Z.J. JENNIFER LIM focuses her practice on international dispute resolution and arbitration. She represents clients in investor-state and commercial arbitrations, including proceedings conducted under the ICSID, ICSID (Additional Facility), and UNCITRAL Rules, as well as ICC, HKIAC, SIAC, and LCIA arbitrations seated in Hong Kong, Singapore, and New York. Jennifer also sits as arbitrator under ICC and SIAC rules. In addition, Jennifer has broad experience advising on general transnational litigation matters, including arbitration-related court proceedings, and complex cross-border disputes.
Jennifer is recognized as a Who’s Who Legal (WWL) “Thought Leader – Global Elite 2023: Arbitration Future Leader”, the highest accolade by the publication for outstanding lawyers aged 45 or under, and has been selected as a WWL “International Arbitration Future Leader” since 2019 and “Southeast Asia Arbitration National Leader” since 2023, where she was described as “one of the best arbitration lawyers of her generation” and “[a] top arbitrator and a role model in the field who is confident by not showy” (2023). Most recently, Jennifer has been named “Young Lawyer of the Year (Law Firm)” at the Asian Legal Business SE Asia Law Awards 2023, and has also been awarded “Arbitration Rising Star” by IFLR’s Women in Business Law APAC Awards 2023. She was also listed by Legal Media Group’s Expert Guides 2021 as one of the “Rising Stars” in commercial arbitration, and included in The Legal 500’s inaugural Arbitration Powerlist: Southeast Asia 2022.
Prior to joining Sidley, Jennifer worked in the New York and Hong Kong offices of another global law firm. She also served as a law clerk to Judge Hisashi Owada and Judge Leonid Skotnikov at the International Court of Justice, The Hague, the Netherlands. Jennifer received a J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a James Kent Scholar, recipient of the David Berger Memorial Prize, and a senior editor of the American Review of International Arbitration. She received an LL.B. with First Class Honors from University College London in 2012. While in law school, Jennifer participated in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, and remains the only person in the history of the competition to receive the Stephen M. Schwebel Award for “Best Oralist in the Championship Round” for two years in a row.
Jennifer serves as APAC Regional Lead of the YSIAC Council, is a member of the Law Society of Singapore’s Public and International Law Committee, the ICC Task Force “Addressing Issues of Corruption in International Arbitration”, and the ICC Singapore Arbitration Group’s Empowerment Committee. From 2018 to 2020, she served on the HK45 Committee. From 2014 to 2016, she was a member of the International Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association. She also served on the Program Committee for the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law.
Jennifer is bilingual in English and Chinese.