- Asia
- Lateral moves
- Singapore, Sydney
- Disputes
Wotton Kearney has hired a shipping and commodities disputes team in Singapore from Kennedys, two months after absorbing a New Zealand maritime boutique, with the firm saying more hires will follow, Australasian Lawyer reported on 1 October.
The team is led by partner Karnan Thirupathy, who has more than 25 years of practice in Asia and qualified in Singapore and in England and Wales, with special counsel Charlene Sim, who has 11 years in practice. They move from Kennedys to launch a dedicated marine, trade and commodities disputes group working across Wotton Kearney's Singapore and Bangkok offices, which recently secured over US$140 million for a global energy trader in an LCIA arbitration over an LNG supply dispute, according to Insurance Business.
Wotton Kearney's Singapore office, opened in 2024, is its tenth and first in mainland Asia
Wotton Kearney opened in Singapore in June 2024, its tenth office and the first by an Australia-domiciled insurance law firm, led by ex-Kennedys partner Ben Nicholson with Tom Morrison, Lawyers Weekly reported. The launch team was drawn largely from Kennedys alumni.
The Singapore build sits inside a wider push. The firm opened a Bangkok office in May 2025, its eleventh globally and second in Asia, led by insurance arbitrator Ian Johnston, Law.asia reported. On 1 August 2026 it integrated New Zealand maritime and fisheries practice Oceanlaw, bringing in partners Hamish Fletcher and Karyn van Wijngaarden and opening a Nelson office, its fourteenth across Asia Pacific, per Wotton Kearney.
Thirupathy and Sim follow Kennedys marine partners who left for DWF and Wotton Kearney
This is the second time Wotton Kearney has drawn marine talent from Kennedys in Singapore, after Nicholson and Morrison in 2024. Thirupathy had been a Kennedys partner since 2011 and is representing Swiss commodities trader Gunvor in an LCIA dispute over delayed LNG deliveries, Global Arbitration Review reported.
Kennedys has lost marine lawyers elsewhere too. DWF recruited four of its marine insurance partners in London in early 2025, including marine practice head Chris Dunn, DWF said. Kennedys moved to rebuild in Singapore by hiring marine, offshore energy and trade credit specialist Iain Anderson from RPC in October 2025, as it marked 25 years in Asia Pacific, Law.asia reported. The firm held leading Insurance and Shipping rankings for Singapore and Australia in Chambers Asia-Pacific 2025, per Kennedys, which is what the departures are targeting.
Singapore arbitration quantum reached US$208 million in 2025, up 112%
The moves track a rise in Singapore maritime dispute work. The Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration and SIAC recorded 168 maritime arbitrations in 2025, with total quantum of case references reaching US$208 million, a 112% increase year on year, Asian Legal Business reported. Singapore's maritime arbitration caseload grew from around 5% of London's volume in 2022 to 9% in 2024, according to Hellenic Shipping News.
A global trade war has driven that demand, with sanctions and cross-border commodity disputes central to the caseload. Global marine cargo premiums reached US$22.64 billion in 2024, with Asia premiums up 8.8%, Insurance Business reported. That feeds claims and disputes work for the insurers, P&I clubs, traders, owners and charterers the Wotton Kearney team advises.
Shipping and commodities disputes draw lateral competition in Singapore
The practice covers LNG and commodity sale contracts, contracts of affreightment, charterparties and marine insurance policies. That work is growing in Singapore, and the lawyers who do it are contested.
New entrants add to the competition. Ming Law Asia, set up in Singapore in 2025 with three directors and nine fee earners, focuses on shipping and international trade disputes, Asian Legal Business reported.
Wotton Kearney has drawn marine talent from Kennedys in Singapore twice in roughly two years, integrated a New Zealand maritime boutique and flagged further hires, while Kennedys has lost partners to DWF and Wotton Kearney and rebuilt with a lateral from RPC. The hiring is concentrated in shipping and commodities arbitration, in a market where recorded case quantum more than doubled in a year.
