Mark Mangan

Six Battery Road
Level 42
Singapore 049909
mark.mangan@lfmdisputes.com
d +65 6232 2154 
m +65 9299 3864
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Mark is recognised as a leading arbitration practitioner, having appeared as counsel in over 75 cases around the world and across the Asia-Pacific. Many of the cases have been ground-breaking; have often raised novel and complex issues requiring innovative solutions; and routinely involve some of the world’s leading corporations, sovereign governments and state-owned entities.  

Mark is a current member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, an author of a leading book on SIAC arbitration, and author/co-editor of a book on investment treaty arbitration.

The disputes in which Mark is engaged arise from a wide range of industries, are conducted under the laws of both common and civil law countries, are seated in jurisdictions around the world, and are often conducted with co-counsel.  Mark also regularly sits as an arbitrator, having been appointed on over 25 occasions as a sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator, presiding arbitrator or emergency arbitrator in both civil and common law cases.

After having practiced arbitration in Paris, London, Hong Kong and Singapore for over 20 years with leading international law firms, Mark is a founding partner of Lindsay Francis & Mangan.  He is legally qualified in England, Wales and Australia, while being a foreign registered lawyer in Singapore.  Mark has twice been recognized in the FT Innovative Lawyer Awards and once in the GAR Awards. 

Chambers Asia Pacific reported in its 2024 edition: ‘He is brilliant and always finds the best solutions instantly.’

• Qualifications

  • Master of Laws (LLM), University of Cambridge, 2001-02, awarded Chevening Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Scholarship and Pegasus Middle Temple Scholarship

  • Bachelor of Laws (LLB), University of Technology, Sydney, 1997-2000 (First Class Honours and Winner of University Medal - summa cum laude)

  • Bachelor of Commerce (BCom), University of New South Wales, Sydney, 1992-96 (Honours)

  • Admitted in Australia (2000) and England and Wales with Higher Rights of Audience (2009)

  • Registered foreign lawyer, Singapore (2013)

• Expertise

  Key areas of focus include oil & gas (including LNG price reviews), renewables, mining, banking & finance, post M&A, construction, space, telecommunications, hospitality, crypto, high value art and jewelry, and sports disputes. Mark also has an active investment treaty practice, advising and representing both investors and states.

  Mark has appeared as counsel in the following cases, among others:

  • ICC arbitration related to the design, construction and performance of a solar power plant in Japan and subject to Japanese law (2023-24);

  • put-option disputes arising out of the Indian steel industry and subject to Indian law (2023);

  • a post M&A dispute in Singapore between the founders and an investor in a hospitality business under Singapore law (2023);

  • HKIAC mediation in Hong Kong under Hong Kong law relating to the disputed auction of a rare and precious jewel valued at over $50 million (2022-23);

  • two multi-billion-dollar English-law governed ICC arbitrations in Singapore arising out of price reviews in long-term LNG contracts (2019 - 2020), which were first-of-their-kind cases, raising complex legal and technical issues, requiring an innovative strategy, and which resulted in important precedents being set for the Asian LNG industry;

  • one of the very first third party funded arbitrations in Singapore (2018 - 2021), subject to Turkish law, which earned Mark recognition in the 2019 Financial Times Innovative Lawyer Awards Asia-Pacific (SIAC Rules);

  • a multi-billion-dollar ICC arbitration in Singapore in which Mark successfully argued that the claims were inadmissible under English law and beyond the jurisdiction of the tribunal (2018 - 2020);

  • a SIAC arbitration arising from a shareholders dispute among owners of a leading hospital in Hyderabad, India and subject to Indian law (2019-20)

  • an ICSID investment treaty arbitration in relation to the construction of a major highway in a Middle Eastern country (2018-2023);

  • an ad hoc investment treaty arbitration (Stockholm seat) in relation to the implementation of EU agriculture quotas by an Eastern European country (2006-2007);

  • a HKIAC commercial arbitration in Hong Kong subject to Korean law (2017 - 2018) in which Mark successfully argued that all of the claims should be rejected while all of Mark’s client’s counterclaims were upheld in full plus costs, thereby prompting the losing party to retain Mark in its very next dispute; and

  • a multi-billion-dollar commercial arbitration seated in Lagos, Nigeria in which Mark successfully argued for an order requiring a state-owned oil company to perform a 30-year production sharing contract which it had refused to sign based on English-law equitable principles (2010-12).

  Mark has also appeared as counsel on behalf of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in over 10 cases before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). He has also represented before CAS the Korean Olympic Committee and Korean Swimming Federation in relation to the non-selection of a Korean swimmer due to doping offences. Most recently, Mark acted on behalf of a Maldivian football official against the Asian Football Confederation in two appeals before CAS in which Mark’s team successfully proved complex claims of gender discrimination, denial of justice and corruption in Asian football governance (2019 – 2021). Mark has handled disputes arising out of the ICC Cricket World Cup (2003), the Lance Armstrong doping scandal (2012), Athens Olympic Games (2004), Torino Winter Olympic Games (2006); Rio Olympic Games (2016); and Beijing Winter Games (2022). He is also a former member of the CAS panel of arbitrators.

  Mark has been appointed as a commercial arbitrator under the rules of various institutions, including those of the ICC, SIAC, HKIAC, LCIA, SCC and KCAB as well as an ad hoc arbitrator.

• Recognition

  Mark is ranked among The Elite for arbitration in Singapore according to Chambers Asia Pacific and as a Leading Individual by Legal 500 Asia Pacific. Mark’s team was awarded ‘International Arbitration Team of the Year’ in Southeast Asia by Legal 500 for 2020 and 2021, while Mark has been short-listed for the prestigious Legal 500 Private Practice Lawyer of the Year award.

