Lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

s in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

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 sol ...

, meaning that they may act as both a

solicitor A solicitor is a legal practitioner 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 ...

and as an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

, although lawyers usually specialize in one of

litigation - A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...

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 contracts ...

or corporate law. The number of lawyers in Singapore has declined in the first decade of the 21st century. There were 3,300 lawyers in 2006. Parliament approved changes in 2009 to replace the 'pupillage' system with structured training, and to make it easier for lawyers to return to practise. International law firms are generally limited to corporate, finance and banking law. In 2007, there were 4200 lawyers practising law in Singapore, up from 4000 in 2002. 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 license to practice local corporate law for the first time in December 2008. In 2012, there were 5200 lawyers practising in Singapore, according to statistics from the Ministry of Law. Large firms such as

Drew & Napier Drew & Napier LLC is one of Singapore’s leading law firms. Founded in 1889, the firm has more than 500 employees. It is regarded as one of the “Big Four” law firms in Singapore. Drew & Napier regularly advises governments, government in ...

, Rajah & Tann Asia and

Allen & Gledhill Allen & Gledhill LLP is a Singapore law firm with a regional network of associate firms and offices. It is the largest law firm in Singapore, and is a regional market leader in many practices, particularly banking, finance, capital markets, corpo ...

constitute about 20% of the law industry's practitioners.

Ranking by Scale

The following table ranks, by size, 14 domestic and international law firms with at least one office situated in Singapore. There are 1996 qualified lawyers, comprising 670 partners and 1161 associates, working across these top-14 domestic and international law firms in Singapore.

References

External links

The Law Society of Singapore
{{singapore-stub

Ranking by Scale

See also

References

External links