Sundaresh Menon (born 26 February 1962) is a Singaporean lawyer and jurist who has been serving as the fourth

chief justice of Singapore The chief justice of Singapore is the chief justice, presiding member of the Supreme Court of Singapore. It is the highest post in the judicial system of Singapore, appointed by the President of Singapore, president, chosen from the candidates rec ...

since 2012, appointed by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Tony Tan Tony Tan Keng Yam (; born 7 February 1940) is a Singaporean former politician who served as the seventh president of Singapore between 2011 and 2017. He did not seek for a second term as president in 2017 due to a constitutional amendment ...

Education

Sundaresh graduated from the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national public research university in Singapore. Founded in 1905 as the Straits Settlements and Federated Malay States Government Medical School, NUS is the oldest autonomous university in the c ...

in 1986 with a

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

with first class honours degree. He subsequently went on to complete a

Master of Laws A Master of Laws (M.L. or LL.M.; Latin: ' or ') is an advanced postgraduate academic degree, pursued by those either holding an undergraduate academic law degree, a professional law degree, or an undergraduate degree in a related subject. In mos ...

degree at

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

in 1991...

Career

Sundaresh started his career at Shook Lin & Bok as a legal assistant in 1987, and became a partner in 1990. In 1992, together with Wong Meng Meng and

Alvin Yeo Alvin Yeo Khirn Hai (; 28 March 1962 – 30 July 2022) was a Singaporean lawyer and politician. Education Yeo obtained his Bachelor of Laws, LLB from King's College London. Career Politics Yeo was a member of the People's Action Party ...

, Sundaresh co-founded WongPartnership, one of the four largest law firms in Singapore, and remained a partner in the law firm until 1995. He then joined

Rajah & Tann Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP is a law firm headquartered in Singapore, with affiliate offices in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam , DUTAMAS Founded in 1976, it is a member firm of Rajah & Tan ...

as a partner and served as its Head of Projects & Infrastructure Group until 2003, and thereafter joined

Jones Day Jones Day is an American multinational law firm. As of 2021, it was the eighth largest law firm in the U.S. and the 13th highest grossing law firm in the world. Originally headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Jones Day ranks first in both M&A le ...

as a partner until 2006. Sundaresh served a one-year term as a Judicial Commissioner of the

Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

between 2006 and 2007. Returning to legal practice with Rajah & Tann after this, he was appointed

Senior Counsel The title of Senior Counsel or State Counsel (post-nominal letters: SC) is given to a senior lawyer in some countries that were formerly part of the British Empire. "Senior Counsel" is used in current or former Commonwealth countries or jurisdictio ...

on 5 January 2008, and became its managing partner in August 2009. He has served as Deputy Chairman of the

Singapore International Arbitration Centre Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) is a not-for-profit international arbitration organisation based in Singapore, which administers arbitrations under its own rules of arbitration and the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. It was establis ...

, a member of the Senate of the

Singapore Academy of Law The Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) is a statutory body in Singapore. SAL is a promotion and development agency for Singapore's legal industry. SAL also undertakes statutory functions such as stakeholding services and the appointment of Senior C ...

, and Chairman of the Advisory Board for the

Singapore Management University The Singapore Management University (SMU) is a public autonomous university in Singapore. The university is the only city campus in Singapore. It ranks third in Asia as a specialist university, behind Hong Kong University of Science and Techn ...

School of Law A law school (also known as a law centre or college of law) is an institution specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for becoming a lawyer within a given jurisdiction. Law degrees Argentina In Argentina, ...

. Sundaresh was appointed

Attorney-General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

on 1 October 2010, a post he served until 25 June 2012. He was subsequently appointed a Judge of Appeal of the Court of Appeal on 1 August 2012. On 6 November 2012, he took office as the fourth

.; ; . He is the first non-Chinese ethnic chief justice of Singapore and also the first Singaporean-born chief justice.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Menon, Sundaresh 1962 births Attorneys-General of Singapore Singaporean people of Indian descent Singaporean people of Malayali descent Harvard Law School alumni Indian diaspora in Singapore Living people National University of Singapore alumni Malayali people 20th-century Singaporean lawyers Singaporean Roman Catholics Singaporean Senior Counsel Chief justices of Singapore 21st-century Singaporean judges

Education

Career

See also

References