Approval for the Straits Law and K&L Gates given by the Singapore Legal Services Regulatory Authority is subject to agreement from the partners of both firms and the subsequent signing of documents, with the firms targeting an effective date of Jan 1, 2019.

Seamless service

The combined offices means the Straits Law will be extended to a global level, while K&L Gates will be able to provide clients with legal services involving Singapore law. Straits Law is a medium-sized law firm incorporated in Singapore in 2001, specialising in handling complex corporate litigation, arbitration, construction and white-collar crime cases. It also has a banking and restructuring practice and an India desk. K&L Gates has more than 1,800 lawyers in 45 offices across five continents, with a fully integrated network of offices. It has 11 offices in the Asia-Pacific and locations in the US, Europe, the Middle East and South America. In a joint statement, Straits Law managing director N Sreenivasan and K&L Gates managing partner for Asia David KY Tang said ‘The combined talents and resources of our lawyers in Singapore will allow us to seamlessly serve both local and international clients in Singapore and the region.’

DWF appointment

Separately, DWF has appointed corporate and regulatory partner Jonathan Goacher to its Singapore office as the business looks to strengthen its transactional practice in the Asia Pacific region. He joins from Kennedys, where he led the firm's regional corporate insurance practice, prior to which he was a consultant to DLA Piper's Bangkok office for over a decade. In line with DWF's sector-focused approach, Jonathan will play a key part in continuing to grow the business's insurance sector expertise in Singapore and capitalising on the growing demand from clients to establish operations in the region. Mr Goacher said, ‘Southeast Asia presents a really exciting landscape for the insurance industry, with tremendous opportunities.’