Singapore law firms find bliss in unions when seen as equals

Singapore

FRESH cross-border partnerships are being knit in the legal circle, but in the same breath, they bring to mind recent unions that have unravelled.

Japanese top legal practices are now coming together with Singapore counterparts in hopes of joining the suite of successful unions here. Amid this, recent high-profile decouplings are then casting the spotlight on what makes such marriages tick - with one common pitfall to avoid is in having the Singapore partner play second fiddle in the relationship.

Legal recruiter Miranda Hilton said she has witnessed partnerships crumble because the Singaporean lawyers were "made to feel like the poorer cousins".

"There ought to be mutual respect between the two firms. Their lawyers need to have equal standing and be able to take ownership of the alliance," said the former managing director of recruitment firm SSH Legal Search.

The legal sector has seen a growing number of alliances in the past decade, particularly between local firms and global practices.

More high-profile examples include the 2015 announced tie-up between Rodyk & Davidson with the world's largest law firm Dentons from the United States. In 2012, Cavenagh Law and Clifford Chance struck up an alliance, while Withers Worldwide and Singapore practice KhattarWong came together officially in 2019.

But there are those that have fallen by the wayside.

London-headquartered practice Eversheds Sutherland and Singapore firm Harry Elias Partnership recently said they would part ways after a three-year merger, with a "review mechanism" at the three-year mark included when the parties first negotiated the merger. While the parties did not nail down specific reasons for the split, the merger was described as "not the best option", and that the firms had to "tread a different path".

In January, another UK firm, Taylor Wessing, ended its formal alliance with Singapore firm RHTLaw after a near nine-year relationship.

Many local-international partnerships are premised on offering cross-border exposure to clients, with the international law firms typically larger in size compared with their Singapore peers.

A Singapore law firm and a foreign practice can form a legal entity - known as joint law ventures - through which they offer legal counsel for foreign matters, as well as offer Singapore law-related services within certain permissions.

Firms that prefer a more flexible "best friends" collaborative relationship while operating as distinct entities can form a Foreign Legal Alliance (FLA) in Singapore. Here, each firm provides only the legal services permitted under their respective licenses while choosing to share resources such as office premises, client information and co-branding.

Depending on how they are licensed, foreign law practices here are allowed to provide foreign-law advice but are limited in practising Singapore law, resulting in them often passing those matters to local firms. Local firms, on the other hand, benefit from the international exposure.

But veteran legal recruiter Lee Shulin stressed that the local partners need to have a seat at the table, and a say in high-level strategy decisions.

"It has to be a two-way relationship. While it will never be on equal footing as the international firms are typically larger, there needs to be genuine collaboration with their Singapore-based partners who can bring in valuable local market knowledge," said the founder of Ansa Search.

As an example, Clifford Chance Singapore's managing partner Kai Schneider said his firm spent their early days in alliance with Singapore practice Cavenagh Law understanding how they could best work together to harness the skills and expertise of both firms. Cavenagh Law offered litigation expertise to complement Clifford Chance's existing arbitration and regulatory practices in Singapore.

"This early work led to the two firms working closely together on several key mandates, helping to cement a strong foundation and mutual respect," Mr Schneider said.

Equality is an important factor, said Cavenagh Law managing partner Paul Sandosham. "This means ensuring that everyone is provided the same opportunities. We made a conscious decision when forming the FLA that everyone be treated equally, no matter which firm they work for."

Such integration is sometimes made easier if the global practice already has Singaporeans at its helm.

For instance, at Bird & Bird ATMD, which celebrated a decade of their global association last year, joint managing partners Lorraine Tay and Sandra Seah have been leading a team at the Singapore-based partnership.

"Rather than to send teams of expats, Bird & Bird's expansion focused on a greenfield approach of getting good quality local lawyers to run domestic offices," said Alban Kang, one of the founding partners of Bird & Bird ATMD.

Ms Tay said: "It helps when you understand what ticks in the local environment. For example, even the way we use certain phrases may differ from someone coming from a non-Asian context, so understanding these cultural nuances allows us to better advise clients, in the face of increased internationalisation."

This also appears to be the case with Norton Rose Fulbright and Ascendant Legal, which formed an FLA last year.

"(Both Kei-Jin and I) are Singaporeans, we did national service and coincidentally, we were both in artillery together. There are these common things that help us get along," said Ong Yu-En, who heads Norton Rose Fulbright's Singapore practice, referring to Ascendant Law's managing director Chew Kei-Jin.

Culturally, both firms proved a good fit, said Mr Chew, although he noted that his team took time to get used to a more extensive conflict check process due to Norton Rose Fulbright's larger client base.

"For a small firm like Ascendant, that is a big change. That said, our work has continued to grow. So it's been a nice story so far."

While there is no cut-and-dry formula for a successful commercial relationship, lawyers and recruiters called for careful planning and a substantial period of "trying things out" before an eventual union.

Ansa Search's Ms Lee cited the example of London-headquartered firm Withers Worldwide and Singapore practice KhattarWong LLP, which combined their practices into a fully integrated firm Withers KhattarWong in January 2019, after three years of collaboration as a formal alliance.

Withers Worldwide chief executive Margaret Roberston stressed the importance of trust in her firm's partnership with then-Khattar Wong LLP.

"The formation of alliances is often fraught with concerns about the intentions on each side, and whether anyone has hidden intentions about future strategy. It has been important to be entirely transparent with everyone to establish trust and to continue to maintain an open dialogue as the alliance has developed," she said.

Ashish Raivadera, a managing director at global legal search firm Major, Lindsey & Africa, said the relationship can get fraught with difficulty if "one side wants to move in a particular direction quickly but cannot drag the partner along".

"The parties must arrive at a concrete understanding on both sides of why they're getting together and what they are trying to achieve together."

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