Biglaw in Singapore Forum

[Anonymous User]

I'm a midlevel corporate associate (US citizen, JD) at a top US firm. I'm on track to receive an offer to lateral to another top US firm in Singapore next year. I've always wanted to live in Singapore for a little while and it seems like a decent group of people. My main concern is the hours. I don't want to be working late into the night every night and consistently working on the weekends (I've been lucky to have mostly avoided this fate in my practice group within my current firm).

I don't care about how this move would affect my legal career since I am planning to quit law for good in two years once I reach my savings goal. Does anyone have any experience working in Singapore who can speak to working hours and or anything else about their experience?

[Slickrick90]

Hey,

I am interested in learning how you got your firm to move you to Singapore.

Any chance you could PM me?

Thanks

[Anonymous User]

OP here. My firm didn't move me. I was looking at lateral opportunities and found a different firm with a Singapore office that wants to hire me.

[curepure]

also interested in how you explained why you wanna work in Singapore, does the firm care if you've been there or have a good reason?

[Anonymous User]

OP here. I had spent some time in Asia before law school and had also spent a little time in one of my firm's other Asia offices.

Generally speaking, for foreign offices it's important to credibly emphasize your interest in being in the region for at least a decent amount of time. It's normal for associates to quickly burn out and get replaced in NY, but that kind of turnover can be more disruptive to smaller foreign offices.

Happy to answer more questions, but I'd also really love to hear from anyone with experience working in Singapore biglaw.

[JenDarby]

Apologies since this isn't helpful, but I'm just curious as to what your savings goal prior to quitting biglaw is?

[Anonymous User]

OP here. I don't mind revealing it (especially since this is all anonymous!), but having fielded this question from many people over the years, I can tell you that the specific figure doesn't really matter. How much you need to save for financial independence is a function of how much you will be spending. If your spending is low, then you don't need to save as much.

I follow a lot of financial independence blogs and I recommend Mr. Money Moustache and Power of Thrift (which is by a former biglaw associate). I also follow the 4% rule, which you can read about on the blogs and elsewhere.

That said, my goal is a million and so far I'm on track for it and hopefully can continue to save/invest at a solid pace.

[Anonymous User]

I love Singapore and I am actually trying to find a way to move to Singapore. I've worked a summer internship in college and lived there for 2 months on my post bar trip.

Does anyone know what kind of corporate work is done in Singapore? Is it similar to NY? Are there any other fields other than corporate that firms tend to hire for? (i.e. Tech trans, IP).

Are they giving you a living stipend to move to Singapore?

Lastly, sorry for hijacking your thread, but what was the interview process like? Did they interview you remotely via skype? or did you visit a local office?

Thanks

[mvp99]

You cant chew gum in Singapore though.. very strict laws. U k with that?

[Anonymous User]

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