21 Aug 2014

8 regional firms launch Rajah & Tann Asia, SE Asia’s largest one-stop legal services provider

Ahead of the launch of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, eight of the region’s leading law firms have teamed up to form a one-stop service under a common banner, Rajah & Tann Asia.

The eight firms are R&T Sok Heng Law Office (Cambodia), Assegaf Hamzah & Partners (Indonesia), Rajah & Tann (Laos) Sole Co Ltd, Christopher & Lee Ong (Malaysia), Rajah & Tann Myanmar Company Limited, Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, Rajah & Tann (Thailand) Limited, and Rajah & Tann LCT Lawyers (Vietnam).

Rajah & Tann Asia draws together more than 500 lawyers from nine countries to provide seamless legal services in Southeast Asia. All the individual firms of Rajah & Tann Asia are fully qualified to advise on and practise the laws of their respective jurisdictions, and collectively have 11 offices in the major cities in Southeast Asia as well as Shanghai.

Together, they constitute a strong regional legal practice that will be well placed to provide premium cross-border transactional and dispute resolution services. Clients will benefit from pooled resources, expertise, insights and connections, and enjoy integrated legal services and support.

With the collaboration between firms across Southeast Asia’s diverse jurisdictions, Rajah & Tann Asia also expects to have enhanced capabilities to develop business opportunities with clients and establish a dominant regional presence under a common brand and vision.

Rajah & Tann Asia is headed by a Regional Management Council, which comprises representatives from each of the eight firms and is chaired by the Managing Partner of Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP, Lee Eng Beng SC.

Mr Lee said: “This launch marks a major milestone. Rajah & Tann Asia is born and bred in Asia and looks forward to serving clients in this region. Clients will not only be offered a full slew of quality legal services and the biggest legal network in Southeast Asia, but a ‘home team’ of lawyers who have local knowledge, language skills, cultural familiarities and contacts that are crucial for businesses navigating in this diverse region. Clients can also opt to have only one point of contact instead of instructing different firms.”

Mr Lee noted that clients are already enjoying the benefits of the one-stop services provided by Rajah & Tann Asia. For examples, four of its regional offices worked together to help a major European coffee roaster with a multi-jurisdiction buyout this year; with the help of the regional offices, Rajah & Tann Singapore was able to immediately piece together a 10 jurisdiction questionnaire about production regulations in a large number of Asian countries for a major technology company.

And for over a year, the Myanmar, Thai and Singapore offices worked very closely on a deal to help a globally well-recognised beverage company with its entry into Myanmar.

Mr Lee added that one of the catalysts for the formation of Rajah & Tann Asia was the impending launch of the ASEAN Economic Community in 2015, which is poised to create enormous opportunities for intra-regional trade and commerce for clients across the region. 

The ASEAN economic community will integrate the 10 economies in the regional grouping into a single market and production base by eliminating to various degrees, trade barriers such as import taxes, foreign ownership curbs, and restrictions on skilled labour mobility.

 

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 and Vietnam, with each offering the highest standards of service to locally-based clients while collectively having the capacity to handle the most complex regional and cross-border transactions and to provide excellent legal counsel seamlessly across the region. With more than 500 lawyers, all working towards one shared goal, we are lawyers who know Asia and who give our clients home advantage.