Earl Rivera-Dolera

Partner

Email earl.dolera@frasersvn.com

Phone +84 28 3824 2733

Earl Rivera-Dolera is a Partner and the Head of the International Arbitration Practice of Frasers Law Company, having joined Frasers in 2021. Since then, Earl has handled large and complex transactions and sophisticated legal issues in advising and representing clients in their cross-border disputes. Before joining Frasers, Earl worked for a leading chamber of international arbitration practitioners based in Singapore for nine years.

Earl has acted as arbitrator, counsel, advocate, international tribunal secretary (to prominent international arbitrators from major arbitration jurisdictions), and case counsel, in her more than 16 years of experience practising in the area of international commercial arbitration and investor-state treaty arbitration, court litigation and other areas of dispute resolution such as mediation, with particular emphasis on high-value and complex disputes arising from M&A transactions, cross-border sale of goods, construction, and engineering (EPCs and multi-party and multi-contract transactions), service agreements, licensing and distributorship agreements. She was based in Singapore prior to her relocation to Vietnam and has been involved in arbitration matters seated in Asia-Pacific, Europe, the US, Australia, and Africa. Earl has been appointed as an arbitrator with seats in Japan, India, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Korea, and Hong Kong. She has extensive experience in more than 180 international arbitration matters.

Earl is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators, a Fellow of the Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution (Singapore), a Salzburg-Cutler Fellow for International Law and Jean Monnet Fellow for  European Union Law, the latter two from Stanford Law School (Stanford University, USA). She is admitted to practice as Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales, attorney and counselor-at-law of the New York and Texas State Bar, USA, and attorney-at-law, Philippines. Earl is also a certified information privacy professional (IAPP) for the EU’s GDPR.

Earl has extensively published in the area of international arbitration most notable of which is her being a co-author of Halsbury’s Laws of Singapore: Arbitration (2017 and 2020 series). She is also an active advocate in the promotion of international arbitration, mediation, and iterations of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms and speaks on these areas at various events and conferences in Japan, Cambodia, Thailand, Philippines, California (USA), Taiwan among others, in top-ranking universities such as Stanford Law School in California, and a regular judge in mooting competitions in Asia, Europe, and the US.

A sampling of recent matters that Earl has advised on include:

Construction and engineering

ICC arbitration between a company in Turkey and a Middle Eastern state on breach of treaty obligations, e.g. non-expropriation obligation, fair and equitable treatment, and full protection and security.

ICC arbitration between companies in Germany and Japan arising from the construction and design of electrical and mechanical systems, trackwork, and rolling stock of an access railway system in Taiwan. Issues included contractual interpretation of ‘technical data’, ‘technical service fees’, ‘management and supervision services’, procurement delays, noise evaluation, and mitigation. The seat was Singapore and the governing law was Taiwan.

ICC arbitration between a foreign investment company (owned by a company registered in South Korea) and a government entity of Pakistan arising from the construction of a major 6-lane highway to connect 2 major cities in Pakistan. Issues included breaches of the provisions and warranties set out in the concession agreement. The seat was Singapore and governing law was England save for matters where the law of Pakistan was required to be applied.

KLRCA (now AIAC) arbitration between a dredging contractor company in Malaysia and its shareholders on disputes arising from personal guarantees made by the latter. Issues arose out of the soil and design investigation reports for the purpose of reclamation works (and the consequences of its collapse) in Malaysia. Th seat and governing law was Malaysia.

LCIA arbitration between property developers in India and a real estate investment company in Mauritius arising from a land buying agreement.  Issues included fraudulent misrepresentations, material delay, conspiracy to cause an entity to invest in construction projects, and breaches of land buying agreements for the development of development projects in India. The seat was Singapore and the governing law was England.

Oil and gas

Ad hoc arbitration arising from a production sharing contract to engage in petroleum operations in Nigeria between oil companies registered in Nigeria (subsidiaries of Norwegian and  US oil and gas companies) and Nigeria’s state petroleum corporation. Seat and governing law was Nigeria.

Shipping disputes

ICC arbitration between companies in Nigeria and China on the sale and importation of cement from China to Nigeria. Issues included variations of ‘arrival drafts’, and obligations to secure import permits and licenses in Nigeria. The seat was London and governing law was CISG and the law of China.

SCMA arbitration between a Dutch shipping company and a Philippine energy corporation arising from a contract of affreightment for coal from Indonesia to the Philippines. Issues included non-compliance with contractual specifications for the nominated vessels. The seat was Singapore and the governing law was England.

SCMA arbitration for the supply of bulk carrier vessels from Cambodia to Singapore for sand cargo for reclamation works in Singapore. The main issue was strict compliance with vessel requirements from the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore. The seat and governing law was Singapore.

Shareholder and joint venture agreements:

ICC arbitration between a Japanese pharmaceutical company and 20 respondents/shareholders of one of India’s largest generic drug companies. Issues included fraudulent misrepresentation claims in the sale and purchase of shares and India’s statute of limitations for fraud claims. The seat was Singapore and the governing law was India.

SIAC arbitration between a Singapore water treatment company and its shareholders on agreements to set up water treatment facilities in China and other countries. Issues included the interpretation of ‘deadlock’, ‘put option notice’, ‘put option shares’, ‘fair value of shares’, and limits to ‘full economic interest’. The seat and governing law was Singapore.

SIAC arbitration involving a joint venture to build a vehicle manufacturing facility in India between companies in Japan and India. The main issue was the unlawful termination of the joint venture. The seat was Singapore and the governing law was Japan.

ICC arbitration involving 9 claimants from India against a German company on disputed company acquisitions in breach of the shareholders’ agreement. Seat was India and governing laws were India and England.

SIAC arbitration between UAE and Singaporean companies arising from their distributorship agreement to sell hardware and software in Afghanistan. Issues included breaches of delivery and payment obligations. The seat and governing law was Singapore.

SIAC arbitration involving a BVI and Singapore company in resin, consumer-packaging, and plastics distribution in Asia-Pacific and their shareholders who are Indonesian nationals. Jurisdiction was challenged on the basis of performance adjustment mechanism issues to be dealt with by an expert auditor and not by arbitrators. Seat and governing law were Singapore.

ICC arbitration between a company in South Korea engaged in the manufacture of dental instruments and equipment and a Swiss company in the business of developing dental implants worldwide. Issues arising from convertible bond agreements and interpretation of the conversion formula. The seat and the governing law were Korea.

Acting as arbitrator, counsel, tribunal secretary, and Philippine law expert (within the context of an arbitration) in other arbitrations relating to cross-border sale and purchase of goods as well as cross-border service agreements in the FMCG, hospitality, energy, and transportation industries.

A comprehensive list of Earl’s experience can be provided upon request.

Expertise

Senior team

Mark Fraser

Gwendoline Brooker

Ho Thuy Ngoc Tram

Duong Thi Mai Huong

Dr Nguyen Van Vien

Phan Xuan Qui

Dinh Thi Hien Ly

Pham Thanh Mai

Nguyen Le Quynh Chi

Dang Quynh Chau

Meet the team