Appointed Director in January 2025, Akesh Abhilash has rapidly established himself among the region’s leading young dispute-resolution practitioners. In the early weeks of his directorship, he restructured the litigation team and revived long-dormant matters, driving them to successful resolution. In one notable S$3 million commercial dispute that had been pending for years, he secured a favourable settlement within two weeks—delivering substantial cost savings and avoiding trial.

Akesh also served as lead counsel in a multi-jurisdiction dispute spanning Singapore, Papua New Guinea and the British Virgin Islands, achieving key procedural victories that strengthened his client’s position. A cross-border leader, he coordinated foreign counsel, harmonised strategy across differing procedural regimes, managed service of process, and mentored his team to sustain momentum across parallel tracks—delivering strategic flexibility for the client and a robust defence in Singapore.

His leadership translated into measurable firm impact: over S$1,000,000 in billed litigation revenue within ten months, consistent ranking among the firm’s top performers, and the cultivation of institutional clients whose repeat instructions now anchor the practice.

Akesh’s practice development has a regional lens. As a delegate to the Korean ADR Festival 2024 (including the APAC ADR Conference and the IBA APAC Arbitration Group event), he engaged with trends in renewable-energy arbitration and practice issues across Asian centres. His vision is of a practice fluent in cross-border litigation and ADR—equally comfortable briefing counsel in PNG and negotiating with firms in Korea—and of a more harmonised regional ADR ecosystem shaped through participation in leading forums.

Past highlights include a S$90 million SIAC arbitration involving Singapore, India, Thailand and Australia, where he coordinated strategy across multiple jurisdictions. In recognition of his impact, Akesh was named both an ALB Rising Star Singapore 2025 and a LexisNexis 40 Under 40 (Asia & Southeast Asia) honouree. Client and peer testimonials consistently commend his rigorous analysis, courtroom composure, and commercially focused problem-solving.