Prof Chew is the founding and current Dean of the School of Law at the Singapore University of Social Sciences. He served as District Judge from 2007 to 2014. He has practiced law in one form or another for over 4 decades. He was the Joint Managing Partner of KhattarWong the predecessor of Withers KhattarWong. He was appointed Senior Counsel in 2000. Currently, he is a Consultant at Peter Low Chambers LLC.
Over the years he has served on several governmental committees, including on the Military Court of Appeal and the Liquor Licensing Board. Currently, he is a member of the Reform of Legal Education Committee and a Director of the charity Metropolitan YMCA as well as a Director of MY World Pte Ltd, one of the anchor operators for Early Childhood education. He is on the panel of chairmen of the Disciplinary Tribunal of the Singapore Medical Council. He is a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators of which he is a former President and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. In 2019, together with like-minded professionals, he set up and is the current President of the Asia Pacific Institute of Experts (APIEx).
Chuan Tat is a Senior Lecturer at the Singapore University of Social Sciences, School of Law (the Law School) where, amongst other things, he teaches and researches on legal ethics. Chuan Tat is also Counsel at Breakpoint LLC, where he specialises in international dispute resolution.
The Law School places significant emphasis on inculcating in our students the core values of the legal profession and developing their ethical consciousness in this early phase of their legal journey. This includes conducting a dedicated freshman legal ethics course as part of the Law School’s curriculum.
Chuan Tat is intimately involved in the Law School’s efforts in legal ethics education. He was the course convenor for the aforementioned legal ethics course. Chuan Tat is also a member of the core team assisting the Dean in overseeing the Law School’s implementation of the Ethics and Professional Standards Committee’s recommendations, which has as their objective the reaffirmation of the moral core and values of the profession.
Apart from the Law School’s initiatives, Chuan Tat serves (or has served) in various other ethics-related roles. He is a member of the Professional Standards & Ethics Working Group of the Professional Affairs Committee, Singapore Academy of Law. Previously, he was involved in the legal disciplinary process in his role as a Council Member of the Law Society of Singapore.
Chuan Tat is admitted to practise law in Singapore, England & Wales, and the State of New York. He obtained his LL.B. from the National University of Singapore and a LL.M. from Columbia Law School.