Chou Sean Yu set to succeed WongPartnership managing partner Ng Wai King
Wong Pei Ting
WONGPARTNERSHIP (WongP) has appointed Chou Sean Yu, the Big 4 law firm’s head of litigation and dispute resolution, as deputy managing partner. This means he is set to succeed Ng Wai King when he retires, WongP confirmed with The Business Times (BT).
Ng, a mergers-and-acquisitions and private-equity lawyer who has served as the firm’s managing partner since 2013, is turning 56 this year. WongP has a policy for partners to retire at 55.
This does not mean that Ng will retire soon, since provisions could be made for partners to stay on for as long as they are required in service. For example, WongP’s founding partner Wong Meng Meng retired at age 58.
Ng himself confirmed this, stating: “I will continue to lead the firm as chairman and managing partner.” He also pointed out that he has the support of his partners to extend his term beyond the age of 55.
When broaching the topic of retirement in an interview with BT in April, Ng had said: “While we do say that it is 55, we do say that it can be extended as there is a balance and recognition that 55 is relatively young. Our retirement age in the country was 62.”
The policy was to set a frame of mind for succession planning at the firm, he said.
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When announcing Chou’s appointment on Tuesday (Sep 27), Ng said it “has been in the works for some time” and is part of the firm’s efforts to continually strengthen and refresh the management team.
He described Chou, 52, as an “excellent lawyer and leader” who has been instrumental in driving the growth of the firm’s litigation and dispute resolution group to some 160 lawyers currently, as well as many other strategic priorities of the firm. Chou has also been an “invaluable” member of the firm’s executive committee, he said.
Chou was appointed head of the litigation and dispute resolution group in 2020. Despite his new appointment, he will concurrently continue to serve in that capacity, WongP said in a statement on Tuesday.
On being appointed deputy managing partner, Chou said he would “work to honour” the legacy of the firm’s past leaders – Wong, Dilhan Pillay Sandrasegara and the late senior counsel Alvin Yeo – in building the firm for the next generation of lawyers. Pillay is currently the chief executive officer of Temasek Holdings.
“I look forward to supporting Wai King, as he charts the firm’s future towards even greater heights,” Chou added.
Chou’s main practice areas include banking and trade finance disputes, insolvency and restructuring, corporate fraud, investigations and asset recovery and shareholder litigation.
His accolades include being listed in the 2022 list of Thomson Reuters’ Standout Lawyers, an independent global research survey, and achieving recognition as a dispute-resolution star in Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific 2021.
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