Dorothy Tan is an accomplished and much sought-after divorce lawyer in Singapore.  She is the Deputy Head of the Family Law Department in PKWA Law.

Dorothy was shortlisted for “Young Lawyer of the Year’ by Asian Legal Business at the SE Asia Law Awards 2017.  She is the sole Family Lawyer to be nominated.   ALB is owned by Thomson Reuters and provides authoritative and independent insight into the legal profession in Asia Pacific and the Middle East.

Dorothy was named by Asian Legal Business 2016 listing as one of Asia’s 40 brightest young lawyers in its “40 under 40 – Asia’s Brightest Young Legal Minds.” The ALB list names 40 top lawyers under 40 years of age based on quality and complexity of work, career achievements, as well as recommendations from clients and superiors.

Dorothy is also ranked by her peers as a Leading Family and Divorce Lawyer in Doyles Guide of Leading Singapore Family and Divorce Lawyers 2016.

Dorothy is also listed by Singapore Business Review as one of Singapore’s most influential lawyers aged 40 and under in 2016. She was selected from a list of almost a hundred nominees based on thought leadership, influence, and success.

She is one of the youngest lawyers to lead a team and to successfully argue a landmark case at the highest court in Singapore, the Singapore Court of Appeal.

A divorce specialist, she is much sought-after by both men and women for her expertise in family law.  She has extensive experience in all aspects of family and divorce law. She has acted as lead counsel for clients in all areas of matrimonial law such as contentious divorces, division of matrimonial assets, disputes over child custody, and maintenance for wives and children.

Dorothy regularly receives positive and glowing feedback from her clients. One client commended her for her “faith, knowledge and determination”.   Another client wrote that Dorothy’s “judgements and ability to steer the various proceedings were absolutely critical. I was able to give you my full trust. You have certainly made a lasting impact, one which I will not forget.”

Main website: www.pkwalaw.com
Family Law website: www.sgdivorcelawyer.sg

Notable cases:

1. Dorothy was selected by a client (the husband) to be the lead counsel in a complex and difficult case involving the division of multi-million dollar assets. The case was heard before a court of 3 Appellate Judges at Singapore’s highest court, the Court of Appeal. Dorothy won the appeal and that decision has become one of the most important cases in Singapore divorce law because the Court of Appeal reaffirmed and summarized the new Singapore law on division of matrimonial assets (Twiss, Christopher James Hans v Twiss, Yvonne Prendergast [2015] SGCA 52].

2. Dorothy’s Court of Appeal case is now a landmark case in Singapore on division of matrimonial assets and has been subsequently cited and followed by the courts in such cases as Zhou Lijie v WangChengxiang [2015] SGHC 316; TIG v TIH [2015] SGHCF 12; and THL v THM [2015] SGHCF 11.

3. Dorothy successfully represented the mother in a bitter custody battle over her 2 children. The High Court awarded our client care and control and ordered the father to hand over the children within 7 days or face contempt action. The case took 3 years and involved over 2,000 pages of court documents.

4. Dorothy successfully represented the father and won for him care and control of the children. She also obtained for him a greater share of the matrimonial assets.  You can read the testimonial of the grateful father in the Testimonials section of the profile.

5. Dorothy recently won a maintenance variation on behalf of the husband after she discovered that the former wife had a bank account which was not disclosed to the court.

Dorothy studied at the tops schools in Singapore. She is well liked and respected by her peers. She has always held leadership positions, including being elected as Law Club President at the Law Faculty, National University of Singapore. She is currently the Deputy Head of PKWA Law’s Family Law Department and will become a director at the firm this year.