Reply: Help with Full Subsidy of Compulsory Qualification Expenses

The reply below was received from the Law Society of Singapore regarding matters raised here.

On a related issue, other law firms have announced the following monthly salaries for their newly qualified lawyers or reviewed their earlier announcements:

1. Drew and Napier - $4,000

2. Shook Lin & Bok - $4,000 (reduced following review)

3. Allen & Gledhill - $4,000 (increased following review)

It confirms my earlier observations about how the legal sector in Singapore has reacted to the changes in the economy.

Happiness,
Dharmendra Yadav

Please consider the environment. Do you really need to print this?

REPLY FROM SENIOR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR (COMMUNICATIONS & MEMBERSHIP INTERESTS) ON BEHALF PRESIDENT, THE LAW SOCIETY OF SINGAPORE, ON 23 MARCH 2009

The fees you have stated (i.e. PLC, EFS, dining and other compulsory filing fees) are usually governed by the letter of offer of pupilage, and therefore amount to legally enforceable arrangements or legal rights. The Law Society is not in an appropriate position to tell the law firms not to follow those rights or to disregard the letter of offer of pupilage.

On the other hand, the Society understands the predicament facing the pupils in the current economic crisis. The President will include a message in his next President’s message in the Singapore Law Gazette to encourage firms, who can afford and are not retaining the pupils, to reimburse the fees stated above.