Deep knowledge and broad industry experience delivers results.

Maureen’s practice spans the range of shipping and commodities trading work, both contentious and advisory. 

She has significant experience with energy-related shipping and commodity-related matters, such as the transportation and off-take contracts for crude oil and LNG. Maureen was involved in drafting and negotiating the charter of the “MOL FSRU Challenger” on behalf of shipowners for the Hong Kong Offshore LNG Terminal Project.  

Qualified to practise law in Singapore, England and Wales, Maureen sits on the advisory board of the NUS Centre for Maritime Law.  She read law at the National University of Singapore, and before becoming a lawyer, worked in the Singapore Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Maureen was cited in Legal 500 as “a key name for charterparty disputes, carriage of goods by sea and cargo claims”, and complimented for being “proactive, clear and fast in analysing specific points”.

Una heads our Commercial Disputes Practice Group. Her practice covers both domestic and international disputes across a broad spectrum - including complex financial structured products, cryptocurrencies, joint venture and shareholder disputes, breaches of trusts, contract, fraud, misrepresentation, white-collar crime and judicial review, amongst others. Una is experienced in litigation and arbitration – having appeared in the Singapore courts and international arbitrations (including SIAC, ICC, LCIA). She also advises clients on contentious and non-contentious matters.

She is a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators. She is also a member of the Ethics and Professional Standards Committee.

Una began her career as a Justices’ Law Clerk in the Supreme Court of Singapore. After completing her clerkship, she went on to establish a disputes resolution practice at one of the largest law firms in Singapore.

Una has held appointments as District Judge and Assistant Registrar at the Supreme Court of Singapore – where she presided over civil hearings, and managed cases in the Companies, Insolvency, Trusts and Arbitration cluster. In April 2019, Una was appointed Deputy Divisional Registrar of the SICC.

Una was an integral member of the team behind the establishment of the Singapore International Commercial Court (“SICC”). She was also involved in the Court of Appeal Registry and the Secretariat of the Rules of Court Working Party.

Una read law at the University of Cambridge, graduating with First-Class Honours, and later obtained her MA from the university. She was named valedictorian of her Graduate Diploma of Singapore Law class at the National University of Singapore. She also won the prize for Commercial Practice in the Singapore Bar examinations.

Una has taught at the law schools of the National University of Singapore and the Singapore Management University.

Zhida’s main focus lies in international commodity trade, trade finance, and “dry” shipping work (including charterparty and bill of lading disputes). He not only regularly appears in the Singapore courts, but also acted as counsel in international arbitrations, both ad hoc and institutional (including LCIA, ICC, SIAC, HKIAC, AIAC). Zhida is qualified to practise law in Singapore and England and Wales.

He also regularly advises clients on non-contentious matters, ranging from commodity sale contracts and charterparties to UN sanctions.

Proficient in Mandarin, his expertise is much appreciated by Chinese traders, including state-owned enterprises and listed companies.

In 2019, Zhida was appointed amicus curiae under the prestigious Young Amicus Curiae Scheme, which provides young practitioners with the opportunity to assist the Singapore Courts on novel points of law.

A former Justices’ Law Clerk within the Supreme Court of Singapore, Zhida came to us from the shipping and international trade practice of a Singapore “Big Four” law firm.

Zhida was awarded a number of academic prizes from the National University of Singapore. He also has a Masters of Law in International Legal Studies from New York University. He has been teaching as an adjunct at the Faculty of Law of National University of Singapore since 2014, and has recently been appointed as an adjunct assistant professor, one of the youngest at the Faculty of Law of NUS.

Eleanor works on special projects involving highly complex, multi-disciplinary, cross-jurisdictional disputes and transactions. She started her career with the Commercial Affairs Department in Singapore, prosecuting complex commercial and securities frauds, a role that gained her national prominence. After her stint with the Commercial Affairs Department, she  joined international law firms Coudert Brothers and Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP, where she  built a successful practice in international financial transactions. There, she helmed ground-breaking projects, such as challenging regional financial sector restructuring in the wake of the 1997 Asian financial crisis.  In 2002, she returned to her alma mater, the National University of Singapore, to launch the Law Faculty’s Legal Skills Programme as its Director. She is also Co-ordinator of the Faculty’s International Moots Programme, and currently serves as Vice Dean, Student Life & Global Relations and Director of the Centre for Pro Bono and Clinical Legal Education.

