Green light given for Straits Law, K&L Gates Singapore to combine offices

Singapore

SINGAPORE law firm Straits Law Practice LLC and global practice K&L Gates LLP have received approval from the Singapore Legal Services Regulatory Authority to combine K&L Gates' Singapore office with Straits Law, the firms announced on Friday.

The move has been approved under a structure that allows a foreign firm to take up to one third of a local firm's equity and share up to one third of its profits, Straits Law managing director N Sreenivasan told The Business Times.

The combined Singapore law firm will be known as K&L Gates Straits Law LLC.

With their operations combined, Straits Law's full-service practice offering will be expanded to a global level, while K&L Gates will be able to provide clients with legal services involving Singapore law.

Mr Sreenivasan said: "On the operating level, we will be seamless and plug into their system for clients requiring transnational services. KLG Straits will be a Singapore law firm delivering both Singapore and international legal services."

The combination is subject to agreement from the partners of both firms and the subsequent signing of documents, with the firms targeting an effective date of Jan 1, 2019.

A further update will be given upon successful approvals from the firms' partners and the execution of documents, the firms said in their joint statement.

Incorporated in Singapore in 2011, Straits Law is a medium-sized law firm with more than 30 lawyers. Its disputes practice is recognised for handling complex corporate litigation, arbitration, construction and white-collar crime cases; it also has a banking and restructuring practice and an India desk.

The K&L Gates Singapore office has about 17 lawyers, while the international firm boasts a total of more than 1,800 lawyers across five continents, with a fully integrated network of 45 offices. It has 11 offices in the Asia-Pacific and locations in the US, Europe, the Middle East and South America.

If completed, the combination of Straits Law and K&L Gates will join a growing pool of tie-ups formed between local and international law firms in recent years.

One such recent tie-up was between UK-headquartered Taylor Vinters and Singapore-based boutique firm Via Law Corporation in Feb 2017, forming Taylor Vinters Via. In the deal, Taylor Vinters acquired a stake in the smaller firm and transferred its existing Singapore business into it, while Via Law became a corporate partner in Taylor Vinters. Others include Eversheds Harry Elias formed in May 2017, Dentons Rodyk in November 2015, Withers KhattarWong in April 2015, Morgan Lewis Stamford in March 2015 and RHTLaw Taylor Wessing in 2011.