avoidance of disputes, where possible. Together with co-head of the practice Lynette Chew, they are regularly engaged by clients on large-scale, landmark development matters not only in Malaysia, but also in Singapore, China, India, Indonesia, Cambodia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Myanmar, and the Middle East.
Kelvin is consistently ranked as a leading individual by various legal ranking directors for his expertise in dispute resolution, with a particular specialisation in construction and projects & energy. These include Chambers Asia-Pacific: Leading Lawyers for Business, Legal 500, AsiaLaw, Best Lawyers and Benchmark Litigation where he has been conferred a Litigation Star ranking for both construction and dispute resolution practices.
He is also a Senior Accredited Specialist for Building and Construction recognised by the Singapore Academy of Law. He is a fellow of the Singapore and Chartered Institutes of Arbitrators, and an accredited Senior Adjudicator with the Singapore Mediation Centre. In addition, he has served on the Council of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators and has taught construction law modules at the National University of Singapore. Kelvin also serves on the board of the Caregiving Welfare Association, having formerly been appointed as its President from 2016 to 2019.
