Singapore’s oldest law practice Rodyk & Davidson has laterally hired and promoted four lawyers to equity partnership, with the specific aim of gearing up its corporate finance and dispute resolution capabilities for 2011.
Rodyk & Davidson’s head of construction Philip Jeyaretnam, who will take the helm as managing partner from 1 Jan 2011, said strong growth of building, major infrastructure and energy projects around the region has boosted the need for greater capabilities within the firm to cope with the predicted pipeline of work. “In the arbitration sphere there has been considerable growth of filings in Singapore – the number of both SIAC and ICC cases – and as a firm we have seen a good share of that,” Jeyaretnam told ALB in an interview.
According to him, Indian and Korean projects have been the principal sources of new arbitration work while traditional sources such as Indonesia continue to provide work. “The newer countries where parties invest or contract for infrastructure projects are now choosing Singapore as the seat,” said Jeyaretnam.
Incumbent managing partner Helen Yeo, who is due to change her status from equity partner to consultant at the end of the year, said the new appointments were made necessary by the fact that Singapore, China, Indonesia and India work was driving expansion of the firm’s corporate and finance practices.
Of the four new hires, three will join the corporate finance practice headed by partner Valerie Ong; IPO China specialist Kenneth Oh, M&A partner Pun Ling Fung and corporate partner Evelyn Ang all arrive from Shook Lin & Bok.
Oh and Ang have joined the firm as equity partners while Fung and Lim have joined as salary partners.
The fourth new partner, Carol Lim, joins Rodyk’s project finance practice and was previously with Hammonds in London.
As Rodyk prepares for its 150th anniversary in 2011, other movements are afoot at the firm: Kirindeep Singh was promoted from salary partner to equity partner effective from 1 Dec 2010; and Jeyaretnam has also taken up the role of chairman of Maxwell Chambers – the world’s first integrated dispute resolution complex and home to the SIAC.
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