Until it finally dissolved in 2009, Clifford Chance had been in a joint-law venture with Singapore Big Four firm WongPartnership for about nine years. Today, as the international firm unveiled its Formal Law Alliance (FLA) with boutique outfit Cavenagh Law, the tie-up had a whiff of WongPartnership as well.
Cavenagh Law, a boutique Singapore law firm specialising in disputes, has three partners: Harpreet Singh SC, who was at WongPartnership for some months this year after a long career at Drew & Napier; Paul Sandosham, who was until recently, the joint head of WongPartnership’s Middle East practice; and Nish Shetty, a partner at WongPartnership from 2001, who moved to Clifford Chance to found the latter’s disputes practice in Singapore in 2009.
Clifford Chance is one of only six foreign law firms to have been granted Qualifying Foreign Law Practice licences by the Singapore government. The FLA, said an e-mailed statement, will allow “the two firms to provide the broadest range of Singapore and international law service available in the market, including local litigation advice, from one platform – Clifford Chance Asia”.
"Our partnership with Harpreet, Paul and their team is a natural step for us, and exciting news for our clients,” added Peter Charlton, Clifford Chance’s Asia-Pacific regional managing partner, in the same statement. “Singapore is critical to our growth strategy in Asia-Pacific – as a global and regional legal hub it is of increasing importance to the international business community."
The Clifford Chance Asia team in Singapore is expected provide clients with court-based litigation expertise that will complement Clifford Chance's existing arbitration and regulatory practices in Singapore.
Ranajit Dam is Southeast Asia Editor at ALB. Follow us on Twitter: @ALB_Magazine.
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