Singapore adjusts the bar to admit lawyers trained overseas
Move will help draw Singaporeans working abroad and ease talent shortage here
By TEH SHI NING 14 May 2009
The Law Ministry is making it easier for experienced, overseas-trained lawyers to return and be admitted to the Singapore bar.
To draw more legal talent back, and increase the vibrancy of Singapore’s legal landscape, the Law Ministry yesterday announced tweaks to the new regime for foreign-trained lawyers’ admission to the bar unveiled in February.
Now, Singaporean and PR lawyers who qualified in a common law jurisdiction and have two years of legal experience need only take a conversion exam on Singapore law (Part A of the Bar Exam) to be called to the bar.
They need not complete Part B of the Bar Exam, which includes a five-month practical law course, and the 12-month training contract.
This means that a returning lawyer who passes the Part A exam this November may begin practising next January, instead of in July 2011 under previous requirements.
The requirement of two years’ experience corresponds to the equivalent qualifying criteria for overseas lawyers returning to the UK and Hong Kong.
Overseas-trained lawyers with six months’ experience will still need to pass both parts of the Bar Exam. But their 12-month training contract period will be halved and can be completed before, instead of after, they pass the Part B exam.
Law Minister K Shanmugam said: ‘We have received feedback from experienced lawyers overseas that they want to return to Singapore to practise law.’ BT understands that hundreds of queries have poured in from such lawyers regarding changed admission guidelines since the start of the year.
The fine-tuning has also been in response to the global economic downturn. ‘We have an opportunity to enhance our position in the global competition for talent, and these changes enable us to take full advantage of the window of opportunity,’ said Mr. Shanmugam.
The changes are the latest in a series of steps taken to enhance Singapore’s status as a regional legal centre.
Six foreign law firms were granted Qualifying Foreign Law Practice licences last year, others have registered offices in Singapore, and existing practices are seeking to expand.
Some felt that relaxing requirements will help ease the perennial shortage of lawyers here.
Drew & Napier director Kelvin Tan said: ‘I think it’s very progressive thinking on the part of the ministry. For some years, supply has not kept up with legal demand, and I think it’s a good time to open another avenue for firms to hire practising lawyers.’
Stefanie Yuen Thio, joint managing director of TSMP Law Corporation, said: ‘With SMU pushing out its first batch of law graduates soon, more foreign lawyers being admitted to the bar due to the relaxation of the guidelines, and with lawyers who had left Singapore to conquer Wall Street finding that they have to return home, there will be a significant glut of lawyers in the market in the short term.
‘However, top-notch professionals will continue to be valued during these tough times.’
Ms. Thio added that foreign lawyers working here have been watching these developments closely. ‘We have found that many of our top foreign lawyers, who may have been called to the bar abroad but had difficulty getting admitted in Singapore, are just as capable as any Singapore- qualified practitioner and are often hungrier and more motivated because they need to prove their worth. We are looking forward to having these lawyers come on as full-fledged practitioners.’
1 comment:
Singapore adjusts the bar to admit lawyers trained overseas
Move will help draw Singaporeans working abroad and ease talent shortage here
By TEH SHI NING
14 May 2009
The Law Ministry is making it easier for experienced, overseas-trained lawyers to return and be admitted to the Singapore bar.
To draw more legal talent back, and increase the vibrancy of Singapore’s legal landscape, the Law Ministry yesterday announced tweaks to the new regime for foreign-trained lawyers’ admission to the bar unveiled in February.
Now, Singaporean and PR lawyers who qualified in a common law jurisdiction and have two years of legal experience need only take a conversion exam on Singapore law (Part A of the Bar Exam) to be called to the bar.
They need not complete Part B of the Bar Exam, which includes a five-month practical law course, and the 12-month training contract.
This means that a returning lawyer who passes the Part A exam this November may begin practising next January, instead of in July 2011 under previous requirements.
The requirement of two years’ experience corresponds to the equivalent qualifying criteria for overseas lawyers returning to the UK and Hong Kong.
Overseas-trained lawyers with six months’ experience will still need to pass both parts of the Bar Exam. But their 12-month training contract period will be halved and can be completed before, instead of after, they pass the Part B exam.
Law Minister K Shanmugam said: ‘We have received feedback from experienced lawyers overseas that they want to return to Singapore to practise law.’ BT understands that hundreds of queries have poured in from such lawyers regarding changed admission guidelines since the start of the year.
The fine-tuning has also been in response to the global economic downturn. ‘We have an opportunity to enhance our position in the global competition for talent, and these changes enable us to take full advantage of the window of opportunity,’ said Mr. Shanmugam.
The changes are the latest in a series of steps taken to enhance Singapore’s status as a regional legal centre.
Six foreign law firms were granted Qualifying Foreign Law Practice licences last year, others have registered offices in Singapore, and existing practices are seeking to expand.
Some felt that relaxing requirements will help ease the perennial shortage of lawyers here.
Drew & Napier director Kelvin Tan said: ‘I think it’s very progressive thinking on the part of the ministry. For some years, supply has not kept up with legal demand, and I think it’s a good time to open another avenue for firms to hire practising lawyers.’
Stefanie Yuen Thio, joint managing director of TSMP Law Corporation, said: ‘With SMU pushing out its first batch of law graduates soon, more foreign lawyers being admitted to the bar due to the relaxation of the guidelines, and with lawyers who had left Singapore to conquer Wall Street finding that they have to return home, there will be a significant glut of lawyers in the market in the short term.
‘However, top-notch professionals will continue to be valued during these tough times.’
Ms. Thio added that foreign lawyers working here have been watching these developments closely. ‘We have found that many of our top foreign lawyers, who may have been called to the bar abroad but had difficulty getting admitted in Singapore, are just as capable as any Singapore- qualified practitioner and are often hungrier and more motivated because they need to prove their worth. We are looking forward to having these lawyers come on as full-fledged practitioners.’
Post a Comment