Lee May Ling
Partner
May Ling has an established background in litigation. She frequently acts for financial institutions, public-listed and multinational corporations and high profile individuals, in litigation and arbitration proceedings concerning misconduct and fraud, employment disputes, company and shareholder disputes, family and estate disputes and corporate-governance related matters.
May Ling has a particular expertise in matters involving white collar crime and investigations. She regularly assists her clients with navigating anti-fraud, sanctions, corruption and money-laundering laws, conducting internal investigations into employee misconduct, fraud and harassment and providing dawn raid training. She has also represented corporate and individual clients in criminal and regulatory investigations and enforcement actions in a range of areas including bribery and corruption, securities fraud and disclosure regulations, anti-money laundering controls and financial sanctions.
May Ling is presently Chairman on the Board of the SAS-SBF (Security Association Singapore - Singapore Business Federation) Foundation of Compassion Fund. She is also an Accredited Mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre. She was part of the inaugural batch of fellows under the Criminal Legal Aid Scheme, where she was seconded to the Law Society Pro Bono Services office in 2015, and practiced criminal law full-time whilst developing contacts with the criminal law bench and bar.
May Ling frequently writes on white collar crime and investigation related topics. Her recent publications include The Asset Tracing and Recovery Review, The International Comparative Legal Guides to Anti-Money Laundering Laws and Regulations, The International Comparative Legal Guides to Sanctions, Practical Law Global (Thomson Reuters) Anti-Corruption and Global Legal Insights to: Bribery & Corruption. In addition to client-dedicated training sessions, she has recently spoken at the IBA Singapore Anti-corruption Conference, Global Disputes Summit and STEP Asia Conference.
May Ling is recommended by Who’s Who Legal (Southeast Asia – Investigations 2024) and is also recognised as a ‘Next Generation Partner’ in The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024 and 2025 (White-Collar Crime) where she is described as "hardworking, accessible and capable” and “consistently knowledgeable and responsive … able to advise on a wide range of issues dealing with criminal investigations, regulatory reporting obligations, and trainings on dealing with unannounced government visits”.
May Ling graduated with First Class Honours from King’s College London and also has an LL.M. in Commercial Law.
Work Highlights
- Acted for financial institutions in relation to Singapore’s biggest S$3 billion money laundering investigations.
- Acted for financial institutions in relation to the 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) scandal.
- Acted for a listed cross-border multi-business conglomerate in one of the longest running civil proceedings in the Supreme Court involving claims of breach of statutory and directors’ duties, conspiracy and fraud.
- Acted as defence counsel in the high-profile prosecution against several members of City Harvest Church.