Overview
Laure heads the firm’s Employment & Incentives Practice in Asia. She has significant knowledge of advisory, transactional and contentious employment law, with in-depth knowledge of restraint of trade issues, senior executive appointments and terminations, employee transfers, incentive arrangements, settlement agreements, redundancies, outsourcings and insolvencies.
Laure has extensive experience in advising on employment and incentives-related issues arising out of corporate transactions, including cross-border M&A transactions and restructurings in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region generally, with a particular focus on businesses in the financial services sector.
Laure also advises large multinational institutions on data privacy related matters (data privacy compliance programmes, complaints, investigations and breach handling) and on the implications of cyber theft (including civil/criminal liabilities, remedial steps and strategy).
Laure was based in the firm’s London office for 11 years before relocating to the firm’s Singapore office in 2014. Earlier in her career, Laure spent two years as sole in-house legal counsel for Lazard Asia, in Singapore.
Laure is recognised for her Employment & Incentives expertise, and is ranked as a Band 1 lawyer by Chambers Asia-Pacific 2023 for five consecutive years since 2019 and a 'Leading Individual’ by Legal 500 Asia-Pacific 2023 for seven years since 2017. She is recognised in The International Employment Lawyer Elite 2022. Laure was also awarded Legal 500 ‘Lawyer of the Year’ for Labour & Employment and ‘Best in Labour and Employment Law’ at the Euromoney Asia Women In Business Law Awards in 2015.
Work Highlights
Laure has acted for clients in many of the Asia-Pacific region’s most significant transactions. These include:
- successfully defending Noble Group on high value and complex litigation before the Singapore High Court, brought by its former CEO, in relation to forfeited incentives and bonuses, and Noble’s counterclaim relating to his alleged breach of restrictive covenants and fiduciary duties.
- advising Olympus Capital on new employee incentive arrangements and employment agreements in connection with its investment in the Constant Energy Group, a leading player specialized in the renewables sector with scaled development and investment in electricity generation and storage platform and high-quality power assets.
- successfully obtaining an interim injunction for Integr8 Fuels Asia Pte Ltd in respect of a breach by a former bunker trader of his employee and customer non-solicitation restrictions and confidentiality obligations.
- providing employment and incentives legal advice to Oliver Gerhardt, founder and substantial shareholder of Wavecell, in relation to the landmark acquisition of Wavecell by 8x8, Inc. This deal was awarded VC Exit of the Year by SVCA (the Singapore Venture Capital Association) in October 2019.
- advising Greene King, a UK pub retailer and brewer, on the employee incentives and remuneration aspects of its cash takeover by CK Asset Holdings Limited (via a wholly-owned Bidco) which is a Hong Kong registered and listed conglomerate.
- advising a leading global technology group on a regional disposal involving eight Southeast Asia jurisdictions and impacting over 600 employees, including senior exits, investigations and disciplinary processes, sexual harassment complaints, bonus and other employment terms.