25 May 2023

Rajah & Tann clinches Southeast Asia Law Firm of the Year award and wins Singapore Law Firm of the Year

Rajah & Tann (R&T) has been named the Southeast Asia Law Firm of the Year by Asian Legal Business (ALB) for the second consecutive year, reaffirming the firm’s leadership in the region's legal landscape.

R&T also bagged the Singapore Law Firm of the Year Award at the awards ceremony held at the Sofitel Singapore City Centre. In addition, Rajah & Tann Asia (RTA) secured a total of five awards including RTA member firm Assegaf Hamzah & Partners, which clinched the award for Debt Market Deal of the Year (Premium) in recognition of their exemplary work on the Republic of Indonesia's US$3.25 billion global sukuk offering. Completed in May 2022, the deal is the biggest offering of global sukuk by the Indonesian government to date.

Steve Tan, Deputy Head of R&T’s Technology, Media, and Telecommunications practice and Co-Founder of Rajah & Tann Technologies (RTTech), was named Data Privacy and Protection Lawyer of the Year. Together with his team at RTTech, Mr Tan offers market-leading legal, technical, and forensic solutions to ensure clients are well-prepared to thrive in the data and digital economy.

Sandy Foo, Head of R&T’s M&A practice, clinched the Woman Lawyer of the Year award for 2023, joining the ranks of ex-Deputy Managing Partner Rebecca Chew, who won the award in 2022. This consecutive recognition underscores R&T's exceptional talent pool and the firm’s commitment to empowering outstanding women leaders within the legal industry.

These prestigious awards recognise R&T's exceptional performance, market leadership, and unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional client-centric legal solutions.

Managing Partner Patrick Ang remarked, "We are very honoured to be recognised as being the leading law firm not just in Singapore but in the region. Receiving the coveted Southeast Asia Law Firm of the Year award is a testament to our unwavering commitment to excellence and keeping pace with the technological advancements shaping the economy and our profession. I am immensely proud of our team's achievements across various practice areas, showcasing our dedication to delivering exceptional value and driving innovation in the legal industry. I would also like to thank my colleagues in Singapore and across our RTA network firms for their invaluable contributions to our network’s success. "

The ALB Southeast Asia Law Awards, now in its 19th year, serve as a benchmark of excellence within the legal industry. The awards recognise the outstanding performance of private practitioners and in-house legal teams in Southeast Asia. The winners are determined by a panel of independent judges comprising senior legal industry leaders.

 

About Rajah & Tann Asia – www.rajahtannasia.com

Rajah & Tann Asia brings together leading law firms and lawyers in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines and Vietnam, with each offering the highest standards of service to locally-based clients while collectively having the capability to handle the most complex regional and cross-border transactions, providing legal counsel seamlessly across the region. With over 970 fee earners, all working towards one shared goal, we are lawyers who know Asia and who give our clients home advantage.

12 May 2023

Rajah & Tann Asia emerges as biggest winner with seven awards at The Legal 500 Southeast Asia Awards 2023
  •          Wins Regional Law Firm of the Year, Innovative law firm of the year, Litigation Firm of the Year and national awards for Cambodia and Indonesia
  •          Sandy Foo named “Corporate & M&A Lawyer of the Year”, while Shemane Chan named “Projects & Energy Lawyer of the Year” in Southeast Asia

Rajah & Tann Asia (RTA) has been named Regional Law Firm of the Year, Most Innovative Law Firm of the Year and Litigation Firm of the Year at this year's The Legal 500 Southeast Asia Awards. Also winning country accolades are RTA firms from Cambodia and Indonesia.

R&T Sok & Heng Law Office won Cambodia Law Firm of the Year, while Assegaf Hamzah & Partners won Indonesia Law Firm of the Year. Rajah & Tann Singapore was named Litigation Law Firm of the Year for Southeast Asia.

At a dinner held at the Pan Pacific Singapore yesterday, Rajah & Tann’s partner Sandy Foo beat 14 others to win the Corporate & M&A Lawyer of the Year award while Shemane Chan bested 12 finalists to be named Projects & Energy Lawyer of the Year in Southeast Asia.

