MinLaw stats ensure students can make an informed choice

Mr Fong Wei Kurk’s letter, “An avoidable glut of lawyers?” (Aug 22), is based on some misperceptions.

The National University of Singapore takes in about 240 students annually for its Bachelor of Laws programme, while the Singapore Management University takes in 150 students. Almost all (97 per cent) local graduates have been securing training contracts.

Intake into the local law schools has grown only marginally over the years.

As part of its report last year, the 4th Committee on the Supply of Lawyers did not find a shortage in the overall number of lawyers.

It said there was a mismatch between supply and demand, specifically, a shortage of lawyers practising family and criminal law.

The SIM University Law School has been designed as a targeted way to address this need. It will attract mature students with experience in fields such as social work and law enforcement, and who display a keen interest in practising family or criminal law.

It will provide an alternative path for mid-career professionals wanting to study law, and those who may otherwise pursue a law degree overseas. The proposed intake will be small, ranging from 50 to 75 students.

As for overseas universities, the list of approved universities has not changed since 2006. Foreign firms and foreign-qualified lawyers, generally, can practise only the law of the foreign jurisdiction they are qualified from, and not Singapore law.

The Qualifying Foreign Law Practices (QFLP) scheme was started in 2008. This was recommended by a committee headed by Mr V K Rajah. Senior partners of major law firms were in the committee. They strongly recommended that QFLP licences be awarded, so as to grow the legal sector and make Singapore an attractive financial centre.

Firms under the scheme can practise permitted areas of Singapore law, but only through the employment of Singapore-qualified lawyers.

The first six firms awarded the licence in 2008 employ more than 100 Singapore lawyers now.

These and other measures seek to bring in work that may otherwise not come to Singapore, and thus create new opportunities for Singapore lawyers and local law firms. Arbitration is a good example of this.

Upcoming initiatives such as the establishment of the Singapore International Commercial Court will similarly create opportunities for Singapore lawyers and local law firms, as more cross-border work is expected to flow into Singapore.

The point that was originally made was that the number of Singaporean students studying law overseas has almost doubled to 1,500 within three years. That number represents 30 per cent of practising lawyers here.

Students who choose to pursue a law degree must carefully assess their prospects for getting training contracts in such a situation. They may well choose to read law but not to practise. The ministry was sharing the statistics to ensure that interested students have a clear view of all their options and are able to make an informed choice.