Singapore launches programme to help local law firms expand abroad

35 lawyers will be sent to at least eight trips for global training.

The Ministry of Law (MinLaw) together with the Law Society of Singapore (LawSoc) and International Enterprise (IE) Singapore launched Lawyers Go Global programme to help local law firms and lawyers venture abroad.

The programme is composed of three key initiatives, which include overseas mission trips, training, and branding and marketing.

LawSoc, with the support of MinLaw and IE Singapore, will organise at least eight overseas mission trips over the next three years to China, India, and other ASEAN countries. This is to help Singapore lawyers better understand the legal needs and business opportunities in these markets.

Each trip will be joined by 35 lawyers. The first trip is scheduled on April 2018 in Guangzhou, China.

Besides that, LawSoc will organise a series of training to equip the lawyers with skills to help them seize global opportunities. The training will tackle legal regimes, business norms and economic opportunities of specific countries which the lawyers are interested, networking skills for lawyers, and branding strategies for law firms abroad.

The last component of the programme will focus on improving the branding and profile of Singapore lawyers.

LawSoc said they will hire a consultant to conduct a survey to find out the perception of Singapore lawyers in the country and to five identified overseas markets.

The results will then be used to launch a marketing campaign, in different languages, targeting different overseas markets. LawSoc hopes to launch the campaign by the end of 2018.