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Lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...
s in
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
are part of a
fused profession Fused profession is a term relating to jurisdictions where the legal profession is not divided between barristers and solicitors. Generally, the term is used in the context of Commonwealth countries, where the single profession of barrister and ...
, meaning that they may act as both a
solicitor A solicitor is a lawyer who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and enabled to p ...
and as an
advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...
, although lawyers usually specialise in
litigation A lawsuit is a proceeding by one or more parties (the plaintiff or claimant) against one or more parties (the defendant) in a civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. ...
,
conveyancing In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of real property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien. A typical conveyancing transaction has two major phases: the exchange of contract ...
or
corporate law Corporate law (also known as company law or enterprise law) is the body of law governing the rights, relations, and conduct of persons, companies, organizations and businesses. The term refers to the legal practice of law relating to corpora ...
.


Demographics

In 2023, there were a total of 6,512 practising lawyers in Singapore, of whom 3,677 were male and 2,835 were female.


Registered foreign lawyers

In July 2009, there were 95 foreign firms with offices in Singapore, and 840 foreign lawyers, up from 576 in 2000. Six international firms were given a licence to practice local corporate law for the first time in December 2008.


Concerns about sustainability of legal practice

Stakeholders in the legal industry have periodically raised concerns about the sustainability of legal practice. On 20 August 2024, the
Law Society of Singapore The Law Society of Singapore is an organisation which represents all lawyers in Singapore. The Law Society of Singapore is a law society and is analogous to what is called a Bar Association in many countries and should not be confused with the ...
published a guidance note titled "Sustainable Practice Initiative" in which it asserted it was committed to preserving the mental and social well-being of its members in practice. The guidance note sets out various guidelines which should generally be followed by practitioners to mitigate unworkable or reasonable timelines and directions. On 20 September 2024, Chief Justice
Sundaresh Menon Sundaresh Menon (born 26 February 1962) is a Singaporean lawyer and judge who has served as the fourth Chief Justice of Singapore since 2012 after being appointed by president Tony Tan. He is the first Singapore-born Chief Justice and the secon ...
drew attention to the sustainability of legal practice, which he described as a growing concern. He revealed that survey responses collected from applicants at the 2024 Mass Call revealed that around two thirds indicated they were likely to move out of legal practice in the next 5 years, slightly more than one third indicated that they were likely to leave the legal profession altogether during the same period. He observed that this appeared to be the result of "push" factors rather than "pull" factors, and a substantial number of respondents indicated that they intended to leave due to excessive workload, poor work-life balance, or poor workplace culture.


Law firms in Singapore

The Big Four law firms in Singapore are generally regarded to be
Allen & Gledhill Allen & Gledhill LLP is a Singaporean law firm with a regional network of associate firms and offices. As the largest of Big Four law firms in Singapore, the firm is a regional market leader in many practices, particularly banking and finance, c ...
, Rajah & Tann, WongPartnership and Drew & Napier. In addition, Dentons Rodyk & Davidson has in recent years been described as a "Big Five" law firm. This description has appeared most frequently in private legal ranking directories and on two occasions in ''
The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' (also known informally by its abbreviation ''ST'') is a Singaporean daily English-language newspaper owned by the SPH Media Trust. Established on 15 July 1845, it is the most-widely circulated newspaper in the country and ...
''.


Ranking by scale

The following table ranks, by size, the largest 20 domestic and international law firms with at least one office situated in Singapore in 2022.


Education and training


Replacement of pupillage system

In 2009,
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
approved changes to replace the 'pupillage' system with structured training, and to make it easier for lawyers to return to practice.


Decoupling admission to the Bar from practising certificate

In August 2016, Chief Justice
Sundaresh Menon Sundaresh Menon (born 26 February 1962) is a Singaporean lawyer and judge who has served as the fourth Chief Justice of Singapore since 2012 after being appointed by president Tony Tan. He is the first Singapore-born Chief Justice and the secon ...
established a Committee for the Professional Training of Lawyers (CPTL) to conduct a "root-and-branch" review of the professional training regime for lawyers in Singapore and to make recommendations on how it might be improved to raise the quality and consistency of training standards. On 29 March 2018, the CPTL released its report, which included three key recommendations: (a) decouple admission to the Bar from the right to practise law; (b) raise the standard and stringency of the Part B examinations; and (c) lengthen the practice training period from six months to a year. The CTPL also made various other specific recommendations. In August 2018, MinLaw announced that it had accepted the CTPL's recommendations in principle and that the changes would be implemented from the 2023 session of the Part B examinations onwards. MinLaw conducted a public consultation on the CTPL's proposals from 15 November 2019 to 27 December 2019. On 27 February 2023, it was announced that the implementation of the new professional training regime based on the CTPL's recommendations would be deferred and would only apply from the 2024 session of the Part B examinations onwards. According to MinLaw, the deferment was on account of feedback from the legal industry to the effect that more time was required to adapt to the recommended changes, taking into account the impact of the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. For example, according to Gregory Vijayendran, the doubling of the practice training period would in effect double the cumulative allowance that needed to be paid to trainees. Ng Wai King also explained that law firms needed more time to review their human capital needs and rethink their training requirements. On 3 October 2023, the Ministry of Law introduced the Legal Profession (Amendment) Bill in Parliament to implement the changes. In November 2023, the Legal Profession (Amendment) Act was passed by Parliament.


