Australian firm Advent Lawyers has opened a Singapore office after months of preparation. The firm, famed for its move away from the billable hour pricing model, has opened the office with four lawyers and is looking to recruit more.
Advent lawyers opened in Sydney in mid-2008 and Melbourne in September 2009. A launch into the Singapore legal market has been on the cards since October last year.
According to founder and chief executive officer John Knox, Singapore is the natural and right cultural fit for Advent’s Asia hub. “It’s innovative, a major regional business centre… gives us ready access to some of the world’s fastest growing economies such as Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia,” he said. Knox has relocated to Singapore to run the new office, but will remain group CEO, while managing director Dina Coppel will continue to manage the Australian operations.
In early 2010 Advent and Pangea3, one of India's largest providers of legal process outsourcing services, joined forces to collaborate on the whole spectrum of 'junior end' legal work, from contract drafting and revision to compliance and risk management work as well as M&A due diligence, and litigation and IP support. Advent’s billing approach is completely fixed-fee.
The Advent model has proved popular with a number of corporations including Telstra, Macquarie Bank, Merrill Lynch, Goodman Fielder, Cisco and Dymocks.
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