As with similar lists in Malaysia and India, ALB is picking its list of Firms to Watch for Singapore. These are firms with less than 10 partners that are punching well above their weight in terms of work handled and services delivered.

AEI LEGAL

The four-lawyer corporate law firm AEI specialises in investments, M&A, joint ventures and IPOs. Established in 2018, it is led by director Andrea Chee, who previously worked with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and Shook Lin & Bok. The firm has been looking to provide clients with a one-stop-shop. “We have built strong links with: Other legal service providers (in disputes and intellectual property) in Singapore; legal service providers in Southeast Asia, North Asia, and Australasia; and service providers in other professional fields such as tax, trusts and accounting,” the firm says. It adds that clients realise that “an artisan atelier” is much more likely to have better products and services than a big box store. “Clients are becoming savvier and understand that the brand name is not as important as the lawyer who is actually doing the work,” says AEI Legal. “We intend to continue growing our headcount in Singapore and will explore opportunities to collaborate more closely with our partner firms.”

AQUINAS LAW ALLIANCE

For a boutique firm, Aquinas is quite regionally focused. “Aquinas looks beyond Singapore for opportunities of growth, tapping into its extensive network in ASEAN, and the economies of China and India,” says the firm, which helped found the ASEAN Legal Alliance network. “ The current U.S.-China trade war has affected both Chinese and non-Chinese companies. This has created opportunities for us as there is a resurgence of interest back to ASEAN countries, and we have managed to ride on these new opportunities that have arisen.” The firm currently boasts a headcount of 21 fee-earners, including five partners, and has seen steady revenue growth of 20 percent since 2017. That year, Aquinas acquired a professional services firm called ACE Corpsec, which provides corporate secretarial services for public listed companies, private limited companies, and charities and foundations. Aquinas says it is in the process of looking out for similar acquisitions. 

CAMPBELL JOHNSTON CLARK

The only international firm on this year’s list, the Singapore office of shipping-focused law firm CJC is headed by two marine litigators and former Holman Fenwick Wilan partners - Paul Apostolis and Gareth Williams – who have more than six decades of experience between them. Both joined the office in 2018, and have advised on newsworthy cases such as the loss of the container ship MOL Comfort; the loss of the very large ore carrier Stellar Daisy in the South Atlantic; and the grounding of the cruise ship Caledonian Sky in Indonesia, which attracted record reef damage fines. “The ethos of our firm is to maintain the practice of law as a profession rather than as a vehicle to sell legal services to our clients with slavish reliance on hours billed and key performance indicators for our staff,” says the firm. “We are also unique in that we practice from a shophouse Amoy Street next to the heart of the city. Apart from providing a historic and tranquil environment within which to work, we can pass on costs savings to the clients.”

COLLYER LAW

Collyer Law, which focuses on early-stage companies, is growing fast, with revenue increasing 30 to 50 percent year-on-year, and team size also expanding at a steady clip. “A primary driver for growth has been Collyer Law’s focus on the early-stage economy. Collyer Law undertakes 50 percent of its engagements on a fixed-fee basis, at a price-point that is affordable for emerging technology companies,” the firm shares. “Another driver is that Collyer Law’s hiring policy actively allows the firm to engage with talented candidates who wish to work on a part-time basis, especially working moms and millennials seeking work-life balance while remaining in legal practice. This allows Collyer Law to attract and retain talent that would not otherwise have chosen to stay on in Big Law. This has the effect of also reducing attrition and costs associated with it – all savings are passed back to clients.” The firm has more than 150 clients, many of whom it has advised on multiple rounds of financing.

EUGENE THURAISINGAM

The disputes-focused ET has been involved in a number of cases in the past year. It acted for an oil exploration company in an UNCITRAL arbitration against a Middle Eastern state-owned company in a dispute involving claims of more than $126 million and concerning petroleum operations in Southeast Asia; acted for a subsidiary of a publicly listed shipping corporation in a SIAC arbitration against a U.S. company concerning a charter-party dispute, and succeeded in obtaining an award of over $10 million for the firm’s clients; and acted for the CEO of a publicly listed shipping company in a High Court suit. “SIAC’s 2018 statistics show that it has received 402 cases from parties in 65 jurisdictions and a total sum in dispute for all new case filings of S$9.65 billion. This is the second year consecutively that SIAC has received more than 400 cases,” says the firm. “In light of SIAC’s robust growth, ET LLP aims to take advantage of this evolving dispute resolution scene not only domestically but regionally.”

NICHOLAS & TAN PARTNERSHIP

The disputes boutique Nicholas & Tan is led by Nicholas Narayanan. In the past year, the firm acted in a number of cases that grabbed newspaper headlines, including representing Lam Leng Hung in the highprofile City Harvest prosecution, in which the Court of Appeal upheld the majority of the High Court’s decision to convict the defendants on reduced charges of criminal breach of trust and consequently reduced sentences; and acting for several minority shareholders in a derivative action to commence action on behalf of a company against its director for secret profits, emoluments, payments, salaries and benefits received by the director and her affiliated companies. “As a boutique disputes resolution law firm, we focus on representing the small to medium business enterprises and individuals. Despite our relatively lean size, we thrive on acting for the underdogs and have consistently been involved in high profile cases against larger institutions or law firms,” says Nicholas & Tan.

PROVIDENCE LAW ASIA

Providence Law, which counts disputes among its strongest suits, is gradually expanding into adjacent areas through key lateral appointments: Last year, it hired Zhou Jiaxiang from Drew & Napier as head of its construction, infrastructure and projects practice group; and brought on board Eugene Lim from Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow, where he led the tax and wealth management practice. It also promoted Nawaz Kamil to partner and the head of its insolvency and restructuring practice. “We are being increasingly recognised as a go-to firm by international firms and Singapore Big Four law firms when looking for an independent counsel practice,” says the firm, which is led by Abraham Vergis. “In line with the firm’s forward-thinking culture and emphasis on the professional development of our lawyers, each of our counsel is encouraged to identify an area of practice as a potential area of specialisation while at the same time ensuring that their skills as dispute resolution specialists are being honed.”

WMH LAW CORPORATION

Launched in December 2016 with three lawyers, WMH has tripled in size to nine full-time staff at present. The firm also claims a 266 percent increase in revenue in 2018 as compared to year. The disputes-focused firm, led by Wilbur Lim says it has also become the first in Singapore to establish and art and cultural property law practice; WMH has also set up a dedicated non-contentious corporate law practice. “As a young firm, reputation in the industry is our foremost consideration,” says the firm. “We could only achieve substantial growth with quality lawyers. As such, it is our predominant aim to recruit only the best in the industry. Notably, all our head of departments are either from the Big Four law firms in Singapore or are PhD candidates in their respective fields. In relation to our associates, 50 percent of our associates hold at least first-class honours in Law.” Additionally, WMH says it has adopted “cutting -edge” legal technology to increase productivity and reduce costs.

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