Nirmalan K Pillai

Senior Director / Head of Litigation

Niru Pillai has over 30 years of litigation experience. He is a Senior Director of Global Law Alliance LLC and heads up its litigation practice.

He qualified as a Barrister-at-Law and was admitted to the English Bar in 1976 and as an Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 1978. In 1990, he became a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia and was admitted as leading counsel in the High Court of Brunei. He is also a Fellow of the UK Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators.

Niru founded Niru & Co in 1978, which was a boutique litigation law firm. His practice areas include insurance and reinsurance, shipping and aviation, media, intellectual property and construction and he also sits as an Arbitrator in several commercial disputes. He has acted as counsel in several cases, which are now landmark decisions and are reported in Singapore, Malaysian and English law reports.

Niru was invited as Specialist Counsel by the Attorney General of Brunei Darulsalam and Malaysia to train the Legal Officers and State Counsel in aspects of Civil Litigation. He was also an instructing solicitor in a number of actions in Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Australia, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, England, France, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and the United States of America.

He was an Adjunct Associate Professor with the National University of Singapore and was selected by the students as one of the outstanding teachers in the university. He has been invited across Asia (particularly South East Asia and India) as a speaker in several prestigious seminars and workshops on various topics pertaining to his core practice areas.

Niru was appointed by the Law Society of Singapore to the committee which was instrumental in developing the compulsory professional indemnity insurance scheme for the entire legal profession. He was also a committee member of the Singapore Law Society Sub-Committees on cross border practice and continuing professional development.