YOGA SHARMINI YOGARAJAH
LLB (Hons) University of London
Advocate & Solicitor, Supreme Court of Singapore
T: 65 6230 1119
E: sharmini@hhp.com.sg
Practice Areas
Arbitration & Mediation, Shipping & Admiralty Law
Restructuring & Insolvency, Commercial & Corporate Litigation
International Trade & Commodities, Real Estate, Conveyancing & Estate Planning
Probate & Family Law
Background
Sharmini graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1983 with a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.). Thereafter, she obtained an Honours degree in law from the University of London (UK) in 1988. She was called to the English Bar in 1989 and is a member of the Middle Temple (UK). Sharmini was admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in July 1990.
Prior to entering legal practice, Sharmini was an Income Tax Officer with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore. Prior to embarking on a law career, she was an Inland Revenue Officer with the Employees and Partners’ branch of the Department during which she was trained in the enforcement of Singapore Income Tax Law & Practice.
Sharmini is a general civil and commercial litigator practising in the areas of general and commercial law, as well as admiralty matters. She handles general construction, repair and personal injury litigation, and has represented shipyards and engineering companies in their repair and work injury disputes, as well as employment disputes.
Sharmini joined the firm as a pupil and was subsequently retained as a legal assistant. Both during and after her pupillage, she mainly assisted the shipping and admiralty partners of the firm. Her areas of expertise revolved around admiralty and shipping practice. In this regard, she acted for a range of clients including insurance companies and brokers, suppliers of bunkers and goods/ provisions for the maintenance of the vessels, ship repairers, salvors, freight forwarders, classification societies and Banks & Finance Companies. It is important in the practice of law to not only have a good grasp of the law but also to have the tools to ensure the best results in the interest of the clients.
Throughout her practice in the firm, she has established a network of contacts involving the appointment of foreign lawyers, surveyors and marine consultants for technical support recovery agents, accounting consultants, academics (eg. Metal specialists with NTU) ship watch and tracking services. The latter is vital in ensuring that shipping clients who have claims against foreign shipowners or charters are able to obtain security for their claims in the event that the vessels enter Singapore. She also attends seminars organised by the Singapore Academy of Law which keeps her constantly updated on the Shipping & admiralty practice in Singapore which also gives her the opportunity to make fresh contact with lawyers practising in other jurisdictions and to know the law applicable to them. This information is handy especially when Singapore is not part of a vessel’s trading route.
Sharmini is also conversant with the alternative avenues to obtain redress and/or remedies. Here she is experienced in taking matters for mediation in both the subordinate court and in the high court, instead of embarking on a costly litigation battle. In such cases, both parties are happy with the result.
Sharmini is also a general litigator. She has also done a number of arbitrations involving Singapore. She has acted for both litigants and defendants/accused persons and companies in all sorts of claims including personal injuries and death, violations under the factories and immigration act, other than the usual contract and torts claims. For a major part of her practice, she acted for Defendants. She has learnt from the beginning that the only way to serve the interest of her clients is to have the patience to listen to them to keep an open mind. With these traits she has managed to obtain the best possible results for her clients. She has also been involved in several criminal appeals relating to corruption and negligence, involving death. Although she has done criminal litigation, she is more at home practising civil litigation. Sharmini is conversant with the various execution proceedings to ensure maximum recovery of money claims under judgments and awards. To ensure definite recovery prior to judgment, she has on many occasions managed to secure mareva injunctions as well as mandatory injunctions, to the benefit of the clients.
Sharmini can also be said to be a Family & Probate lawyer as she has undertaken both contested and uncontested divorce (including maintenance, custody, access and adoption) and probate proceedings.
She also excels where cases involve novel issues of law where there are no decided cases on point. In this regard, her clients successfully recovered damages for loss of a chance of making profits where the vendor failed to deliver a private company to them on the date of completion of the sale despite the speculative nature of the claim. She has also made some inroads in the law of marine insurance, in particular open cover policies, in respect of the Warehouse warehouse clause just to name a few. When faced with a losing case, Sharmini ensures that all efforts are taken to minimize her clients’ losses and that the law is applied correctly to prevent a win fall to the other side.
Qualification
1983 – Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), National University of Singapore
1988 – LLB (Hons), University of London
1989 – Called to the English Bar
1990 – Admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court