The winners of The Legal 500 Awards were chosen following independent research by a large team of researchers who possess a comprehensive understanding of their respective jurisdictions and fields of expertise.

The London-based companyhas been analysing the capabilities of law firms across the world for 33 years in over 150 jurisdictions, producing a wide-ranging series of resources for in-house lawyers including roundtables and client insight reports. It recognises and rewards the best in-house lawyers through its awards, the General Counsel (GC) Powerlist series and The Legal 500 Awards. 

Lee Eng Beng SC, Chairman of RTA, said: "We are humbled by the record seven regional, country and individual awards that Rajah & Tann has received this year from The Legal 500. Our clients have made this possible for us and we are grateful for their support through the years. Both Sandy and Shemane also deserve special mention for being great role models for our young lawyers.”

The Legal 500 last month held its GC Power list awards in Singapore, recognising Southeast Asian firms with innovative General Counsel and Sustainability Officers who are helping their organisations move towards a green transition.

 

About Rajah & Tann Asia – www.rajahtannasia.com

Rajah & Tann Asia brings together leading law firms and lawyers in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines and Vietnam, with each offering the highest standards of service to locally-based clients while collectively having the capability to handle the most complex regional and cross-border transactions, providing legal counsel seamlessly across the region. With over 970 fee earners, all working towards one shared goal, we are lawyers who know Asia and who give our clients home advantage.

09 May 2023

Rajah & Tann Asia continues to be highly ranked in Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific 2023 rankings

Rajah & Tann Asia (RTA) continues to take the lead with outstanding performance in the latest edition of the Benchmark Litigation Asia Pacific rankings.

Amassing a total of 33 firm rankings across Southeast Asia, the RTA network has made significant accomplishments this year with four categories advancing to the next tier as well as a debut on the Intellectual Property table for Thailand.

Rajah & Tann Singapore climbed to the top tier for its contentious Construction expertise and moved up one rank in Family and Matrimonial law. Our Indonesia office, Assegaf Hamzah & Partners, improved its ranking in Intellectual Property while R&T Asia (Thailand) boosted its contentious Intellectual Property offering to bag its first ranking in this field. The Thai firm also saw its ranking in Commercial and Transactions category ascending by one rank.

Published annually, Benchmark Litigation provides a definitive guide to Asia-Pacific’s leading dispute resolution law firms and lawyers based on extensive interviews with litigators, dispute resolution specialists and their clients as well as analysis of the market’s most important cases and firm developments. The New York-based publisher is a specialist information provider that is reputedly the definitive guide on dispute resolution and litigation in the international and regional markets.

Assegaf Hamzah & Partners, Indonesia

Rankings

Commercial and Transactions – Tier 1

Insolvency – Tier 1

Labour and Employment – Tier 1

Intellectual Property – Tier 2

 

Christopher & Lee Ong, Malaysia

Rankings

Intellectual Property – Tier 2

Commercial and Transactions – Tier 3

Construction – Tier 3

Labour and Employment – Tier 3

Shipping – Highly Recommended

Competition / Antitrust – Recommended

 

Gatmaytan Yap Patacsil Gutierrez & Protacio (C&G Law), Philippines

Rankings

Commercial and Transactions – Tier 2

Labour and Employment – Tier 2

International Arbitration – Recommended

Government and Regulatory – Other Notable Firms

Tax – Other Notable Firms

 

Rajah & Tann Singapore

Rankings

Commercial and Transactions – Tier 1

Construction – Tier 1

Insolvency – Tier 1

International Arbitration (Domestic firms) – Tier 1

Labour and Employment – Tier 1

Private Client – Tier 1

Shipping – Tier 1

White Collar Crime – Tier 1

Intellectual Property – Tier 2

Family and Matrimonial – Tier 2

 

R&T Asia (Thailand) Limited

Rankings

Commercial and transactions – Tier 2
Labour and Employment – Tier 2

Trade and Customs – Tier 2

Government and Regulatory – Tier 3

Intellectual Property – Tier 3

 

Rajah & Tann LCT Lawyers, Vietnam

Rankings

Energy and Construction – Tier 1

Commercial and Transactions – Tier 2

Intellectual Property – Tier 2

Labour and Employment – Recommended

International Arbitration – Recommended

  

About Rajah & Tann Asia – www.rajahtannasia.com

Rajah & Tann Asia brings together leading law firms and lawyers in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines and Vietnam, with each offering the highest standards of service to locally-based clients while collectively having the capability to handle the most complex regional and cross-border transactions, providing legal counsel seamlessly across the region. With over 970 fee earners, all working towards one shared goal, we are lawyers who know Asia and who give our clients home advantage.

