Min Joo is a Partner in Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP and a Family Law specialist.
Min Joo has extensive experience in all aspects of family litigation, including contentious divorces and annulments, disputes over child custody, division of matrimonial assets and family violence in the Family Justice Court and Court of Appeal. These include cases involving cross-border jurisdiction and forum issues, international relocation or parental child abduction, and foreign assets.
Min Joo’s practice also includes alternate modes of dispute resolution such as negotiation and mediation in Family Justice Court and the Singapore Mediation Centre to achieve out-of-court settlements, as well as non-contentious matters such as advising on and drafting Pre- and Post-nuptial agreements.
Min Joo views her role as a problem solver, helping her clients resolve their family conflicts with tailored solutions from the toolkit of dispute resolution options; and a guide to help navigate her clients through the tumultuous times, protect their interests and assist them in redesigning their, and their children’s, future. She hopes to make a positive change in the practice of family law, one case at a time.
Min Joo was named as a Rising Star in the 2022 edition of Doyles Guide’s Singapore Family and Divorce Leading Lawyers and in the 2023 edition of the Singapore Business Review’s Singapore’s 30 Most Influential Lawyers Under 40.
As a native Korean fluent in the Korean language, Min Joo is also the firm’s relationship lawyer with the Korean Association of Singapore, Korean Embassy of Singapore, and the associate Korean firms in Korea and Singapore. She serves as a Member of Council in the Korean Association of Singapore.
Min Joo is a member of the Singapore Association of Women Lawyers (SAWL) and volunteers at the legal clinics where she gives free legal advice to women who are unable to afford a lawyer.
Min Joo has also been invited to give talks at the Singapore Council of Women Organisations and to conduct seminars for the Korean Association of Singapore on family law.
NOTABLE CASES
- Acted in a successful suit in the High Court Family Division (unreported May 2023 Decision) to obtain orders, inter alia, for sole care and control of the children to the father, despite the mother having unilaterally taken the children away from the matrimonial home and filed PPO applications against the father alleging abuse; and to ring-fence pre-marital trust assets worth $20m from being liable for division.
- Acted in a successful suit in the Family Justice Court (WGO v WGP unreported August 2022 Decision) and in successfully resisting the appeal to the High Court Family Division in most part (HCF/DCA 84/2022, April 2023) to obtain orders, inter alia, for sole care and control of the child to the mother and maintenance of child to be paid by the father to the mother, despite shared care arrangements made by the parties during the interim period pending the conclusion of the ancillary matters proceedings.
- Acted in a successful suit in the Family Justice Court (VWA v VWB [2021] SGFC 102) and in successfully resisting the appeal to the High Court Family Division (unreported February 2022 Decision) to obtain orders, inter alia, for the homemaker wife to receive 40% of matrimonial assets after a mid-length marriage, in addition to maintenance for herself and the children whom she was granted sole care and control.
- Acted in a successful suit in the High Court (VNW v VNX [2021] SGHCF 1) and in successfully resisting the appeal to the Court of Appeal (CA 178/2020, July 2021) to obtain orders, inter alia, for the homemaker wife to receive 50% of matrimonial assets after a mid-length marriage, in addition to maintenance for herself and the children whom she was granted sole care and control. Significantly, the client’s 50% share of the matrimonial assets were increased by over US$1m as a result of successful arguments made for adverse inference to be drawn against the husband for his failure to make full and frank disclosure.
MEMBERSHIP/DIRECTORSHIP
- Council Member, Korean Association of Singapore
- Member, Singapore Association of Women Lawyers (SAWL)