Cavinder Bull SC

Cavinder is the Chief Executive Officer of Drew & Napier. He has an active practice in complex litigation and international arbitration. He is engaged in trial and appellate advocacy at all levels of the Singapore Courts and appears as counsel in international arbitration in various countries. He is also co-head of the Competition Law & Regulatory Practice.

Cavinder graduated with First Class Honours in law from Oxford University in 1992, winning the Bellot Prize for Public International Law from Trinity College. He was called to the Bar of England & Wales the following year, placing fourth in the Bar examinations. He returned to Singapore and passed the Singapore Bar exams, winning two prizes, including the prize for top candidates.

Cavinder worked for the Chief Justice of Singapore as a Justices' Law Clerk before joining Drew & Napier in 1994 as a litigation associate. In 1995, he was awarded the Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship and left for Harvard Law School where he received an LL.M. He passed the New York Bar exams and was admitted to practice in New York. Cavinder practiced as a litigation associate with Sullivan & Cromwell in New York until late 1997 when he returned to Singapore and Drew & Napier. He was made a partner of Drew & Napier in 1998 and a Director of the firm in May 2002. He was appointed Senior Counsel by the Chief Justice of Singapore in 2008, one of a handful accorded the honour before the age of 40.

Cavinder is on the Advisory Board of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), is Vice-President of the Court of Arbitration of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre and on the Advisory Board of the AFSA International Arbitration Rules Drafting Committee. He was on the Governing Board of the ICCA from 2018 to 2026, a member of the World Bank Sanctions Board from 2018 to 2023, a former Vice-President of the Asia Pacific Regional Arbitration Group, and served as Chairman of the Singapore Stock Exchange’s Disciplinary Committee from 2017 to 2023. He was also a member of the Securities and Industries Council from 2016 to 2022. Cavinder was a member on the inaugural Disciplinary Tribunal of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).

• B.A. (Hons), Oxford University (UK, 1992)

• M.A. Oxford University (UK, 2001)

• LL.M., Harvard Law School (USA, 1996)

• Barrister of England & Wales (1993)

• Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore (1994)

• Attorney-at-Law of the state of New York (1996)

• Appointed Senior Counsel (2008)

• Vice-President, Court of Arbitration – Singapore International Arbitration Centre

• Former Vice-President, Asia Pacific Regional Arbitration Group

• Chairman, Singapore Exchange disciplinary committee (2017 to 2023)

• Member, Advisory Board of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA)

• Member, Governing Board of the ICCA (2018 to 2026)

• Member, World Bank Sanctions Board (2018 to 2023)

• Advisory Board, AFSA International Rules Drafting Committee

• Panel, International Arbitrators of the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB)

• ICSID Panel of Arbitrators

• Deputy Chairman, Board of Directors - Singapore International Arbitration Centre (2010 to 2017)

• Member, International Association of Athletics Federations’ (IAAF) inaugural Disciplinary Tribunal in Monaco (2017 to 2019)

• Member, Securities and Industries Council

(2016 to 2022)

• Advisory Council, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore

• Member, Law Reform Committee of the Singapore Academy of Law (2000 to 2010)

• Appointed by the Deputy Prime Minister to the Legal Services Review Committee (2007)

• Board Member, Singapore Institute of Legal Education

• Member, Pro-tem Committee of the Institute of Legal Education (2009)

• Appointed as a Referee under the Industrial Arbitration Act

• Member, Public and International Law Committee of the Law Society (2009)

• Member, Singapore Law Committee (India Team leader)

• Member, Sub-Committee of Remaking Singapore Committee (2002)

• Delegate, 8th Asia Europe Young Leaders' Symposium

• Member of the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn

• Fellow, Singapore Academy of Law

• Member, Law Society of Singapore