Singapore law firm Straits Law Practice and global practice K&L Gates have received approval from the Singapore Legal Services Regulatory Authority to combine K&L Gates’ Singapore office with Straits Law, the firms announced yesterday.
The combination has been approved under a structure that allows a foreign firm to take up to one-third of a local firm’s equity and share up to one-third of its profits, Straits Law managing director N. Sreenivasan said.
With their powers combined, Straits Law’s full-service practice offering will be expanded to a global level, while K&L Gates will be able to provide clients with legal services involving Singapore law.
“On the operating level, we will be seamless and plug into their system for clients requiring transnational services. KLG Straits will be a Singapore law firm delivering both Singapore and international legal services,” Mr Sreenivasan said.
The combination is subject to agreement from the partners of both firms and the subsequent signing of documents, with the firms targeting an effective completion date of Jan 1.
