Desmond is an experienced litigator and dispute resolution practitioner with over two decades of legal practice across multiple areas of law, which include criminal, regulatory, tort/negligence, insurance, commercial/corporate, harassment, and employment.

He has a proven track record in private practice, and was a partner at Lee & Lee in the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department from 2009 to 2025. He has advised and represented a large and diverse group of clients (which include individuals, companies, cooperatives, statutory boards, and government ministries) across a vast spectrum of legal cases. He has acted for clients facing court martial cases under the Singapore Armed Forces Court Martial Centre, and represented clients (both prosecuting and defending) in proceedings against real estate agents before the Council for Estate Agencies.

His notable cases include:

• In 2010, Desmond advised and acted for a notable golf and country club in an incident involving a golfing member being struck by lightning while golfing (at that time, the first such claim in Singapore brought against a golf and country club). Later that year (in another widely reported case), he advised and acted for a renowned Singapore insurer against a former Romanian diplomat who had hit-and-run into three pedestrians (killing one and severely injuring the other two) and then fled Singapore.

• In 2013, in PP v KDE (DAC 18443/2013), in one of the very few Singapore cases resulting in an acquittal for a charge under that section, Desmond successfully defended the client against a charge of failing to provide a blood specimen under the Road Traffic Act.

• In 2014, Desmond was appointed to give expert evidence before the Judiciary of Trinidad & Tobago on the quantification of damages for personal injuries in the case of Roberts et al v Bhagan and Medcorp Ltd.

• In 2020, he advised and acted for a major cinema operator in relation to a ventilation duct collapse in a public cinema hall in Singapore. Later that year, he represented a student charged under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act (as it was then) in one of the first prosecution cases in Singapore involving the hacking of stored value cards.

• In 2021, in one of the earliest prosecutions under the (then) newly passed Payment Services Act 2019, he represented an individual charged for unlicensed cross-border money transfer services.

• In 2023, Desmond represented an established service provider charged for 181 regulatory offences under the Sewerage and Drainage Act, Public Utilities (Protection of Water Pipes Infrastructure) Regulations, and Sewerage and Drainage (Protection of Public Sewerage System) Regulations.

Desmond graduated from the National University of Singapore and was admitted to the Singapore bar in 2002. He has previously served on the Law Society’s Admissions Committee, on the Inquiry Panel, and as a Covid-19 Assessor.