Big Four law firms dominate in 2017 Chambers Asia-Pacific guide

THE Big Four law firms continued to dominate the legal scene here, garnering the most number of top rankings in various practice areas in the 2017 Chambers Asia-Pacific guide.

Allen & Gledhill racked up 13 Band 1 rankings, the most among the Big Four firms.

The firm also led the pack with 48 lawyers ranked this year - the highest number in Singapore.

Both Rajah & Tann and WongPartnership received seven Band 1 rankings, while Drew & Napier was awarded six Band 1 rankings.

In terms of total firm rankings, WongPartnership moved up to 16, reclaiming its position in the tax table this year.

Of the international firms, Clifford Chance came out top with seven Band 1 rankings, followed by Allen & Overy with five.

Gareth Deiner of Clifford Chance, Philip Hall of Linklaters, Swee Yen Koh of WongPartnership and Nicholas Lingard of Freshfields made it to the guide's Outstanding Young Partners list for Singapore.

Two domestic boutiques also earned their first rankings in the guide this year - Eldan Law made it into the construction table at Band 3 and BlackOak achieved the same ranking in restructuring/insolvency (domestic).

Said Sarah Kogan, editor of Chambers Asia-Pacific: "The Singapore legal market is one of the most competitive and influential across Asia and the rest of the world. International clients are looking with interest at developments within these leading Singaporean law firms as they grow and develop."

The Chambers Asia-Pacific guide is in its 10th edition and is the product of research which includes interviews with several thousand lawyers and clients in the past year.