The founder of WongPartnership, Wong Meng Meng has been appointed to step in as interim President of the Law Society of Singapore (LawSoc) after current president Michael Hwang vacated the position he has held for three years.
Hwang’s recent appointment as chief justice of the Dubai International Financial Centre Courts has prevented him from serving out his full term as president of LawSoc which is due to end on 31 December this year.
Instead, Hwang will stay on until July 31 and Wong will take the helm for the rest of the term, before standing for re-election next year.
Wong, the current vice-president of LawSoc, is recognised as a leading litigator in the field of building and construction. He is active in the areas of corporate and financial litigation as well as construction disputes and, along with Hwang, was among the pioneer batch of Senior Counsel appointed by the Chief Justice in January 1997.
Wong founded WongPartnership in 1992, a firm that has grown in stature to form part of Singapore’s ‘big-four’. He currently remains as a consultant to the firm.
'Wong Meng Meng will have a clear vision of the needs and functions of the Law Society. He also has the nous and drive to meet these ends. He will be a forthright leader and has my full support,' former LawSoc president and senior counsel of Tan Rajah & Cheah, Chelva R Rajah said.
Wong is expected to bring changes to LawSoc under his leadership. Wong is known to have a number of concerns regarding the ability of local law firms to withstand the competitive pressures that have been unleashed by the liberalisation of the country’s legal services sector and changes to protect the interests of such firms could be high on his agenda.
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