Magdalene set up Singapore law firm, AsiaLegal LLC, with 3 others in Nov 2002. From 1 July 2015 to 31 March 2022, AsiaLegal LLC was a member of HFW AsiaLegal, a Formal Law Alliance, with HFW Singapore. In 2017, Magdalene was appointed to the Expert Panel (Maritime) of the S’pore Mediation Centre. In Jan 2019, she was accredited as a Senior Accredited Specialist in Maritime and Shipping Law by the S’pore Academy of Law. From 2013-15, Magdalene was nominated for the Euromoney Legal Media Group Asia Women in Business Law Awards under the Shipping practice area. From Aug 2015 to Sept 2021, she was President of the Singapore chapter of the Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA). She am also a Fellow of the Singapore institute of Arbitration (SIArb) and on the management committee of Mensa Singapore.

Magdalene has extensive experience in both contentious and non-contentious legal work. Her litigation experience covers general commercial litigation and more specific areas such as shipping/admiralty and insolvency. She was lead counsel in a 10-day trial before the Honourable Justice of Appeal Belinda Ang in 2017 for the owners of the “Arctic Bridge” in respect of a collision between the vessel and “Tian E Zuo” - The “Tian E Zuo” [2018] SGHC 93. This was one of the 1st collision trials to be heard in the Supreme Court of Singapore in over 20 years and was also one of the first trials in the Singapore Court where the experts were “hot-tubbed”. Magdalene has also acted for owners of “Asian Hercules” in a landmark decision (See Toh Siew Kee v Ho Ah Lam Ferrocement (Pte) Ltd [2013] 3 SLR 284; [2013] SGCA 29) where the Singapore Court of Appeal abolished the law of occupiers’ liability in Singapore, holding that the same is subsumed under the tort of negligence.

Magdalene has independently advised on the closure and/or completion of many sale & purchase and ship financing transactions. In 2012, she was appointed and appeared in an London arbitration as an expert witness on the registration of ships under Singapore law.