About
Luke has been a soldier, an actor, a lawyer and a founder.
Luke Lee is a Singaporean lawyer, investor, founder, actor and philanthropist.
He splits his time between Asia, Europe and the USA, for business, fundraising and acting.
He speaks English and Mandarin natively, and some Japanese and Italian.
Timeline
- 2010–12
Luke served two years of national service and left the Singapore Army as a First Lieutenant.
- 2012
He played Sergeant Heng in Ah Boys to Men. STAR Chinese Movies bought its pay-TV rights that year, and the sequel followed in 2013.
- 2013
While studying in the UK, he trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.
- 2015
He graduated from the University of Manchester with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours), with First Class marks in Contract Law, Constitutional Reform and Jurisprudence.
- 2018
He came home to Singapore and was called to the Singapore Bar.
- 2023
He founded Vanguard AI, where he is CEO.
- 2024
He earned an LLM with Distinction from King’s College London, specialising in International Dispute Resolution. He was top in his cohort for Principles of Enterprise Law, with First Class marks in International Commercial Arbitration (dissertation), Introduction to International Dispute Resolution, FinTech Law and Transnational Human Rights Litigation.
His practice
He has represented and advised state-level entities, multinational corporations, business families, high and ultra-high net worth individuals, and conglomerates and corporate groups, in Singapore and abroad, including the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Hong Kong, Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia.
Their work spans energy, commodities, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals and sustainable technologies.
He has particular expertise in disputes arising from cross-border investments, financing arrangements and large-scale infrastructure and energy projects. These often involve complex contractual structures, parallel proceedings, and questions of jurisdiction, governing law and enforcement strategy.
He has appeared as lead counsel in the State Courts, the Family Justice Courts and the Supreme Court, and as counsel in the SIAC, VIAC, SICC, SMC and CFRC.
He also advises SMEs and start-ups on the law of emerging technologies: AI, smart contracts, cryptocurrencies, distributed ledger technology including blockchain, and NFTs. That includes their regulation, such as the rules for digital payment token service providers under Singapore’s Payment Services Act and Payment Services Regulations.
He serves as Assistant Editor of the Singapore Arbitration Journal and sits on the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators’ Arbitration Bar Committee.
He has contributed to law reform. For the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators, he wrote on the governing law of arbitration agreements in its response to the Ministry of Law’s consultation on the International Arbitration Act after the SIDRA Review (May 2025), and on AI in arbitration, platform-based dispute resolution and remote proceedings in its comments on UNCITRAL’s stocktaking of developments in dispute resolution in the digital economy (September 2025).
In March 2026 he represented the Inter-Pacific Bar Association’s Investment Arbitration Sub-Committee as an observer at the 54th session of UNCITRAL Working Group III (ISDS Reform) in Vienna.
Investing
Luke is an active angel investor, from seed and early stage to Series B, in emerging tech, B2B, SaaS, art, fashion, film and fintech.
He was an early public-market investor in Amazon, PayPal and Tesla. He invests in Bitcoin and Ether, and is a strong believer in decentralised finance and blockchain technology.
Research and speaking
His research focuses on the intersection of law and technology, including artificial intelligence and digital asset regulation. His papers have been cited 100 times (Google Scholar).
Selected talks
- Oct 2025
Host, Law Society of Singapore Public Law Conference, “Discretion in Public Law: The Prerogative Powers of Government and the Attorney-General”, and chair of the panel “Discretion: Unpacking the Attorney-General’s Prerogative Powers”
- 2025
Panel speaker, 6th Global Legal Association Arbitration & Litigation Conference, AIAC, Kuala Lumpur: “Evolving Practice in International Arbitration: Technology, Strategy and the Human Element”
- Jul 2025
Lead speaker, NUS Law talk, “Litigation and Arbitration in Practice: Navigating Domestic and Cross-Border Disputes”
- Jul 2025
Speaker and moderator, NUS Law virtual talk, “From Classroom to Courtroom”
- May 2025
Speaker, Private Client Seminar, “Building and Construction Industry Security of Payment Act 2004: What You Need To Know”
- Feb 2025
Speaker, Anglo-Chinese School (Independent), at the invitation of the Singapore Introductory Mooting Programme
- Oct 2024
Speaker, SMU Law Firm Dialogue Session on arbitration and dispute resolution
Professional bodies and associations
- FellowSingapore Institute of Arbitrators (2019)
- Accredited MediatorSingapore International Mediation Institute (2020)
- International MediatorSage Mediation International Mediators Panel
- Neutral EvaluatorLSNEDS-FIDReC Panel of Neutrals, Law Society of Singapore
- Assistant EditorSingapore Arbitration Journal
- MemberArbitration Bar Committee, Singapore Institute of Arbitrators, 2024–2026
- MemberInvestment Arbitration Sub-Committee, Inter-Pacific Bar Association
- MemberDispute Resolution & Arbitration Committee, Inter-Pacific Bar Association
- MemberPublic and International Law Committee, Law Society of Singapore, 2025
- MemberInternational Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA)
- MemberLCIA Young International Arbitration Group
- MemberSociety of Construction Law (Singapore)
- MemberScheme Arbitration Committee, Singapore Institute of Arbitrators, 2019–2020
- MemberSingapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration
- MemberInternational Technology Law Association
- MemberSingapore FinTech Association
- MemberSingapore Law Society
- MemberKing’s College London Law Society
- MemberSingapore Academy of Law
- MemberYoung SIAC, Singapore International Arbitration Centre