Robust growth in Asia creates opportunities for Singapore lawyers
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Singapore-trained lawyers are in demand internationally because they are bilingual and understand regional legal structures. And industry watchers say robust economic growth in Asia is creating opportunities for them, mainly in the finance and corporate law sectors. Academics say more of Singapore’s law graduates have been courted by international legal firms with regional practices over the last two to three years. Professor Tan Cheng Han, Dean, Faculty of Law, NUS, says: “The commercial and finance areas are moving as far as Singapore lawyers are concerned because the regional economies are doing very well. There are a lot of transactions going on in Indonesia and China often involving foreign investment and you do need lawyers to structure these things.” And firms specifically want Singapore lawyers because they have a good background in regional legal issues. Professor Tan says: “We’ve tailor-made our whole curriculum to build in the international and comparative perspective so that the Singapore lawyer has a much greater understanding of the laws of the region and the laws beyond Singapore.” Singapore’s Law Society says demand for Singapore-trained lawyers is so great that it is creating a shortage locally. To fill this gap, the government will allow selected foreign-trained lawyers to practise Singapore law in prescribed areas like banking and finance. SMU’s new law school - which accepts its first intake in August - will also help alleviate the problem. Experts say the pie is big enough for all lawyers, but Singapore lawyers can do more to stay competitive. Philip Jeyaretnam, President, The Law Society, says: “It’s not enough to be practising in your own particular field. You have to have a sense of what law is like in a civil jurisdiction. You have to also be prepared to travel, be prepared to get out there to be ready to compete with lawyers regionally and internationally.” |