Advisory board

Francis was appointed Senior Counsel in January 2009 and practices international commercial and treaty arbitration and litigation.

He is actively involved in cross-border commercial disputes in the areas of banking, property, financial and investment related claims. He is currently acting for an Australian energy entity in a very substantial dispute against an Indonesian conglomerate, being the first case to be heard before the Singapore International Commercial Court.

He also specialises in aviation law and advised in the class-action suit resulting from the crash of the SilkAir flight (Indonesia) and the SIA crash (Taiwan). Francis is recognised as a leading lawyer by AsiaLaw Profiles (2017, 2018); Asia Pacific Legal 500 (2014-2018); Ranked Lawyers Chambers Global (2016-2018, 2019); Dispute Resolution Chambers Asia-Pacific (2016-2018); Labour & Employment; Who’s Who Legal (2016, 2018, 2019); Best Lawyer in Litigation Practice, Best Lawyers International (2015-2017); Asia Law Leading Lawyers (2009); Global Arbitration Review (2010); Best Litigation Lawyers in Singapore (2013) and as a leading employment lawyer - Chambers Asia Pacific (2014). Francis was recently recognised by Asia Business Law Journal 2018 as Singapore’s top 100 lawyers and is the winner of a Business Excellence Awards (2019) issued by Corporate Insider, the Gateway to the World of Business and named Dispute resolution star by Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific (2019).

He is currently sitting as party-nominated arbitrator of a Mauritius entity in a bilateral investment treaty (ICSID) dispute with the Government of India. He is presently assisting several Asian governments in setting up their international arbitration framework. He is a Chartered Arbitrator and the immediate Past Chairman of the Singapore branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK). He is also President-Elect of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association and the Vice President, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK).