What does it take to build a sustainable and successful legal practice today — in an era when technical competence is the bare minimum, and clients expect more than black-letter brilliance?
I had the privilege of moderating a lively discussion with Ms Joan Lim, Partner at K&L Gates Straits Law; Mr Jordan Tan, Co-Managing Partner at Audent Chambers LLC; Mr Nicholas Soh, Partner at Allen & Gledhill LLP; and Mr Khoo Ken Hui, Managing Director (Legal & Regulatory) at Temasek. Each brought a different perspective to the table—private practice, boutique firms, and in-house leadership—which enriched the session because multiple different perspectives could be had.
Here are five key points from the session.
Specialisation
We began with a question that every young lawyer has asked: Should you be selective about work early on, or just take whatever comes? The consensus: breadth before precision. When one starts off on a legal career, we do not know what we do not know. As such, exposing oneself to a variety of work helps to build skills and judgment. Over time, reliability – not pedigree – will deliver the right partners and right clients.
Further down the road, one can begin thinking about specialisation by asking what energises oneself as competence without direction leads to quiet frustration. The shared wisdom? Build range first, purpose later.
We then turned to the modern obsession with having a “USP”.
In Singapore’s mature legal market, some level of specialisation is unavoidable and so a focus helps others know what to come to you for — whether it’s an industry, a deal type, or a regulatory niche. Having said that, a USP is not invented but earned – it is what people say about someone after years of consistency.
Inside the In-House Mindset
From the in-house perspective, Ken reframed the idea of “business development”. For him, it’s not about winning clients, but building credibility with colleagues. To Ken, legal advice that ignores commercial reality is just theory; to build trust, one had to understand the business first — what drives it, what scares it, what success looks like for the client. The takeaway? Even for lawyers without clients in the traditional sense, relationship-building still defines influence.
Client Relationships
On the topic of client acquisition, the panel was refreshingly unglamorous. While firm names may open doors, ultimately clients stay for the individual. As Jordan shared, most of his best clients came from doing good work for existing ones. Also, small gestures went a long way – as Nicholas observed, keeping in touch with a client after a deal closes and congratulating them on significant milestones are gestures that clients remember.
Business Development Budgets
When asked how to use a business development budget wisely, Nicholas’s advice was direct – spend on places which deepens trust because no one hires someone because of a fancy event. They hire because the lawyer remembered what mattered to them. For younger partners struggling to enter markets dominated by large corporate panels, patience and persistence is key. While panels change slowly, they do change. Start small — a niche project, a pilot issue, a referral from a friendly GC — and deliver excellence. Credibility compounds.
By the end of the session, we walked away with the following enduring lessons:
Say yes early – Exposure builds confidence and competence.
Relationships are everything – Trust is the ultimate differentiator.
Understand the business – Legal advice must enable, not obstruct.
Deepen trust – Find avenues to deepen trust between oneself and one’s clients rather than attend fancy events.
Thank you Joan, Jordan, Ken, and Nicholas for the wonderful session! We look forward to having more!
This conversation took place at SAL’s Building One’s Book of Business session in May 2025, where practitioners across firms and in-house roles gathered to speak candidly about what really drives a sustainable practice today. Jonathan Muk is an Associate Director at LVM Law Chambers LLC.