Starting, Building and Sustaining a Small Law Firm Practice?

Jointly organised by:
Legal Leadership Development Programme (“L-Leap”)
Starting, Building and Sustaining a Small Law Firm Practice?
6 November 2014, 3:30 pm – 6:15 pm
Singapore Management University, Admin Building, Level 6 Function Room 6-1
They’re entrepreneurial, harbour ambitions to build their own successful law practices and are the ones who
believed in themselves enough to have chosen a risk-laden path to get to where they are today. These confident
heads of their own firms would certainly have had to face a whole series of challenges and what-ifs along the way.
What led them to take that first step? What were the difficulties they encountered and the emotional strains they
faced practicing community law? Had they derived a sense of work satisfaction from building their own practice?
A distinguished panel of speakers from smaller firms will discuss the following issues:
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How does one take the plunge and start a small law firm practice?
What are the strategies involved in building and sustaining a small law firm practice?
What are the challenges in practicing community law such as criminal, family and general law practice?
How does one derive work satisfaction and deal with the emotional strain of practicing community law?
How can a smaller law practice compete with larger law firms?
How to manage costs and recruit the right people?
PROGRAMME
3:30 – 4:00pm
4:00 – 4:05pm
4:05 – 5:35pm
Registration
Welcome Address
Starting, Building and Sustaining a Small Law Firm Practice?
5.35 – 6.15pm
Moderators: Mahdev Mohan (SMU) and
Choo Zheng Xi (Peter Low LLC)
Panelists: Edmond Pereira (Edmond Pereira Law Corporation)
Halijah Mohamad (Halijah Mohamad & Co)
Patrick Tan (Fortis Law Corporation)
Lisa Sam (Lisa Sam & Company)
Reception
About L-Leap
L-Leap is a new seminar series jointly organized by the Singapore Academy of Law and Singapore Management
University’s Centre for Cross-Border Commercial Law in Asia and supported by White & Case. The primary
objective of L-Leap is to bring together leading thinkers to discuss pressing issues facing the legal profession.
While there are many existing conferences and seminars on various aspects of the law, there is a dearth of fora
where pressing issues facing the legal profession are discussed. This seminar series, which will take the form of
3 seminars held over 12 months, will fill the lacuna in this area.
1.5 PUBLIC CPD points. Practice Area: Others. Training Level: General.
SILE Attendance Policy
Participants who wish to claim CPD Points are reminded that they must comply strictly with the Attendance Policy
set out in the CPD Guidelines. This includes signing-in on arrival and signing-out at the conclusion of the activity
in the manner required by the organiser, and not being absent from the entire activity for more than 15 minutes.
Participants who do not comply with the Attendance Policy will not be able to obtain CPD Points for attending the
activity. Please refer to http://www.sileCPDcentre.sg for more information.
SPEAKERS
Edmond Pereira, Edmond Pereira Law Corporation
Edmond graduated from the University of Singapore in 1976 with an LLB (Hons). His illustrious
legal career spans almost 3 decades and includes experience in the Singapore Legal Service as
well as in criminal practice. He is a former Deputy Public Prosecutor and State Counsel in the
Attorney General’s Chambers. He was also a District Judge in the Subordinate Courts. In legal
practice since 1988, he is a senior member of the criminal bar. He was a Council Member of the
Law Society of Singapore. He has served as Chairman of the Law Society’s Criminal Practice
Committee from 2000 – 2005 and was a member of the Inquiry Panel from 2001 till July 2004.
Halijah Mohamad, Halijah Mohamad & Co
Halijah Mohamad graduated from National University of Singapore (LLB hons) in 1983 and was
called to the Bar in January 1984. She was an investigating officer with Commercial Affairs Dept
from 1987 until 1991. She set up her own law practice in February 1995. For the past 15 years, the
firm has been handling primarily family law matters (both civil and syariah). Halijah is involved with
various NGOs and was past Vice Present of AWARE for several terms and a former Co-Chair of
Muslim Law Practice. She is now an Executive Committee member of S’pore Association of
Women's Lawyers, and member of Muslim Law Practice Committee and Family Law Practice
Committee.
Patrick Tan, Fortis Law Corporation
Patrick Tan is the Chief Executive Officer of the Firm. His areas of practice include commercial
litigation and arbitration, wealth management, and private client matters. He is a Commissioner for
Oaths, a Fellow with the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators, as well as an accredited Associate
Mediator, appointed by the Singapore Mediation Centre and the Primary Dispute Resolution Centre
of the State Courts of Singapore. In 2005, Patrick was nominated for the Spirit of Enterprise Award
in Singapore for founding M/s Patrick Tan & Associates, as the Firm was then known. In 2007,
Patrick steered the Firm into becoming the first law firm in Singapore to be accredited with the
PrimeLaw Practice Management Excellence Standard awarded by the Law Society of Singapore.
Lisa Sam, Lisa Sam & Company
Lisa is the Managing Partner of Lisa Sam & Company and has a whole range of experience and
practice on litigation and advisory matters. Lisa had previously practiced in both a large and a
medium-sized law firm in Singapore and has undertaken cases involving diverse areas of the law
such as agency law, constructive trusts, negotiable instruments and company law. Lisa was
admitted as an advocate and solicitor of the Supreme Court in 1997 and is a barrister-at-law of
England and Wales. Lisa was the Chairperson of the Law Society Small Law Firms Committee for
the years 2010 to 2012, 2014 and Chairperson of the Law Society State Courts Committee for the
years 2012 to 2014.
REGISTRATION
(Closing Date: 31 October 2014)
• A registration fee of SG$21.40 (inclusive of GST) applies.
• Registration for the event can only be made:
a) online at www.sal.org.sg with a Visa or Master card; and
b) online through a firm’s/ organisation’s Online Purchase Co-ordinator (OPC).
• FULL PAYMENT must be made at the point of registration.
• Any cancellation must be made in writing before the closing date. There will be no refund for any cancellation after
the closing date.
• For enquiries, please call (65) 6332 4133/ 6332 0019 or email [email protected].
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SAL’s terms and conditions apply. See http://www.sal.org.sg/RegistrationTermsNConditions.aspx for more details.