Sundaresh Menon

Sundaresh Menon SC (born 1962) is a Singaporean jurist who has served as the National Chief Justice since November 2012. He was formerly Attorney-General from 2010 to 2012 and Judge of Appeal in 2012.

The Honourable Sundaresh Menon SC
Menon speaking at Singapore Management University in 2019
4th Chief Justice of Singapore
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 November 2012
Appointed by	Tony Tan Keng Yam
Preceded by	Chan Sek Keong
Judge of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Singapore
In office 1 August 2012 – 5 November 2012
Appointed by	Tony Tan Keng Yam
6th Attorney-General of Singapore
In office 1 October 2010 – 25 June 2012
Appointed by	S R Nathan
Preceded by	Walter Woon Koh Juat Jong (acting)
Succeeded by	Steven Chong
Judicial Commissioner of Singapore
In office 3 April 2006 – 2 April 2007
Appointed by	S R Nathan
Personal details
Born	1962 (age 58–59) Colony of Singapore
Nationality	Singaporean
Alma mater	National University of Singapore (LLB) Harvard University (LLM)

Early life and education

Menon graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (first class honours) from the Faculty of Law of the National University of Singapore in 1986, and obtained a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1991.[1][2]

Career

Menon first joined Shook Lin & Bok as a legal assistant in 1987, and later rose to become a partner in 1990. In 1992, together with Wong Meng Meng and Alvin Yeo, Menon co-founded WongPartnership,[3] one of the four largest law firms in Singapore, and remained a partner in the law firm until 1995. He then joined Rajah & Tann as a partner and served as its Head of Projects & Infrastructure Group until 2003, and thereafter joined Jones Day as a partner until 2006.

Menon served a one-year term as a Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court from April 2006 to March 2007. Returning to legal practice with Rajah & Tann after this, he was appointed Senior Counsel on 5 January 2008,[4] and became its managing partner in August 2009.[2]

Menon assumed the position of Attorney-General between 1 October 2010 and 25 June 2012.[5] He has also served as the Deputy Chairman of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, a member of the Senate of the Singapore Academy of Law, and Chairman of the Advisory Board for the Singapore Management University School of Law.[1][6]

Menon was appointed a Judge of Appeal of the Court of Appeal with effect from 1 August 2012.[7] On 6 November 2012, he took office as Singapore's fourth Chief Justice.[8] He is the first non-Chinese ethnic Chief Justice of the Republic of Singapore and also the first Singapore-born Chief Justice.

See also

• Chief Justice of Singapore

References

1. NUS Faculty of Law Congratulates our Alumni Sundaresh Menon, SC '86 on His Appointment as Attorney-General of Singapore, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore, 4 March 2010, archived from the original on 27 July 2010.
2. Advisory Board Member: Mr Sundaresh MENON, SC, School of Law, Singapore Management University, 18 October 2010, archived from the original on 2 April 2011.
3. Arbitration pioneer Alvin Yeo offers tip to young lawyers, The Straits Times, 27 March 2017.
4. Senior Counsel Directory, Singapore Academy of Law, archived from the original on 30 March 2010, retrieved 30 March 2010.
5. Attorneys-General of Singapore, Attorney-General's Chambers, 26 November 2015, archived from the original on 9 November 2015.
6. Management Details: Mr Sundaresh Menon, S.C. Attorney-General, Attorney-General's Chambers, 24 January 2011, archived from the original on 17 February 2012.
7. K.C. Vijayan (1 June 2012), "Changes in Appeal Court, A-G Chambers", The Straits Times, p. A1; Teo Xuanwei (1 June 2012), "A-G to be appointed appeal judge: As Justice Steven Chong succeeds Mr Sundaresh Menon, lawyers are divided over implications of shorter tenures", Today, p. 2, archived from the original on 2 June 2012; Appointment of Mr Sundaresh Menon, S.C. as Judge of Appeal: Fact Sheet (PDF), Attorney-General's Chambers, 31 May 2012, archived from the original (PDF) on 7 August 2012; Sundaresh Menon to be Judge of Appeal, Channel NewsAsia, retrieved 29 August 2012.
8. Tham Yuen-C (30 August 2012), "Sundaresh Menon to be new Chief Justice", The Straits Times, p. 1; Teo Xuanwei (30 August 2012), "Sundaresh Menon is new Chief Justice", Today, pp. 1 & 4, archived from the original on 31 August 2012; Sundaresh Menon sworn in as new Chief Justice, Channel NewsAsia, 7 November 2012, retrieved 9 November 2012.