  Legal 500 and Chambers have reported (based on interviews with clients and peers) that Mark is ‘a super cross-examiner’, 'incredibly hard working', 'a great advocate', ‘brilliant’, ‘a great strategist’, 'has an ability to assimilate a large amount of highly complex data', ‘always finds the best solutions’, 'remains cool under pressure', is ‘exceptional’, 'brilliant at tactics', ‘extremely sharp’ and 'excels at formulating and executing winning legal strategy consistent with the client's needs and objectives'. Mark is also described in these publications as 'superb', 'highly astute', 'innovative', 'hands-on', 'on top of things', ‘is really proactive as a thinker’, and 'has an encyclopedic knowledge of the SIAC rules and Singapore arbitration practice'.

  Legal 500 (2022) notes that: ‘Mark Mangan comes across as the hardest working lawyer in the business, he is just so incredibly well prepared. No stone is left unturned, even if only to be able to explain why an issue is irrelevant or a red herring. An exceptional lawyer. It adds: ‘The intellect of the team is unrivalled. They are trusted by clients with some of the largest disputes arbitrated in Asia.’

  Chambers (2022) reports that: ‘Clients find him to be “an extremely sharp and commercially minded lawyer who has excellent judgement and is very knowledgeable on Asian oil and gas disputes.”’ Similarly, Chambers (2023) records one observer saying: ‘They are extremely brilliant lawyers who have a thorough understanding of how arbitrations work, and the sort of things that tribunals value.’ It added in 2024: ‘He is brilliant and always finds the best solutions instantly.’

  Mark was ‘highly commended’ in the 2019 Financial Times Innovative Lawyer Awards Asia-Pacific (for leading one of Singapore's first ever third party funded arbitrations) and ‘commended’ in the 2017 edition (for identifying international law remedies in response to cross-border haze pollution). He is recognized in the global directories for Who’s Who Lawyers in both Arbitration and Energy.

• Prior international law firm experience

  • Dechert LLP, Singapore, 2015-2023 (head of arbitration in Asia)

  • Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Paris, London and Singapore, 2004-2014 (Associate, Counsel)

  • Blake Dawson Waldron (now Ashurst), Sydney, 1999-2003

• Thought leadership

  Mark is the author / editor of two leading text books (with a third pending) and over 50 published articles, book chapters and commentaries on international arbitration.

  In addition, Mark regularly presents on these subjects at conferences around the world and has taught a course on the art of cross-examination in international arbitration for practitioners in Europe and Asia since 2009.

  Mark is the inaugural chairman of the ICC Australia Arbitration Committee (2022-2024) and a current member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration (2024-2027).

  A sample of Mark’s thought leadership includes the following (a full list available on request):

  • A Guide to the SIAC Arbitration Rules, Oxford University Press, 1st ed. 2014, 2nd ed. 2018, and 3rd ed. pending (book co-author). The SIAC book is regularly relied upon in SIAC arbitrations and by the Singapore courts.

  • The Guide to Investment Treaty Protection and Enforcement, Global Arbitration Review, 1st ed. 2021 and 2nd ed. 2024 (book co-editor and author of the chapter on most-favoured nation clauses).

  • Investment Treaty Arbitration Know-how (on-line co-editor), Global Arbitration Review, since 2012

  • The Pursuit of Net Zero Arbitration with the aid of Carbon Emissions Scorecards (Kluwer Law International, Journal of International Arbitration 39, no. 5 (2022): p719-748, August 2022); short-listed in the 2023 GAR Awards.

  • Protecting Investments in Carbon Credits through Investment Treaties (Oil, Gas & Energy Law Journal, OGEL 4, Vol. 20 – issue 4, June 2022.

  • Combating Haze Pollution through the Enforcement of Investment Treaties and Human Rights (Cambridge University Press, The Asian Turn in Foreign Investment, Chapter 16, September 2021)

  • Pursuing Arbitration Claims on a Shoestring in the Midst of the COVID-19 Pandemic (Asian Dispute Review, Volume 22, Issue 3, pp. 121-125, July 2020)

  • COVID-19: The Consequences on Contract Performance and the Resolution of Disputes (Mealey’s International Arbitration Report, Vol. 35, #3, March 2020)

  • The case for the Reinstatement of the Osaka Rule Prohibiting Athletes with Prior Doping Suspensions from Competing in the Olympic Games (International Sports Law Review, Vol. 17 Issue 2, June 2017)

  • The Singapore Court of Appeal's Decision in Astro: Providing Clarity or Causing Uncertainty? (Asian Dispute Review, p89 – 93, April 2014)

  • Did the Indian Supreme Court Reverse Itself in Bharat Aluminum v Kaiser Aluminum because of the Decision Reached by the Investment Treaty Tribunal in White Industries v India? (International Bar Association Newsletter, p. 132 -136, February 2013)

  • Sports Arbitration: Citius Altius Fortius? (Austrian Arbitration Yearbook 2009, p301-318, November 2009)

  • With the Globalisation of Arbitral Disputes, Is It Time for a New Convention? (2008, Int. A.L.R. 133-142, January 2008) (placed on the University of Oxford’s BCL reading list).

  • Investment Treaty Arbitration: An Australian Perspective (Journal of International Arbitration, Vol. 24 No. 2, p. 103-128, December 2007)

  • China’s investment treaties: Substantive and procedural rights (Asian Counsel, Vol. 5, Issue 4, p39-48, May 2007)

• CV

  Available upon request