Shaun Leong
About Shaun
Shaun Leong, FCIArb, is an international arbitration specialist with over fifteen years of experience in complex cross border commercial disputes. He focuses on developing successful strategies to achieve clients’ objectives in cross jurisdictional disputes. Shaun is an internationally recognised leading practitioner at the forefront of emerging and revolutionary technologies including artificial intelligence (A.I.) and blockchain, with key experience in energy and sustainability disputes.
He is a two-time International Arbitration Lawyer of the Year nominee (Law.com International Asia Legal Awards 2024, Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific Awards 2022), and is the only disputes lawyer recommended as leading practitioner in the Blockchain category in Who’s Who Legal 2024, recognised for his “particular expertise in cryptocurrency, A.I. and blockchain disputes” (Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024). He received the Digital Assets Lawyer of the Year nomination in Law.com International’s Asia Legal Awards 2023.
Legal 500, 2025 describes Shaun Leong as drawing “considerable praise from clients, who praise him for his ability to offer a ‘masterclass’ in deploying commercially minded and effective cross border strategies in complex matters“. He is described as “an outstanding lawyer in the field of cross-border commercial disputes and international arbitration and a top name for cutting-edge international work. He has a razor-sharp mind and is incredibly impressive when it comes to navigating complex points of law” (Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific 2024).
Shaun is actively involved in A.I. disputes. He successfully represented a leading digital assets company in a USD 36 million dispute involving novel issues around legal liability arising from purported errors made by trading systems powered by artificial intelligence models and algorithms. He also advised a leading global A.I. powerhouse on cross border disputes and acted as its relationship Partner for projects in Asia and the Middle East. Client testimonials for his work in A.I. includes, “Shaun Leong is fast becoming the go to lawyer for emerging tech disputes including novel challenges arising from mistakes made by artificial intelligence, or the abusive use of artificial intelligence in finance and trading related disputes. He has an impressive depth of knowledge in the AI development lifecycle and with that was able to adopt a problem solving strategy effectively” (Legal 500, 2025).
Shaun’s experience in digital assets, blockchain and ‘Web 3.0’ related disputes include becoming the first lawyer in the world to successfully obtain a worldwide proprietary injunction to freeze a non-fungible token on the blockchain in a commercial dispute, from the exclusive Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT series. Shaun represented investors in all three major collapses in the 2023 crypto winter, in particular the Terraform Luna involving the collapse of one of the world’s largest algorithmic stablecoins, the collapse of Three Arrows Capital and the world’s second largest crypto exchange, FTX.
Shaun has key experience in work around the renewable energy and traditional energy sectors. He worked in a complex cross border dispute arising from defects found in power plants in an Asian country for failure to comply with sustainability standards on emissions, and claims for rectification works necessitated by alleged negligent designs of power generators that were non-compliant with nitrogen oxide levels restrictions set by an Asian Government. Shaun has experience working with a global energy giant on sustainability initiatives including on matters around carbon credits originations, clean power purchase agreements, and renewable energy certificates, aspects around the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive as well as considerations around Article 6 of the Paris Agreement.
Upon graduating with First Class Honours from the National University of Singapore, Shaun served in a judicial capacity as a Magistrate and Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court for five years, where he published several notable written judgments on international arbitration law. Shaun serves on the Inquiry Panel of the Law Society of Singapore. He is a panel arbitrator with the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board International, the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association. Shaun serves as the Head of the Academy of the Thailand Arbitration Centre (THAC) , and is also a panel arbitrator with the THAC. In addition, he is an arbitrator with the Bali International Arbitration and Mediation Center, the Center for International Investment and Commercial Arbitration, the Tashkent International Arbitration Centre (TIAC), BeiHai Asia International Arbitration Centre, and Bangalore International Mediation, Arbitration and Conciliation Centre.