In order to establish a presence in Singapore's competitive legal environment, boutique law firms are endeavouring to create a distinctive formula for success. To excel beyond their size, these firms must offer specialised services to their clients, remain informed about the latest legal advancements, and leverage technology to enhance operational efficiency. Managing partners from four boutique firms in Singapore share their insights with ALB.
ALB: What are the biggest challenges and opportunities currently facing boutique law firms in Singapore, and how are you navigating them?
Alfred Lim, managing director, Meritus Law: It is common to see new boutique law firms being set up every month. These firms are set up by seasoned practitioners from established large firms or even young lawyers with less than five years post-qualification experience.
Both boutique and large firms face manpower crunch, particularly in finding quality lawyers with between five to 10 years post-qualification experience. This invariably results in firms being top and bottom-heavy, with a shortage of senior associates or junior partners to manage client matters.
For Meritus Law, we believe in rewarding the good performers. This means ensuring that we pay market rate or above market rate for our lawyers, giving them a more proactive role in client matters and helping them to build their own practice.
“Being in a unique jurisdiction, there is a constant inflow of work, be it for disputes work or niche corporate work. However, given that the work is typically of a transnational or international nature, invariably our lawyers will have to work with our counterparts in other jurisdictions. Meritus Law is well placed to assist clients in this regard as we are connected to a network of tried and tested practitioners from various jurisdictions.
- Alfred Lim, Meritus Law
As for work opportunities, being in a unique jurisdiction, there is a constant inflow of work, be it for disputes or niche corporate work. However, given that the work is typically of a transnational or international nature, invariably our lawyers will have to work with our counterparts in other jurisdictions. Meritus Law is well placed to assist clients in this regard as we are connected to a network of tried and tested practitioners from various jurisdictions.
Christopher Huang, managing director, CHP Law: As a relatively new law firm in the Singapore industry – brand recognition is always a challenge. It is common for many clients, especially established clients who have been using lawyers for many years, to want to “return” to established and traditional brands. As such, when the name “CHP” comes up – more often than not (especially in earlier years), clients would go “who is this?”.
Another related issue is fee pressure. It is becoming an increasingly competitive market, with the entrance of foreign law firms and the nature of marketing evolving – whether online or offline marketing. As such, we start to fee big established firms slashing their prices and fees substantially to match or compete with the smaller boutique law firms in Singapore. This creates a quandary for many of our clients, who previously were “cost-constrained” and unable to instruct big firms – now being offered the opportunity to use big firms for materially the same price as boutique law firms.
Lastly, it related to manpower. In a society of Singapore where branding matters, new graduates tend to want to apply to bigger firms to get experience and the perception is that bigger firms are “better”. This leads to the talent availability being somewhat restricted, especially in the new graduate field – and the search for suitable hires becomes more challenging.
Nichol Yeo, director, Nine Yards Chambers: The complexity and value of disputes has steadily increased. The clients have also become savvier, seeking out more value when engaging counsel. Boutique firms, particularly the smaller outfits, now have a chance to be involved in complex, cross-border disputes. The challenge is then for the boutique firms to calibrate the correct balance between having sufficient capacity whilst remaining competitive.
Ian Teo, managing director, Helmsman: In terms of challenges, the most evident is human resources. In line with other industries, salaries have risen substantially post-COVID. At Helmsman, to ensure the quality of our lawyers, we peg our compensations at the big firms’ levels. This is despite the size of our firm. We do not compromise on the quality of our lawyers. We make up for this aspect of the costs through enhanced productivity and efficiency of our lawyers and highly focused marketing efforts. In short, the increased human resource costs are offset by increased revenue and cost savings from efficiency and productivity.
ALB: Can you share the unique value proposition that sets your boutique law firm apart from larger law firms in Singapore?
Lim: Instead of the client dealing with 3 to 5 lawyers at any one time, we have one designated senior lawyer as the single point of contact. This gives the client a certain level of assurance and comfort. For UHNW and HNW clients, privacy is paramount. Our experience has shown that for personal matters, these clients would prefer to use a boutique firm like ours. After a certain level of trust is built, it is customary for these clients to refer their business and commercial matters to us.
