Cavinder Bull SC

About Cavinder Bull SC

Cavinder Bull SC is the Chief Executive Officer of Drew & Napier LLC, one of Singapore's largest law firms. Appointed Senior Counsel in 2008 at the age of 39 — among the youngest to receive the honour — he practises in complex commercial litigation and international arbitration, co-heads the firm's Competition Law and Regulatory Practice, and sits as arbitrator in investor-state disputes across multiple jurisdictions.

Bull read Jurisprudence at Trinity College, Oxford, graduating with a First Class Honours BA in 1992, after attending Anglo-Chinese School (Independent) and Anglo-Chinese Junior College. He placed fourth in the Bar examinations in England and Wales, was called to the English Bar in 1993, and topped the Singapore Bar examination before his admission as an Advocate and Solicitor in 1994. He served as Justices' Law Clerk to Chief Justice Yong Pung How, then completed an LLM at Harvard Law School in 1996 on a Lee Kuan Yew Scholarship and qualified as an Attorney-at-Law in New York the same year. After practising as a litigation associate at Sullivan & Cromwell in New York, he returned to Drew & Napier in late 1997, was made partner in 1998 and Director in 2002, and became CEO in August 2017 following Davinder Singh's departure.

Between January 2024 and May 2026, Bull appeared as counsel in 16 cases before Singapore courts, with matters in the High Court (6 cases), the Singapore International Commercial Court (4 cases), the International Commercial Court of Appeal (4 cases), and the Court of Appeal (2 cases). By case volume his most frequent practice areas were arbitration (12 cases), civil procedure (6 cases), contract (6 cases), limitation of actions (4 cases), and insolvency law (4 cases). Among his most prominent matters are a US$926 million SICC judgment for the family of a former Prime Minister of Georgia against Credit Suisse Trust for breach of trust, the S$3.5 billion Hin Leong Trading liquidation judgment against founder Lim Oon Kuin and his family, and the US$600–800 million De La Sala family trust dispute whose High Court judgment set guidance on impermissible witness coaching. He also led a US$3 billion international arbitration for Sharp Corporation and acted in three Indian Premier League broadcasting-rights arbitrations involving agreements worth over US$1.2 billion.

Bull's recognition spans the major legal directories. He holds Legal 500 Hall of Fame status in both dispute resolution and international arbitration, and was ranked Band 1 by Chambers Asia-Pacific for both Dispute Resolution: Litigation and Dispute Resolution: Arbitration in 2026. Further honours include Asian Legal Business Dispute Resolution Lawyer of the Year for Southeast Asia (2025), Lexology Index Commercial Litigation Lawyer of the Year (2025), The Asia Legal Awards Litigator of the Year (2025), Best Lawyers Litigation Lawyer of the Year for Singapore (2025), and the Benchmark Litigation Asia-Pacific Hall of Fame Award (2022).

Bull serves as Vice-President of the SIAC Court of Arbitration and sits on the ICCA Governing Board, the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators, and the KCAB International Panel of Arbitrators. He is a Fellow of the Singapore Academy of Law, a Board Member of the Singapore Institute of Legal Education, and an Advisory Council Member of the NUS Faculty of Law. He chaired the SGX Disciplinary Committee from 2017 to 2023 and served on the World Bank Sanctions Board from 2018 to 2023. His earlier public-sector directorships included Singapore Technologies Electronics, the National Healthcare Group, the Singapore University of Technology and Design, and the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore.