Charis Wong

“The kind of lawyer you want on your side,” “embodying professionalism to its finest”, “continually going the extra mile to ensure my best interests were at the forefront” – these are words that clients have used to describe me. As a courtroom advocate who navigates legal challenges with compassion and a heart for justice, I am committed to finding practical solutions for my clients.

I regularly conduct matters at all levels of court. In 2025, I successfully acted as lead counsel in a SIAC arbitration for an investor in an investment dispute involving sums of about $5 million. In 2024:

I successfully argued a novel point in the landmark Court of Appeal decision of Li Jialin and another v Wingcrown Investment Pte Ltd [2024] SGCA 48 to challenge the developer’s forfeiture of the deposit in an abortive sale of a condominium property. In this seminal decision, the apex Court held that the contractual deposit of about $1.2 million was not a true deposit, and the developer was not entitled to forfeit the deposit, whether in whole or in part. The landmark decision clarified the law on deposits and penalties in Singapore.
I successfully argued the appeal against the assistant registrar’s assessment of damages decision in Li Jialin and another v Wingcrown Investment Pte Ltd [2024] SGHC 314. This is the first decision where the High Court examined in detail (1) Condition 15 of the Law Society Conditions of Sale 2012, which are widely used standard terms in the conveyancing of residential properties in Singapore; and (2) the principles relating to when a subsequent re-sale of the property would be a mitigating act, the gains of which have to be taken into account in assessing the vendor’s loss.

The High Court agreed with us that despite the purchasers’ breach of contract, the vendor was not entitled to any award of damages. I also conducted the AD trial as lead counsel.

I serve a diverse roster of clients, from a group of forty subsidiary proprietors of a condominium development in a case involving an abortive en bloc sale, to a fresh chicken supplier in a competition law case, from a law professor in defamation proceedings to aggrieved shareholders of companies, and from investors seeking to recoup investments gone sour, to a foreign widow in her WICA claim against insurers. With experience in a broad range of practice areas, I regularly tackle challenges which cross various domains, with legal tools and a problem-solving lens.

I have a special interest in family and matrimonial law, and advise clients on pre-nuptial agreements, post-nuptial agreements, divorces, separation, custody and guardianship, maintenance applications, domestic violence, and deputyship proceedings. I also handle disputes between family members over properties, companies and probate and administration matters.

While I enjoy the cut and thrust of litigation, I am also a firm believer in alternative dispute resolution, and have facilitated the resolution of many cases through mediation and private settlement.