Rajah & Tann LLP, one of Singapore’s leading law firms, today announced that its new office has started operating in Thailand, expanding its presence in the emerging Indochina region.
The firm also officially launched its office in Ho Chi Minh City today. The event was marked by a ceremony in the Vietnamese capital attended by Singapore’s Consulate-General Mr Pong Kok Tian, President of the Ho Chi Minh Bar Association Mr Nguyen Dang Trung, along with 200 guests.
The firm’s Managing Partner, Senior Counsel Lee Eng Beng, said: “I am pleased with the progress that we are making in the region, in particular with our latest practice in Bangkok. Both Thailand and Vietnam are an important part of the growth we are experiencing in ASEAN and our new offices in these countries are important additions to our service model to meet clients’ legal requirements throughout Asia.”
Bangkok is Rajah & Tann’s 3rd office in Indo-china since it announced its intention a year ago to build a Pan-Asian law firm that can compete on par with the international big names that are making their way to the world’s fastest growing region. Its competitive edge vis-à-vis the English and American firms is that as an Asian firm with mainly Asian lawyers, it has strong cultural affinity with clients and extensive ties with industry and businesses in the region, is familiar with local languages and in some jurisdictions, is able to litigate before the local courts. It also believes that the quality of its lawyers and legal services are on par with the English and US firms, but are priced more competitively.
Rajah & Tann wants to give clients a truly regional reach with a presence not only in gateway cities such as Singapore and Shanghai, but also in the emerging parts of Asia under-served by the global law firms. The full-service firm with over 300 lawyers already has the largest regional footprint among Singapore law firms, with a total of 6 offices in Asia, including Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur, Vientiane. It also has dedicated teams of Japanese, Indian, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Chinese lawyers based in Singapore covering their respective markets. Revenue from regional and international work is expected to double to 50% of the firm’s total revenue in five years.
Both the Ho Chi Minh office (incorporated as R&T Vietnam LLC) and the Bangkok office (incorporated as Rajah & Tann (Bangkok) Limited will have local law capability. The Ho Chi Minh office has 4 professionals while the Bangkok office will have 6 Thai lawyers, and both offices will also support lawyers from Rajah & Tann’s Singapore-based Vietnam and Thai desks engaged in regional work.
Founded in 1955, Rajah & Tann is one of the largest law firms in Singapore with a comprehensive range of practice areas including corporate finance and capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, shipping, arbitration, technology, insolvency, regulatory and litigation.
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