Josephine CHOO

Matters of significance in which Josephine has been involved in include acting for/ advising the following:

• Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan,the apex organization, comprising 5000 Teochew members, representing the Eight Districts (from the Kwangtung Province of China) against Ngee Ann Kongsi, a body corporate that was established in 1933, pursuant to the Ngee Ann Kongsi (Incorporation) Ordinance (Cap 370, 1985 Rev Ed). The dispute concerns ownership of the Teochew building that sits on 97 Tank Road and engaged laws on trust, equity and charities; see The Ngee Ann Kongsi v Teochew Poit Ip Huay Kuan [2019] SGHC 256.
• PH Hydraulics and Engineering Pte Ltd in relation to an action instigated by Airtrust (Hong Kong) Ltd ("Airtrust") after the malfunctioning of the reel drive unit ("RDU") purchased from PH Hydraulics. In that seminal decision, the Court of Appeal held conclusively, for the first time, that, as a general rule, punitive damages cannot be awarded purely for breach of contract absent concurrent liability in tort.
• Boustead Singapore Limited ("Boustead"). Boustead entered into a facility agreement with Arab Banking Corporation (B.S.C) ("ABC") in 2007. Pursuant to the facility agreement, ABC issued two counter-guarantees underwriting monies guaranteed under two performance bonds by a separate bank, for a project undertaken by Boustead in Libya, totalling close to US$19 million. When the performance bonds were called, ABC sought payment against Boustead under the counter guarantees. Boustead successfully obtained a permanent injunction in the High Court on grounds of fraud and/or unconscionability, against ABC. On ABC’s appeal, the Court of Appeal upheld the injunction and decided, inter alia, that the unconscionability exception developed in the context of performance bonds, was applicable to a demand by a bank against its customer under a facility agreement.
• Global Yellow Pages Limited and Singapore River Explorer Pte Ltd, the Plaintiffs in a High Court suit against its former director and his related company. This Suit engaged complex issues regarding inducement of breach of contract and breach of directors duties, the application of the Said v Butt rule in inducement of breach of contract cases, which was recently endorsed by the Court of Appeal in PT Sandipala Arthaputra v ST Microelectronics Asia Pacific as well as the principles in Townsing Henry George v Jenton Overseas Investment Pte Ltd (in liquidation).
• A Samoan company and its shareholders in respect of seeking an injunction in the British Virgin Islands (“BVI”) in relation to a shareholders’ dispute and in respect of an international arbitration commenced by the BVI company. This matter involved a complex shareholding structure spanning multiple jurisdictions, as well as a detailed investigation into the histories of the various individuals, entities, and transactions between them.
• Singapore Medical Council in numerous prosecutions of medical professionals, including appeal before the Court of Three Judges.

Related Practices

• Specialist & Private Client Disputes