We also have the ability to pick and choose clients that are a good fit, allowing us to build stronger relationships and do higher-quality work. This allows us to offer more personalised attention within our areas of expertise.
Huang: In recent times, I have noticed a trend when it comes to legal fees. There is significant downward pressure on fees as products appear homogenised (to clients) and costs become the primary concern. I accept and acknowledge that costs are a part of the industry, however, the focus for the firm is the provision of value – in essence, the value your legal services provide must exceed the cost of the legal services.
“Due to our size, we can remain very cost-efficient and competitive whilst maintaining quality. Our lawyers have regularly litigated at all levels of the Singapore court system and are familiar with the nuances of each forum. We could be conducting an arbitration one day and conducting a trial in the State Courts the next. Hence the concept of being “value-driven” is critical. The emphasis is to understand the client’s concerns.”
- Nichol Yeo, Nine Yards Chambers
Yeo: Due to our size, we can remain very cost-efficient and competitive whilst maintaining quality. Our lawyers have regularly litigated at all levels of the Singapore court system and are familiar with the nuances of each forum. We could be conducting an arbitration one day and conducting a trial in the State Courts the next.
Hence the concept of being “value-driven” is critical. The emphasis is to understand the client’s concerns and what they have come to you for – and to turn your engagement into a financial positive decision for them.
A value-driven approach is in essence a refinement of the traditional “client-centric” approach.
“On the supply side, there is also fragmentation - big firm lawyers with big firm expertise setting up boutique law firms offering specialist services hitherto only offered by large firms. With this increasing and sustained fragmentation on the supply side, consumers today are witnessing boutique law practices offering legal services which are just as good as a large firm - except perhaps for the lack of an established brand name or the numerical size.”
- Ian Teo, Helmsman
Teo: Today, there is a substantial degree of market fragmentation. The largest local firms and international firms in Singapore tend to chase after particular segments in the terms of clients. There is a large sector of clients which boutique law firms are particularly well-placed to serve - in terms of personalisation, reaction time, flexibility and pricing.
On the supply side, there is also fragmentation - big firm lawyers with big firm expertise setting up boutique law firms offering specialist services hitherto only offered by large firms. With this increasing and sustained fragmentation on the supply side, consumers today are witnessing boutique law practices offering legal services which are just as good as a large firm - except perhaps for the lack of an established brand name or the numerical size.
Also, due to post-COVID inflation, cost pressures and the strength of the Singapore Dollars, our legal services exports are becoming costlier for overseas clients - even for clients in very developed markets. All these factors have made boutique law firms in Singapore an excellent value proposition.
ALB: Can you share an example of how your firm has provided tailored and personalised legal services to clients that larger firms might not have been able to offer?
Lim: We act for a client involved in a dispute regarding the sale of a superyacht where technical issues on performance and built are raised. We have fee earners with the expertise in this area. This matter also required us to work with law firms in Padua, Italy and South Sumatra, Indonesia. Given we do not operate via any overseas offices and have no obligation to work with any specific overseas law firms, we were able to tap into our network of legal practitioners from these jurisdictions and select the right lawyers to provide a seamless solution to client.
Huang: The nature of the firm has a relatively flat management structure. This allows for cross-team collaboration to be affected seamlessly, with a lesser focus on “whose client this is” or “who is supposed to be commenting on this” – shifting into a “what needs to be addressed” and “have we answered the question”. The tailoring and personalised legal services allow us to ensure that all queries are addressed by the right subject matter expert – not just simply the lawyer who is handling the client on the file. Essentially, it is a “Project over Turf” approach which sets us apart.
Yeo: We are flexible enough to “shrink and expand”. After completing a piece of litigation for a client, we were flexible enough to be able to operate within a much smaller legal budget, and continue to provide basic legal support for the client or its subsidiaries for its daily operations. This allows us to deepen the client relationship and to remain as its first port of call.
Teo: Our firm often provides a distinct advantage over larger law firms by delivering personalised, practical advice tailored to our clients’ unique needs. For instance, in a project involving a tech startup, we closely collaborate with a client to understand their innovative business model and funding strategy, offering targeted legal solutions that enhance their growth potential.
