While in practice, Mr Chia represented numerous multi-national and regional companies, financial institutions, liquidators/receivers, organizations and businesses in the full spectrum of legal services. He has considerable cross-border and regional experience assisting clients in all aspects of legal practice, including contract, M&A, corporate/commercial, employment/redundancy, intellectual property rights portfolio management and enforcement, regional product recall and the establishment of internal compliance and fraud prevention programs within their organizations. In respect of the latter, Mr Chia developed and reviewed internal compliance programs and manuals for many clients for implementation on a regional or global basis, having regard to the unique circumstances and laws of different countries. Mr Chia has trained senior management of some of the world’s largest companies in in-house preventative programs on corruption, fair competition, fraud prevention and crisis management.

Mr Chia has extensive experience and represented clients in all aspects of litigation, from simple breach of contract and debt recovery to complex white-collar crime litigation. Mr Chia has acted and advised a variety of significant, Fortune 500 clients and high nett worth individuals in diverse areas of litigation ranging from corporate governance, internal fraud investigations, tracing or recovery of assets, and crisis management, to legal proceedings for breach of contract, conspiracy to injure, insurance, negligence, intellectual property rights infringement, and complex employment issues including negotiation and termination of employment (including C-level officers), preservation of trade secrets, confidential information, patents, design, trademark and copyright matters. He has appeared as counsel before both the High Court and Court of Appeal.

As for corporate experience, Mr Chia has substantial experience in all aspects of M&A and corporate/commercial work (both within Singapore and in regional countries like India, Sri Lanka, China, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Thailand), including corporate secretarial management, contract negotiation and drafting and conduct of M&A deals and structuring. He has negotiated, structured and drafted a variety of contracts, ranging from sale and purchase of assets and businesses, share issue or subscription, joint ventures, public private partnership, interface agreements, to distribution, SAP, franchising, distribution, outsourcing, shared services, IT procurement, employment, intellectual property licensing, vendor, customer and settlement agreements.

In October 2011, Mr Chia decided to establish his own litigation and corporate practice, Coleman Street Chambers LLC. Coleman Street Chamber LLC has since acquired a loyal and growing stable of reputable corporate and individual clients in Singapore and the region.

Coleman Street Chambers LLC also works closely with and in association with various top international law firms as Singapore counsel, as well as a network of regional associate law firms.

Several of Mr Chia’s articles have been selected for publication in leading Singapore law journals. Several cases in which he was involved have also been reported.

The High Court in Lim Quee Choo (Suing as co-administratrix of the estate of Koh Jit Meng) & Anor v David Rasif and Anor [2008] SGHC 36 and the Court of Appeal (the highest court in Singapore) in Mercurine Pte Ltd v Canberra Development Pte Ltd [2008] SGCA 38, cited with approval Mr Chia’s article in [1996] 17 Singapore Law Review (SLR) pp 221 – 243, and overturned a decade-old rule of civil procedure in Singapore, setting new law.

Mr Chia’s article in [2001] 13 Singapore Academy of Law Journal (SAcLJ) Page 406 – 427 has also been cited in Public Prosecutor v Hsu Yisong [2016] SGDC 128, and in Criminal Law in Singapore and Malaysia (Yeo, Morgan, Chan) (Lexis Nexis, 2007) at pp 320 and 322, the seminal text for criminal law in Singapore and Malaysia. The lacunae in the law identified in this article were eventually resolved in subsequent amendments to the Penal Code.