Hi all, I am a third year in the finance practice that is looking to lateral from NYC to Singapore. I’ve gotten a little over 2 years of experience, and am looking to lateral to SEA for family/personal reasons. I’ve seen a few posts about WLB and QOL in Singapore but am curious about career outlooks/prospects for biglaw (US firm) in SG.
1. Is going from NYC to Singapore considered a “step down” in finance and if I ever wanted to lateral back to the US market (would not need a US visa), will it be particularly difficult?
2. I’ve heard that the prospects for making partner is significantly more difficult for a US biglaw firm in their Singapore office than one of the US offices. Does anyoen know if this is true?
3. Is there a path for me as a US JD graduate in Singapore to exit out of biglaw (in house, etc.) and does anyone know what the prospects for that are and what the compensation looks like?
4. Is the Singapore market in general looked upon favorably / is it a market that is expected to grow?
Thank you so much in advance!
Lateraling from US to Singapore Forum
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Re: Lateraling from US to Singapore
Bumping this up! TYIA
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Anonymous User
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Re: Lateraling from US to Singapore
I worked in a biglaw finance practice in Singapore for a bit before coming back to NY. It was a while back while I was more junior so don't have insight on all of your questions but a few thoughts:
1) Asian clients are much more cost sensitive than US clients so at my firm, the SG office was much more sensitive re spending (dinner in the office $ limit, phone plan etc.) Taxes and cost of living are much better in SG than NY so it's still a financial gain but re the culture / experience, it was a surprise.
2) SG law is based on English law so it's an adjustment coming from a US background. For the same reason, most associates are English and/or England educated. Most of these associates are rotating through Singapore and eventually return to England (or Hong Kong / one of the Arab countries). As far as I'm aware, your best bet for a career, is making partner if you're US qualified only (i.e. no SG bar). Everyone at my firm who stuck around in SG made partner eventually. Going in house without a SG qualification seems harder. I saw several people lateral to England, Hong Kong or the Arab countries and then go in house from there. I came back to the US because my firm liked me and was willing to do it when I asked and because I was relatively junior. If your main experience is in SG, coming back to the US will be a bit harder although not impossible.
4) Prestige-wise for finance, my impression is that any market outside of NY, London and maybe Hong Kong is a step down but not the biggest deal / it def won't kill your career and you can come back if you want to.
1) Asian clients are much more cost sensitive than US clients so at my firm, the SG office was much more sensitive re spending (dinner in the office $ limit, phone plan etc.) Taxes and cost of living are much better in SG than NY so it's still a financial gain but re the culture / experience, it was a surprise.
2) SG law is based on English law so it's an adjustment coming from a US background. For the same reason, most associates are English and/or England educated. Most of these associates are rotating through Singapore and eventually return to England (or Hong Kong / one of the Arab countries). As far as I'm aware, your best bet for a career, is making partner if you're US qualified only (i.e. no SG bar). Everyone at my firm who stuck around in SG made partner eventually. Going in house without a SG qualification seems harder. I saw several people lateral to England, Hong Kong or the Arab countries and then go in house from there. I came back to the US because my firm liked me and was willing to do it when I asked and because I was relatively junior. If your main experience is in SG, coming back to the US will be a bit harder although not impossible.
4) Prestige-wise for finance, my impression is that any market outside of NY, London and maybe Hong Kong is a step down but not the biggest deal / it def won't kill your career and you can come back if you want to.
