California-based Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan has, after doubling down on its Greater China operations with a Beijing office launch last year, extended its physical reach to Southeast Asia with the setup of a Singapore outpost earlier this month.
In a recent interview with Asia Business Law Journal, Duncan Watson KC, the managing partner of the new Singapore office, said launching in the city-state, which has emerged as a major legal hub in recent years, was about “introducing to the people there what the rest of Quinn Emanuel’s partners in other offices worldwide do”.
“Some of the people in Singapore might have problems concerning Delaware Chancery court disputes who wouldn’t necessarily know that Quinn Emanuel is the right firm to call for that, [or] the EU competition law but don’t normally necessarily think of calling us about that,” said Watson.
On 2 July, Quinn Emanuel announced the opening of a Singapore branch, its 10th office in Asia, as the US firm sees increased demand for international arbitration within the city-state.
The expansion into Singapore has come 17 years after the firm, known for its cross-border litigation and arbitration practice, launched its Tokyo office – the firm’s first overseas outpost – in 2007. The Singapore office opening has also marked Quinn Emanuel’s first official foray into the Southeast Asia region, following the establishment of a multi-city office network in Greater China during the past decade consisting of branches in Hong Kong, Shanghai and, most recently, Beijing.
Watson, an international arbitration partner who was appointed as King’s Counsel in 2021, said his firm’s plan was to grow the team on the ground in Singapore, having already relocated one associate from the Sydney office to the city-state and hired a Singaporean associate locally from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. The Singapore outfit, which does not practice local law, will have five to six lawyers in its initial phase of operation with no more partners other than Watson, who will be supported by Hong Kong-based Asia managing partner John Rhie.
But Watson stressed that Quinn Emanuel was a very specialised firm with no interest in the full-service model and that they were in Singapore to “service particular clients with very particular high-stakes complex disputes”.
In a 2 July , the US firm said it would focus the Singapore practice on international arbitration, multijurisdictional litigation, international regulatory advice and investigations, while continuing to partner with local law firms as needed.
India as a market with soaring investment and Singapore being the place of choice for dispute resolution among India-based companies have also been a deciding factor for the need to set up shop in the city-state to seize India-related work, Rhie told Asia Business Law Journal.
According to the latest compiled by the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), India was the third foreign largest user at SIAC after Hong Kong and mainland China last year with 141 new cases involving parties from India. In comparison, the SIAC 79 new cases involving parties from India in 2022.
“If you want to have real credibility in dealing with those [India-related] disputes, having an office [in Singapore] is very important,” said Rhie.