 

09 May 2023

Rajah & Tann wins FT Innovative Lawyers Award for Cybersecurity & Data Governance and ranks most innovative Southeast Asia law firm

Rajah & Tann (R&T) has clinched the Most Innovative Lawyers in Cybersecurity & Data Governance accolade at this year’s Financial Times (FT) Innovative Lawyers Asia-Pacific awards for its pioneering work in advising Bayer, the German life sciences company, on the use of drones to collect agriculture data that helped farmers in Southeast Asia target their pesticide spraying with precision, thereby increasing crop yields.

In 16th place, the firm is also the only Singapore and Southeast Asia law firm to be ranked in FT’s league of the top 20 most innovative law firms in the Asia-Pacific region, marking its 10th consecutive year on the list.

In the winning deal, R&T advised Bayer on the local regulatory requirements in different Southeast Asian countries, as well as on the commercial aspects of collaborating with various drone technology partners. The advice delved into novel aspects of the collection of agricultural data and getting the necessary consent from numerous government agencies. FT has cited that this is one example of how the legal sector in the Asia-Pacific region has to think more inventively.

R&T was also shortlisted for several categories including Most Innovative Lawyers in Digital Assets, Innovation in Training & Development and Innovative Individual Leaders.

In the Digital Assets category, R&T was approached by the US counsel of a US citizen in Mexico who had his cryptocurrency stolen. The firm successfully argued to the Singaporean courts that the cryptocurrency amounted to property subject to trust and that, as the coins passed through crypto exchanges based in Singapore, the courts could freeze the assets.

R&T also scored points in the Innovation in Training & Development category for its creation of a professional development course for arbitration work. The course is delivered using several methods, including live virtual training and group analysis of case studies, and the training model will be extended to other practice areas.

R&T’s Managing Partner Patrick Ang was among the law firm leaders who demonstrated a blend of empathy, dynamism and vision. FT noted that since his appointment in 2019, Mr Ang has focused on promoting young lawyers into leadership roles, which he said keeps the firm vibrant and dynamic.

The majority of people on the R&T executive committee are now in their early to mid-forties, which is unusual for law firms worldwide. Each member is tasked with advancing a specific strategic goal for the firm. Under Mr Ang’s leadership, FT said the firm has pursued expansion and invested in offices in Vietnam and Indonesia, which have seen double-digit revenue growth in the past two years despite the impact of the pandemic.

On R&T’s outstanding achievements in this year’s FT rankings, Mr Ang said: "The recognition from FT, one of the world’s top business publications, is testament to R&T’s commitment to innovation and excellence in the practice of law.

“Rajah & Tann is one of the first, if not the first law firm in Southeast Asia, to embrace tech innovation because we have long recognised that legal tech would transform the practice of law. Our tech savvy lawyers work closely with allied professionals skilled in data and cybersecurity, and are well placed to advise clients in the fast-evolving digital economy across the region.”

FT's Innovative Lawyers Asia 2023 rankings report uses a scoring methodology devised by FT and its research partner RSGI to evaluate lawyers, law firms, and in-house legal teams on their ability to deliver exceptional value to society using technological advancements and innovative approaches.

 

About Rajah & Tann Asia – www.rajahtannasia.com

Rajah & Tann Asia brings together leading law firms and lawyers in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, The Philippines and Vietnam, with each offering the highest standards of service to locally-based clients while collectively having the capability to handle the most complex regional and cross-border transactions, providing legal counsel seamlessly across the region. With over 970 fee earners, all working towards one shared goal, we are lawyers who know Asia and who give our clients home advantage.