They say the third time’s the charm, and in the case of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s Singapore base, they might be right. After one significant retrenchment in the region and one full office closure, the magic circle finally appears to have hit the ground running on its third attempt to crack the South East Asian city-state.
It began for Freshfields in 1980, when it was the first international player in town, invited to the market by the Singaporean government – which was trying to promote the city-state as a financial hub. At this time the firm was practising both local and international law and, by all accounts, was extremely successful.
