Poonaam BAI

Introduction

Poonaam Bai is a Partner at Eldan Law LLP and a commercial disputes lawyer with a particular focus on construction. She is dual-qualified in Singapore and in England and Wales, and her practice spans construction adjudication, arbitration and litigation, insolvency and restructuring, and insurance and financial lines disputes. She acts for main contractors, subcontractors, developers, management corporations, insurers and corporate clients, and is regularly instructed in high-value disputes before the State Courts, High Court and Court of Appeal, in arbitration, and in statutory adjudication under the Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act.

Credentials & Professional Background

Poonaam graduated with an LL.B. (Honours) from the National University of Singapore in 2006 and was admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 2007. She is also admitted as a Solicitor in of England and Wales.

She began her career at Oon & Bazul LLP, where she progressed from pupil to senior associate, and joined Eldan Law LLP as a senior associate eventually being promoted to Partner in April 2014.  She has practised in the United Kingdom in a Legal 500 ranked insurance and financial lines team, acting for insurers and insureds on professional indemnity, directors’ and officers’ and other financial lines claims. That experience gives her a rare combination of Singapore court and adjudication advocacy with English-law insurance and coverage expertise, which is of direct value to clients whose disputes and insurance programmes cross both jurisdictions.

Areas of Expertise

Construction disputes. Poonaam’s principal focus is construction, including adjudication challenges, payment claims, delay and extension of time disputes, defects and remediation claims, and professional negligence claims against design and consultancy professionals. Her experience covers residential, commercial, industrial and infrastructure projects, and she frequently handles multi-party disputes involving employers, contractors, subcontractors and consultants.

Insolvency and restructuring. She advises on contentious and non-contentious insolvency matters, including schemes of arrangement, judicial management, winding up, individual voluntary arrangements and creditor claims, and on the interaction between insolvency and construction payment disputes.

Insurance and financial lines. Drawing on her UK practice, she advises insurers and insureds on coverage, professional indemnity and directors’ and officers’ liability, and on the defence of claims against professionals.

General commercial disputes. Her wider practice includes contractual and shareholder disputes, urgent injunctive relief, and the enforcement of arbitral awards and judgments, including cross-border enforcement.

What Distinguishes Poonaam’s Practice

Poonaam is known for a practical, commercially grounded approach to adjudication and for her record in resisting and setting aside adjudication determinations on grounds of jurisdictional error and breach of natural justice. She acts across the full dispute lifecycle, from pre-action advice and drafting through to trial, enforcement and settlement, and is valued by clients for her ability to distil technical construction and insurance issues into clear, persuasive argument. Her dual qualification and time in the UK market allow her to advise with equal confidence on Singapore and English-law positions.

Notable Cases

Poonaam has appeared in a number of reported decisions in the High Court and Court of Appeal on the setting aside of adjudication determinations, adjudicator jurisdiction, natural justice and the enforcement of adjudication outcomes. These decisions have contributed to the development of Singapore’s jurisprudence on statutory adjudication under the Security of Payment regime.

Millenium Pharmaceutical Inc & Johnson & Johnson Pte Ltd v Zyfas Medical (a firm) [2023] SGHC 360;

Deniyal Bin Kamis v Niew Bock Leng & ors [2023] SGHC 183;

Lee Wee Lick Terence (alias Li Weili Terence) v Chua Say Eng (formerly trading as WengFatt Construction Engineering) and another appeal [2013] 1 SRL 401 (COA);

Australian Timber Products Pte Ltd v A Pacific Construction & Development Pte Ltd [2013] 2 SLR 776 (HC);

Mansource Interior Pte Ltd v Citiwall Safety Glass Pte Ltd [2014] 3 SLR 264 (COA);

Quanta Industries Pte Ltd v Strategic Construction Pte Ltd [2015] SGHC 2 (HC);

Audi Construction Pte Ltd v Kian Hiap Construction Pte Ltd [2018] SGCA 4 (COA);

Milan International Pte Ltd v Cluny Development Pte Ltd and others [2018] SGHC 33;

Mansource Interior Pte Ltd v CSG Group Pte Ltd [2017] 2 SLR 776;

Publications, Teaching & Speaking

Poonaam has tutored the Trial Advocacy module at the National University of Singapore and regularly speaks at firm and industry briefings on the various areas of her practice. 

The Disputes Landscape in Singapore

Singapore’s construction and commercial disputes landscape is marked by heavy reliance on adjudication for interim cashflow relief, sophisticated use of arbitration for complex contractual disputes, and well-developed court jurisprudence on jurisdictional and procedural questions. Parties must contend with tight adjudication timelines, parallel proceedings across adjudication, arbitration and the courts, and the practical realities of enforcing awards and judgments across multi-jurisdictional supply chains, increasingly against a backdrop of contractor insolvency. Specialist advice is essential to protect cashflow, manage insurance coverage and preserve enforcement options.

Why Clients Engage Poonaam Bai

Clients engage Poonaam for her reported-case experience, her procedural command of adjudication and court advocacy, and her focus on commercial outcomes. She is particularly well placed to act for  developers, contractors and subcontractors, employers and management corporations in contractual disputes, insurers and insureds on financial lines claims, and parties navigating the intersection of construction, insolvency and insurance. Her dual qualification makes her a natural choice for clients with interests in both Singapore and the United Kingdom.

Conclusion

Poonaam Bai combines Singapore construction and commercial disputes expertise with English-qualified insurance and financial lines experience, supported by court-tested advocacy and sound commercial judgment. Her record in reported decisions, her professional service and her continuing engagement in legal education make her a recommended disputes lawyer in Singapore for clients seeking decisive, practical representation.