This focus on understanding each client’s business and strategic position to ensure that the solutions are not only legally sound but aligned with the overall objectives. This approach fosters stronger client relationships and facilitates quicker, more impactful responses to inquiries, ultimately leading to more effective outcomes in an ever-evolving legal landscape.
ALB: With an increasing focus in Singapore on regional and international collaboration, how does your firm ensure that it meets the cross-border legal needs of clients?
Lim: We are part of a global network of independent and national law firms where each member law firm was carefully selected, tried and tested. This effectively means that when dealing with cross-border requirements, we can quickly find a suitable lawyer to assist.
Huang: During the growth stage of the firm, the focus was inward, on Singapore and ensuring that we had developed the internal capability to deal with Singapore-based matters. However, as the firm has evolved, our clients also work with us to ensure that their interests across the region are covered.
Accordingly, our partners have been tasked to establish a strong working relationship with reputable firms to ensure that we are able to not only provide a one-stop solution, but also to ensure that the advice that our foreign firms is accurate, addresses the client’s concerns and is suitable for the situation.
Increasingly as business grows internationally, it is too inward-looking to only focus on Singapore – it has become part of the partner’s job to identify and develop strong regional firms that we can work with – so that our reputation is not compromised just because we are working across borders.
Yeo: We are lucky to be able to work with many overseas counsel and have established an informal network of overseas firms and specialists whom we routinely engage for our clients. We have entered non-binding MOUs with a Chinese firm to supplement our respective cross-border capabilities. Already having a working relationship with these firms allows us to be efficient from the get-go.
Teo: We are one of few Singapore firms with a permanent established presence in Hong Kong – this is a unique selling point. Shipping and commodities trading are two key practices at Helmsman. These practices are by definition international and cross-border and we have been practising in these areas for decades. Over time, we have developed close working relationships with lawyers in all major jurisdictions and less developed ones too. We know who has the right legal skills for a particular job or the right temperament to deal with a particular opponent. We are not obliged or tied to any particular law firm or lawyer in another jurisdiction. We and our clients are free to curate and choose and work with the best lawyer for the job in a particular jurisdiction.
ALB: Looking ahead, what are your firm's strategic priorities for growth and development in the coming years, and how do you plan to achieve these objectives?
Lim: There is a high continual demand for our services, be it for disputes or corporate work. There are presently 10 fee earners. We will not expand for the sake of growth and increased revenue. Rather, the focus will be to find suitable lawyers with good technical skillsets and personalities who can fit in with our culture. The younger lawyers will be given opportunities to network and build their clientele. It is better to start early, rather than late, in building your own practice.
Separately, we have been reaching out to green-field jurisdictions where there should be demand for legal services emanating from Singapore in the mid-term horizon. This is with a view to building up the business relationships now so that we are ready to collaborate and assist when the time calls for it.
“Strategic priorities are to fortify and build the firm’s regional presence, particularly, the ASEAN region. Singapore has always been a commercial hub and increasingly, we see Singapore playing a role as regional headquarters for enterprise looking to enter the SEA region. Accordingly, familiarity with the local law and having strong law firms that we can tap on for expertise will become almost a necessity of practice in the region.”
- Christopher Huang, CHP Law
Huang: Strategic priorities are to fortify and build the firm’s regional presence, particularly, in the ASEAN region. Singapore has always been a commercial hub and increasingly, we see Singapore playing a role as regional headquarters for enterprises looking to enter the SEA region. Accordingly, familiarity with the local law and having strong law firms that we can tap on for expertise will become almost a necessity of practice in the region.
In this connection, our hiring policies and our goals must be alive to the fact that Singapore must play a commercial hub role – and the skillset that is necessary to achieve that role is one that must not only be developed but scouted for and prioritised.
Yeo: We want to adopt technology as quickly as we can, in terms of preparing for our cases, and the conduct of trials and hearings. It is exciting to see how efficiency can be increased through technology, which is vital to smaller teams like us.
Teo: We aim to continue our expansion in terms of numbers and practice offerings- capitalising on emerging trends across key practice areas. To achieve this, we will prioritise hiring top talent and senior experts who can drive innovation and navigate the complexities of these markets, ensuring our services remain relevant and competitive. This strategic investment in human capital will empower us to meet the evolving needs of our clients and enhance our market positioning.