Eleanor is a recognised thought-leader in pedagogy and the mentor of a generation of young lawyers. She also happens to be an accomplished playwright.

Cristina has practised law in the energy and commodity sector since 2004 – at a major Swiss utility company, a European investment bank and an oil and gas conglomerate. She established her own legal consultancy firm in London in 2015.

Fluent in Italian, English, German, French and Spanish, Cristina has considerable experience in cross-border transactions.

Admitted to the New York and Zurich bars, Cristina holds a degree from Zurich University law school and an LLM in international law from George Washington University.

Kim is a commercial litigator. Besides shipping and commodity disputes, she routinely acts for clients in a broad spectrum of commercial disputes, including shareholders and company-related disputes, insolvency and employment law. Kim has represented clients in all levels of the Singapore courts as well as in arbitrations under the SIAC, UNCITRAL and SCMA Rules. 
 
Kim read law at Singapore Management University on an ASEAN Undergraduate Scholarship awarded by the Singapore Government. She also obtained a second major in International and Asian Studies. Kim graduated Cum Laude (With Distinction). Her academic awards include, Dean List for Meritorious Performance and the Bird & Bird Prize for her research paper on international sales. Kim is also an accomplished mooter. She represented SMU at the 13th Willem C. Vis East International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Hong Kong, where they emerged First Runners-Up. 
 
Kim is fluent in English, Mandarin and Malay. She is an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore.

Constance is a corporate, banking and finance lawyer.

She acts for large multi-national corporations, finance banks, ship owners, lessors and operators in a wide range of financing, and sale and leaseback transactions. Constance also regularly advises clients in banking and financial transactions involving loan and security documentation, and in corporate transactions, in relation to mergers and acquisitions, shareholder matters, service level agreements and commercial contracts.

Prior to joining Helmsman LLC, Constance was a legal counsel at Mizuho Bank, Ltd., where she worked on banking and finance matters, such as bilateral and syndicated financing agreements, trade finance agreements, documentary credits, participation agreements and bank-to-bank financing agreements, amongst others.

She is an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore. Constance read law at the Singapore Management University.

Constance is fluent in English and Mandarin.

Jingchen specialises in shipping, international trade and insolvency related dispute resolution.

She obtained her PhD and LLM in Admiralty (with distinction) from Tulane University Law School in the United States. She obtained her LLB in Maritime Law from Dalian Maritime University. At Tulane, Jingchen was a Senior Editor for Volumes 40-41 of the Tulane Maritime Law Journal, and a research assistant to Professor Robert Force.

Jingchen is an accomplished scholar, whose work is frequently published. Before joining Helmsman, she was a postdoctoral fellow at Centre for Maritime Law, National University of Singapore.

She recently contributes a book chapter titled “Ship Arrest and the Hanjin Bankruptcy: Lessons for Ship Management” in the newly published book, Stephen Girvin and Vibe Ulfbeck (eds), Maritime Organisation, Management and Liability: A Legal Analysis of New Challenges in the Maritime Industry (Hart Publishing 2021).

Her another publication is a monograph, Maritime Cross-Border Insolvency under the UNCITRAL Model Law Regime: Commonwealth and US Perspectives (Hart Publishing 2020), which discusses the pressing issues of cross-border cases involving admiralty and bankruptcy law. In addition, her papers analysing issues arising from the bankruptcy of OW Bunkers have been published in the American Bankruptcy Law Journal and the Journal of Maritime Law and Commerce.

She has also worked with the American P & I Club and several US maritime law firms.

Jingchen is qualified to practice law in China, and is admitted to the New York Bar.  She is native Chinese and fluent in English

Fahmy graduated from Singapore Management University with a Bachelor of Laws - Magna Cum Laude (with great distinction).  Fahmy is experienced in a wide-spectrum of shipping and commodity trading matters, both contentious and transactional. He was also awarded a Distinction for Advanced Corporate Practice in his Singapore Bar exams. Fahmy is effectively bilingual, fluent in Malay and English.