Singapore’s joint law venture (JLV) regime, which required international firms to pair with local firms to practise Singapore law, never had many fans.
Tie-ups between Shearman & Sterling and Stamford Law Corporation; between White & Case and Colin Ng & Partners; and between Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe and Rodyk & Davidson all ended within a few years of the programme’s launch in 1999. Most of the rest folded almost as soon as Singapore announced in 2008 that it would issue licences for some foreign firms to practise local law outside of a JLV.
