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.

Matthew began his career in the largest legal practice in Singapore dedicated to banking and financing disputes, corporate insolvencies, business advisory, workouts and debt restructuring. He has advised and acted in practically all major shipping and oil-related restructurings and insolvencies in the past 10 years resulting from the downturn in the shipping and oil industry. 

Besides restructuring and insolvency, Matthew also specialises in shareholders’ disputes, directors’ duties and employment law - both contentious disputes, as well as advisory work on strategic and commercial issues. Matthew also routinely advises on security arrangements as well as insolvency risks on transactional matters.

Employment law is another area of Matthew’s specialisation. He often advises on restrictive covenants, contentious terminations of employment and non-contentious aspects such as drafting employment contracts and disciplinary policies.  Matthew acts regularly in employment disputes, and has been involved in high profile employment disputes in Singapore.

In 2017, the Supreme Court of Singapore appointed Matthew as amicus curiae under the prestigious Young Amicus Curiae Scheme. He assisted the Supreme Court as amicus curiae in a landmark decision on the registrability of contractual liens in charterparty contracts in the Diablo Fortune case. 

Matthew graduated summa cum laude amongst the pioneer batch of law students from the Singapore Management University, and was awarded a number of academic prizes during his time there. Unlike many lawyers, Matthew reads (and understands) financial statements as he also has a Bachelor of Business Management (Finance Major), from the Singapore Management University.

Matthew was cited in Legal 500 as a "highly rated lawyer". 

Benjamin specialises in commercial dispute resolution. He has acted for clients across a variety of industries in matters involving shareholder disputes, allegations of breach of fiduciary duties and breach of trust, minority oppression and other commercial disputes.

He also advises on insolvency-related matters, including schemes of arrangement and judicial management, as well as on matters relating to the UNCITRAL Model Law on Cross Border Insolvency under Singapore law.

Benjamin spent time at the Monetary Authority of Singapore, where he was seconded to the Payments Department and assisted in the regulatory aspects of the Payment Services Act 2019.

Benjamin graduated from the Singapore Management University’s Juris Doctor programme in 2016, having previously completed a degree in Economics at Singapore Management University. While reading law, Benjamin participated in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition as well as the Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot Court Competition, where his team reached the championship finals in the competition. Benjamin was also the recipient of the Tan Sook Yee Prize for Top Student in Property Law as well as the Juris Doctor Term Award.

Professor Saidov specialises in international commercial law, having joined The Dickson Poon School of Law, King's College London in August 2015 as Professor of Commercial Law. His expertise lies in the law of the international sale of goods, international commercial law instruments, remedies for breach of contract and law governing international oil and gas operations.

A consultant to Helmsman, he is the Editor of the English Sale of Goods Law section in the LMCLQ Yearbook of International Maritime and Commercial Law, and, an Academic Fellow at the Centre for Maritime Law in the National University of Singapore.

Peter is one of the leading shipping juniors in his batch, with a stellar track record both academically and professionally. Specialising in shipping and trade related dispute resolution, he regularly appears before the Singapore court in complex and high profile cases, and has extensive experience acting in arbitrations under the rules of SIAC, SCMA, LMAA, LCIA, ICC, CIETAC, AIAC. He also advises on disputes in other jurisdictions, including Malaysia, Indonesia, India, and the Philippines. In addition to his forte in shipping and trade, Peter is amongst a small circle of lawyers with real, first-hand knowledge and experience of the inner workings of the web3 industry, through his secondment and advisory work to a suite of clients in the entire life cycle of the blockchain and crypto industry.

At the National University of Singapore, Peter was awarded the M. Karthigesu Memorial Gold Medal for top shipping student, as well as the Maritime Law Association of Singapore Prize in Carriage of Goods by Sea. Peter pursued a further LLM degree at NUS and graduated as the top student of his cohort. He was a seasoned mooter and a member of the team which clinched the world champion in the 2015 Jean Pictet moot on international humanitarian law. Peter continues to coach mooting at NUS Law and is a guest lecturer at the Centre of Excellence International Trading at the Nanyang Technological University.

Peter is native Chinese and effectively bilingual, and deeply understands the Chinese culture and legal landscape. Before joining Helmsman, Peter worked as a solicitor in a leading international shipping firm, where he obtained qualification to practise English law, on top of his Singapore qualification.

Vinca is a former Judicial Assistant at the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. She completed her training contract with a leading English law firm in Hong Kong, which included secondments to a foreign office and an international client. 
 
Vinca read law at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, where she obtained First Class Honours. She also spent a year on exchange at Peking University during this period. During her undergraduate studies, she took part in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, and was named the Best Oralist at the Hong Kong regional rounds in 2012 and together with the team, was awarded the Hardy C. Dillard Best Combined Memorials at the Washington D.C. international rounds in 2010. Subsequently, Vinca attended the University of Cambridge where she earned a Master of Laws in Public International Law.  

Vinca is qualified to practise as a solicitor of The High Court of Hong Kong.

Born in Hong Kong and raised in Singapore, Vinca is proficient in English, Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese.

Iris specialises in commercial disputes. Prior to joining Helmsman, Iris was a Justices’ Law Clerk at the Supreme Court and State Counsel at the Attorney-General's Chambers where she worked on a broad range of contentious matters. Iris obtained her LL.M. from Harvard Law School after graduating from Singapore Management University as Valedictorian of her LL.B. cohort. She was the recipient of several academic prizes, including Dean’s Scholar Prizes for international trade law and the international law of the sea, and the Bird & Bird Prize for her research paper on commercial conflict of laws. 

Iris also excelled outside of academia. She was placed First in essay competitions organized by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (2021) and Mumbai Centre for International Arbitration (2021), and Second in an essay competition organized by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (2019). 

Iris is fluent in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese. She is qualified to practise Singapore and English law.