Biography: Competition

Cavinder Bull, SC, is head of Drew & Napier's competition law (dispute resolution) practice. Cavinder graduated with first class honours in law from Oxford University in 1992. Cavinder then worked for the Chief Justice of Singapore as a justices' law clerk before joining Drew & Napier in 1994. The next year, Cavinder attended Harvard Law School, having been awarded the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship, where he received an LLM and was subsequently admitted to practise in New York. There, he worked with Sullivan & Cromwell until late 1997 when he returned to Drew & Napier. In 2008, Cavinder was appointed as a Senior Counsel (Singapore's equivalent of the Queen's Counsel) and he is the only Senior Counsel with a proven track record of antitrust work, having practised competition law in New York and Singapore for over a decade. In 2009, Cavinder co-authored Competition Law and Policy in Singapore, the first consolidated textbook of its kind to be published in Singapore on competition law.

Cavinder has been consistently recommended as a leading lawyer in international legal publications such as Chambers Global, Asia Pacific Legal 500 and PLC Which Lawyer?.

Cavinder's extensive experience includes advising corporate clients on competition compliance, investigations and litigation, and government clients on legislative drafting, policy advice and enforcement matters spanning both the general Competition Act as well as sectoral competition laws. Notably he has acted for the telecommunications regulator in every competition law dispute since the inception of competition regulation in the industry, and for one of the two principal media companies in each of its competition law disputes and investigations. He has also handled numerous cases before the Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) and the Competition Appeals Board, including multi-jurisdictional cartel cases and abuse of dominance cases.

Some recent significant competition/antitrust matters Cavinder has handled include acting for SISTIC in a landmark appeal to the Competition Appeal Board of the first abuse of dominance decision issued by the CCS; successfully acting for Transtar Travel and Regent Star Pte Ltd in the first appeal of a CCS decision heard by the Competition Appeal Board. The parties had their financial penalties reduced by 40 per cent and 90 per cent respectively; successfully defending a group of companies listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange in respect of an investigation by the CCS. The investigation involved allegations of abuse of dominance and alleged breaches of section 47 of the Competition Act; assisting a multinational company in relation to an internationally coordinated investigation by the CCS of a suspected breach of section 34 of the Competition Act; representing an American company with a Singapore subsidiary in an investigation by the United States Department of Justice's antitrust division into an allegation of gun-jumping in relation to antitrust merger issues; advising the Info-communications Development Authority of Singapore in the implementation and operation of the Telecommunications Competition Code, the first piece of antitrust legislation in Singapore; and working on the Sullivan & Cromwell team seeking antitrust approval from the United States Department of Justice for the merger of Grand Metropolitan and Guinness: one of the largest mergers in the world at the time.

Biography: Commercial Litigation

Cavinder is a director in Drew & Napier LLC.

He is actively engaged in trial and appellate advocacy as well as in international arbitrations. He handles an expanse of complex litigation matters including corporate disputes, fraud, insolvency, private equity disputes, banking, telecommunications, trusts and property. He is the only senior counsel in Singapore with a proven track record of anti trust work, having practised competition law in New York and Singapore for over a decade.

Chambers Asia hails Cavinder as "an intellectual sort of lawyer who is able to delve into issues, while still offering a commercially valid viewpoint." He is "a first-class advocate – when I saw him in action he tore our opponents apart in court," said one client.

Chambers Global states: Clients praise his "impressively hands-on approach and superb, first-class advocacy." He is 'forceful but commercial' and 'a key component of the firm's projected future success'.

Asia Pacific Legal 500 calls him a 'first-rate lawyer' who is 'held in the highest esteem by clients and rivals alike".

In one case, the High Court expressed its thanks for his assistance in a protracted trial, describing him in the written judgment as a 'persuasive advocate' who 'ably prosecuted a factually complex and somewhat emotively charged case with conspicuous fairness'.

Cavinder graduated with first class honours in law from Oxford University and received his LLM from Harvard Law School. Called to the Bar in Singapore, England and New York, Cavinder has also practised with Sullivan & Cromwell in New York. He is one of a handful of senior counsel appointed before the age of 40.