TAI-HENG CHENG is a U.S. trial lawyer, international arbitration practitioner, and legal advisor to C-suites, boards, and governments. He is the co-leader of Sidley’s Global Arbitration, Trade and Advocacy practice. He is also the co-managing partner of the firm’s Singapore office.
Tai has the rare distinction of being recognized on multiple continents as a preeminent disputes lawyer. In 2023, he received the highest award in the U.S. for international arbitration, Law360’s “MVP.” He was concurrently selected by Asia Legal Business as a finalist for “Disputes Lawyer of the Year” in that region, and has been identified by the Legal 500 as a leading lawyer in Latin America from 2023–2025. Who’s Who Legal recognizes Tai as a “U.S. Thought Leader.”
Virtually unique in Chambers, Tai is recognized in all three categories for International Arbitration: Counsel, Arbitrator, and Enforcement (2024).
He has won and collected nine figure awards in North and South America and Europe. He also won the first investor-state arbitration under a Singapore treaty and collected that award against Mexico. He defeated a nine-figure claim in a life sciences arbitration even though the client was found to have breached its contract. He currently serves as president of a tribunal deciding whether or not China violated a treaty, and is a member of another tribunal hearing a treaty claim brought against Ethiopia. No court has ever set aside an award by Tai.
Tai’s track record of success includes U.S. litigation. He dismissed a U.S. federal lawsuit concerning the largest cyber-heist of the New York Federal Reserve by North Korean hackers, earning him American Lawyer’s “Litigator of the Week” award. He was the first attorney to defeat a motion to dismiss a defamation claim against short sellers in New York. He swiftly parlayed that unprecedented win into a payment to his client under a settlement. For two decades, he has also successfully defended clients before the U.S. regulators, including the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Beyond disputes, Tai is sought out by C-suites to solve complex international problems. Tai delivers results by tapping into his global network, and devising novel strategies that leverage the entire Sidley platform. In 2022, after bankers failed to sell a global energy company’s unbankable coal assets, Tai helped that company sell its coal for US$1 billion dollars to Middle East entities that did not require financing. This in turn allowed the buyers to supply energy to Europe when the war in Ukraine extended into winter.
Tai also selectively represents governments. He negotiated with the National Rifle Association to restore a rare World War II gun to Poland. For that, Poland conferred upon Tai, by an act of parliament, its “Bene Merito” medal. When the International Court of Justice took up a case to decide if Kosovo’s declaration of independence was lawful, Tai devised a strategy for Kosovo of obtaining recognition from important states by signing human rights and investment treaties with them. Kosovo successfully pursued that strategy, ensuring its survival irrespective of the Court’s decision. He also helped East Timor draft its first criminal procedure code.
Tai is a trustee of the Frick Museum; board member of the Smithsonian Institute’s National Museum of Asian Art; chair of the board of American Friends of St. James’s Church in Piccadilly; trustee of the Foreign Policy Association; and co-founder of the Cheng-Harrell Institute for Global Affairs, among other civic engagements.
Tai has been featured or quoted in CNN, The Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, The New York Times, Financial Times, South China Morning Post, Al-Jeezera America, Singapore Straits Times, Singapore Business Times, and Nikkei Asia.
Tai was born in Singapore and is a naturalized U.S. citizen. He is fluent in English and Mandarin. He has a J.S.D. and LL.M. degree from Yale Law School, a B.A. (first class honors in law) and M.A. degree from Oxford University, and a graduate diploma in Singapore law.