Singapore firm TSMP is adapting to the increasingly competitive local legal market by appointing former general counsels to launch niche practices that target specific sectors, such as technology and energy & resources.

The firm has recently appointed former Microsoft associate general counsel Bryan Ghows as a director in charge of launching a new IP/IT practice. At Microsoft, Ghows headed up legal matters for the Windows operating system division, and prior to that served as the first CFO of IT company Lotus, based in Singapore.

Ghows joins TSMP having spent a year running his solo boutique, Ghows PLLC, a cross-border US/Singapore IP practice. He is expected to drive the development of TSMP’s IP/IT practice focus on emerging technologies. Currently, the IT practice focuses on litigation and dispute resolution matters.

Ghows said that the offer to join TSMP was opportune given that his clients were seeking a larger firm to send bigger work to, so his solo practice had to either “grow organically or join an existing practice.”

“After a year of running a solo IP practice in the US and Singapore, it became clear that to grow, I needed to focus on one jurisdiction. Singapore became that jurisdiction,” he writes in his blog, Ghows. “Also, feedback from potential clients was that it was impossible for them to send quality work to a solo practice. I needed to be in a larger law firm.”

Ghows said that running a solo practice came with its shortfalls: “I missed the teaming aspect when I was running a solo practice.”

The appointment comes as TSMP seeks to adapt to the increased competition in Singapore’s legal industry by specialising in specific industry sectors. Last November, the firm appointed Timothy Goh, the former VP and general counsel of Singapore energy company PowerSeraya, to launch an energy & power practice. A month later the firm appointed China-specialist partner Jasmine Quek from DLA Piper’s Beijing office to develop cross-border M&A opportunities.

Managing director Thio Shen Yi said these appointments will help the firm adapt to the changing face of the local legal industry: “Clients of today want to work with, and will only pay for, lawyers who can create customised legal solutions in complex and highly specialised areas. They won’t pay for commoditised template documents. Lawyers need to change the way we service our clients,” he said.

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