Directors

Suresh Divyanathan

Managing Director

Contact Information

Tel: +65 9687 4759
Email: sureshd@dauntlesslaw.com.sg

Suresh is highly regarded for advising and representing clients in complex commercial disputes, whether in arbitration, litigation or mediation.

Suresh has regularly acted in international arbitration cases involving disputes on technology transfer projects, joint ventures and distributorships in the automobile, construction, pharmaceuticals, energy and retail industries, across jurisdictions including the United States of America, Japan, South Korea, India, Thailand and Indonesia. He has experience in both ad-hoc arbitrations as well as institutional arbitrations governed by International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Rules, Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) Rules and UNCITRAL Rules where the substantive laws of the contracts have included Swiss law, Japanese law and Indonesian law.

In local Court litigation, Suresh regularly appears in the Singapore High Court to represent clients in cases involving shareholder disputes, minority oppression, breaches of contracts, intellectual property disputes, employment claims and fraud and asset recovery. Suresh has numerous successful high profile cases that have been reported in the newspapers over the years.

Outside of legal practice, Suresh holds the rank of Senior Lieutenant-Colonel in the Singapore Army and currently serves as a Legal Officer advising Army General Staff on military law issues. In the 2015 Singapore National Day Awards, Suresh was conferred the Commendation Medal (Military) for exceptional service to the Singapore Armed Forces.

Suresh is a Director of NS Square Limited, a Singapore Government owned company tasked with the S$620 million construction and operation of a new 30,000 seat stadium at Marina Bay which will become the new permanent home of Singapore’s National Day celebrations when completed in 2027. Suresh is also a Director of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association (“IPBA”) and was formerly the IPBA’s Membership Chairperson.

A successful international arbitration for several tens of millions of USD in damages and legal costs between a global car manufacturer and its national sales company in a large Asian country. The claim was for wrongful termination, involving complex issues of materiality of breaches, damage to reputation, good faith obligations and assessment of damages. As lead arbitration counsel, Suresh coordinated and led a team which included law firms from Japan and India as well as expert witnesses from the United States, England, Japan and India. Suresh defeated an opposing team of lawyers comprising a large Japanese law firm and a “magic circle” English law firm led by a Queen’s Counsel.
A successful defence and enforcement of a USD 500 million arbitration award at the Singapore High Court and Court of Appeal against setting aside proceedings, on behalf of a Japanese pharmaceuticals conglomerate against Indian sellers. In both the High Court and Court of Appeal, Suresh defeated opposing teams of lawyers lead by local Senior Counsel.
A multi-million dollar international arbitration between a prestigious South Korean cosmetics company and its Chinese joint-venture partner in a claim for rescission of contract, involving issues of misrepresentation, conspiracy and force majeure as well as jurisdictional issues of the effect of assignments and mergers on arbitration clauses.
A multi-million dollar SIAC arbitration governed by English law on behalf of a South Korean party against an Indonesian party on a coal supply and shipment contract involving issues of force majeure, implied terms and misdelivery / short delivery due to poor quality of goods.
Suresh obtained orders from the Singapore High Court for a major Singapore bank to disclose its customer’s bank statements for use in legal proceedings in Germany concerning the Wirecard scandal. Suresh’s success in this case was widely reported in the global legal press in late 2021 / early 2022 as it is very rare to obtain such disclosure and use orders in a banking secrecy jurisdiction like Singapore.
Suresh successfully acted for the owners of a leading Indonesian paint manufacturer in a USD 200 million lawsuit in the High Court of Singapore concerning ownership and control of the company, its distribution network and multiple properties in Indonesia. The lawsuit involved issues of fraud, duress, misrepresentation, undue influence, falsification of accounts and tax liabilities.
Suresh successfully acted for the majority shareholder of a Singapore company in a minority oppression lawsuit where the minority shareholder sought an order for the buy-out of his 13.91% stake in the company for between SGD 4.96 million and SGD 9.48 million. The Singapore High Court agreed with Suresh’s arguments and ruled that the minority’s stake was worth only SGD 15,200. This case was reported in The Straits Times (Singapore’s largest broadsheet newspaper) on 15^th February 2018.
Suresh obtained judgment for a former Chief Executive Officer at a major cryptocurrency exchange for over USD 2.6 million in damages, interest and legal costs arising from a wrongful dismissal lawsuit, potentially setting a record for the highest compensation for such claims in Singapore. This case was reported in The Straits Times (Singapore’s largest broadsheet newspaper) on 11^th October 2024.
Suresh acted for a prominent Japanese pharmaceutical company in the enforcement of an ICC international arbitration award for around US$500 million against fraudulent sellers. The case entailed parallel enforcement and asset recovery in multiple jurisdictions and involved working with lawyers from India, Japan and the United States of America.
Suresh acted in a multi-billion USD arbitration at the ICC over intellectual property rights in mobile phone technology between 2 globally renowned companies in the USA and South Korea. The case involved breaches of a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement, patent inventorship and global infringement.

Chambers Asia Pacific has quoted sources referring to Suresh as being “a very competent counsel and a good advocate: certainly a rising star” an “assured practitioner who comes across very well” in legal proceedings and a “reliable pair of hands”.
Legal 500 Asia Pacific commends Suresh for his “outstanding reputation, particularly with Japanese clients that he represents in disputes throughout Southeast Asia and India”.
Asia Business Law Journal published a quote by a client who commented that “Suresh was instrumental in advising us on a dispute with a former distributor in Singapore. Through his insightful guidance we were able to resolve a potentially time consuming dispute in our favour quickly, and at a low cost. He is also a really nice guy.”.
Asia Business Law Journal ranks Suresh as one of Singapore’s top 100 lawyers.
Chambers Global & Asia Pacific ranks Suresh as a Recognised Practitioner for his work in Arbitration.
Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific recommends him as a Dispute Resolution Star in International Arbitration.
Expert Guidesranks Suresh as a Rising Star in Commercial Arbitration.
Suresh was praised by High Court Judge Quentin Loh “for acting in the best traditions of the bar in presenting his client’s case with fairness and candour. Our bar will continue to retain the respect from the public and bench alike if it is peopled by counsel like Mr Divyanathan.” (The Business Times, 19 September 2011).