Ian Teo

Introduction

One of the founding directors of Helmsman, Ian Teo is an authority on commercial law – with a unique blend of expertise in general commercial matters and specialised shipping and commodity work. Under his leadership, Helmsman LLC has been cited in legal ranking publications, such as Who’s Who Legal, Chambers and Legal500 for its expertise in commercial litigation, international arbitration, shipping and commodity trading.

Teo regularly appears as lead counsel in commercial disputes– both in arbitration and in court. He has been named a Litigation Star by Benchmark Litigation and one of Asia’s 50 Super Disputes Lawyers by Asia Legal Business. He is also recognised by Who’s Who Legal for his commercial litigation expertise.

In terms of his shipping and commodity practice – besides being named Trade Lawyer of the Year in Best Lawyers, he was cited as one of the world’s leading Transport Lawyers in Who’s Who Legal: Transport and consistently ranked in Chambers Global and Chambers Asia Pacific as an expert and popular choice in shipping litigation and arbitration. Teo is also recognised as one of 30 Best of the Best Shipping & Maritime Lawyers in Expert Guides.

Teo was amongst the inaugural batch of senior accredited shipping and maritime law specialists appointed by the Singapore Academy of Law.  Qualified to practise in Singapore,  England and Wales, Teo read law at  NUS and obtained his Master’s from  Cambridge University. He is a member  of the Adjunct Faculty at the Singapore  Management University School of Law,  a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of  Arbitration and an Adjunct Fellow of  the NUS Centre for Maritime Law. He  contributes to academia regularly and  has published in Lloyd’s Maritime and  Commercial Quarterly.

Clients’ comments for Teo as published in legal ranking publications include – “Meticulous in his case preparation, effective and persuasive in his advocacy”, “Keen eye for details and whose advice is always commercially sound”, “Ian is a popular choice of counsel in shipping litigation and arbitration in Singapore…”, “A specialist in shipping and trade disputes…who commands respect”, “Ian is a go-to name in the market when it comes to complex shipping disputes”.