Controversy regarding the lengthening of the training period

The lengthening of the statutory practice training period from six months to a year has drawn mixed reactions. During the Parliamentary debate on the legislative amendments required to lengthen the training period, various Members of Parliament expressed concerns about fair remuneration and benefits such as paid sick leave, in light of the lengthened training period. NTUC Assistant Secretary-General
Patrick Tay Patrick Tay Teck Guan ( zh, s=郑德源, p=Zhèng Déyuán, poj=Tēⁿ Tek-goân; born 1 December 1971) is a Singaporean politician and lawyer. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), he has been the Member of Parliament (MP) r ...
drew attention to the adverse financial impact on trainees, noting that trainee lawyers typically work long hours and are paid honoraria of between SGD 1,000 to SGD 2,500 a month, which is substantially lower than their peers in other industries, who typically earn between SGD 3,500 to SGD 5,000 a month. Tay stated that this "can be seen as exploitative" and noted that this may disproportionately impact trainees from lower-income backgrounds, who may need a reasonable income during their training period to support their families. He also called for trainees to be entitled to "basic employment rights", such as paid annual and sick leave, as "everyone falls ill". Yip Hon Weng suggested mandating a minimum wage for trainees, similar to what housemen are paid in the medical field. It was also noted that trainees do not receive other employment benefits such as paid leave or
Central Provident Fund The Central Provident Fund Board (CPFB), commonly known as the CPF Board or simply the Central Provident Fund (CPF), is a compulsory comprehensive savings and pension plan for working Singaporeans and permanent residents primarily to fund their ...
(CPF) contributions which employees in Singapore are typically entitled to under the Employment Act. Senior Parliament Secretary for Law,
Rahayu Mahzam Rahayu binte Mahzam ( Jawi: رحايو مهزم; born 21 July 1980) is a Singaporean politician. A member of the governing People's Action Party (PAP), she has been serving as Minister of State for Health and Minister of State for Communication ...
explained that MinLaw understood these concerns and these issues were being looked into. However, she cautioned that larger honorariums would need to be balanced against potential increases in costs to firms, particularly smaller firms.


Admission to the Bar

A person seeking to be admitted to the Singapore Bar will generally need to meet the requirements to be a 'qualified person' (QP) and complete the Part B examinations (a practical course of instruction, culminating in practical and written examinations). To be considered a QP, a person will need to obtain an approved law degree. A list of approved law degrees is set out in th
Legal Profession (Qualified Persons) Rules
which includes
Bachelor of Laws A Bachelor of Laws (; LLB) is an undergraduate law degree offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree and serves as the first professional qualification for legal practitioners. This degree requires the study of core legal subje ...
and
Juris Doctor A Juris Doctor, Doctor of Jurisprudence, or Doctor of Law (JD) is a graduate-entry professional degree that primarily prepares individuals to practice law. In the United States and the Philippines, it is the only qualifying law degree. Other j ...
degrees from various universities in Singapore,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...
,
England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
, and the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
. Persons seeking to be QPs solely on the basis of an approved law degree conferred by a university outside Singapore will generally need to fulfil additional requirements to qualify as a QP, namely: # They must be a Singapore citizen or permanent resident # They must graduate with at least a
Second Class Honours The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure used for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied, sometimes with significant var ...
or be in the top 70% of their cohort # Their degree programme must have been undertaken on a full-time basis, they must have been an internal candidate, and the course of study must have been for at least 3 academic years # The degree must not have been conferred as part of a twinning programme, must not be a combined or dual degree, external degree, or accelerated degree # They must complete six months of relevant legal training (RLT) in Singapore or overseas # They must pass the Part A examinations


See also

* List of Hong Kong law firms by size * Admission to practice law in Singapore *
Judicial system of Singapore Under the Constitution of Singapore, the judicial system of Singapore is divided into the Supreme Court which comprises the Court of Appeal and the High Court, and the subordinate courts, namely the State Courts and Family Justice Courts - co ...
*
Law of Singapore The legal system of Singapore is based on the English common law system. Major areas of law – particularly administrative law in Singapore, administrative law, contract, contract law, equity (law), equity and trust law#United Kingdom, trust ...
*
Law Society of Singapore The Law Society of Singapore is an organisation which represents all lawyers in Singapore. The Law Society of Singapore is a law society and is analogous to what is called a Bar Association in many countries and should not be confused with the ...
*
Singapore Academy of Law The Singapore Academy of Law (SAL) is a promotion and development agency for Singapore's legal industry. SAL also undertakes statutory functions such as stakeholding services and the appointment of Senior Counsel, Commissioners for Oaths and No ...
*
Singapore Legal Service The Singapore Legal Service is the collective body of lawyers who work in the courts, the Attorney-General's Chambers, and the legal departments of various government ministries and statutory boards in Singapore. Lawyers who are a part of the le ...


References


External links


The Law Society of Singapore
{{Asia in topic, Legal profession in