Strategically located in one of the world’s premier financial centers, the Singapore office, operating as K&L Gates Straits Law LLC, is the gateway to the firm’s presence in Southeast Asia, where we assist clients with commercial and legal service needs across local and regional markets, spanning Singapore, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.
We are one of the few international law firms in Singapore that can advise clients on local and international law, handling both contentious and noncontentious work for clients in Singapore and throughout Southeast Asia. Our clients include domestic and foreign public and private companies of all sizes, as well as funds, governments, and government-linked companies that operate across all sectors of the market, including aviation, construction, infrastructure, health care, sustainable energy and resources, banking and finance, oil and gas, and telecommunications and media.
Our Singapore-based lawyers have trained and worked in a variety of jurisdictions in addition to Singapore, including the United States, United Kingdom, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, India, and Australia. Although English is our working language, many of our lawyers in Singapore are fluent in Thai, Bahasa Indonesia, Hindi, Malay, French, Tamil, and Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese).
Our collective capabilities cover the full-range of Singapore law practice areas, with strong litigation and Indian practice groups. We share the distinctive approach and ethos of the firm – to leverage local insights and expertise, deliver international best practices, and draw on knowledge, resources, and contacts from numerous offices across our global platform which spans five continents. Our lawyers have decades of experience working on local matters pertaining to Singapore law, as well as complex cross-border matters. More crucially, they understand the intricacies and nuances of how businesses operate in Singapore and across Southeast Asia. Their capabilities are further supported and enhanced by our strong presence in Asia, which includes approximately 400 lawyers working across major Asia-Pacific commercial hubs (Beijing, Brisbane, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Perth, Seoul, Shanghai, Sydney, Taipei, and Tokyo).
CAPABILITIES:
- Banking and Finance
- Corporate
- Energy, Infrastructure, and Resources
- Investment Management, Hedge Funds, and Alternative Investments
- Labor, Employment, and Workplace Safety
- Litigation, Dispute Resolution (domestic and international arbitration and mediation)
- Policy and Regulatory
- White Collar Defense and Investigations
We also regularly provide local and cross-border legal advice across other areas, including capital markets and fundraising, compliance and corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, fintech, health care, public law and investment disputes, real estate, restructuring and insolvency, shipping and maritime, and tort.
- The 2024 Chambers Asia-Pacific guide recognized the firm and its lawyers among leaders in Singapore in the areas of Arbitration, Aviation: Finance (International), Investment Funds (International), Litigation, and Employment (International).
- The 2024 Chambers Asia-Pacific and Global guides recognized the firm and its lawyers among leaders in Indonesia in the areas of Corporate & Finance (International Firms) (Expertise Based Abroad-Singapore) and in Malaysia in the area of Corporate & Finance (Expertise Based Abroad-China).
- The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2024 edition recognized the firm and its lawyers among leaders in Singapore in the areas of Banking and Finance (local firms), Dispute Resolution (local firms), Energy (foreign firms), International Arbitration, Labor and Employment (foreign firms), and Projects (foreign firms). The firm and its lawyers also were recognized as a Firm to Watch in the areas of Corporate and M&A, Investment Funds, and Shipping. The firm was recognized in Malaysia in the foreign firm category.
- The IFLR1000 Asia-Pacific Guide 2023 recognized the firm among leaders in Singapore in the areas of Project Development and Restructuring and Insolvency in the foreign firms category.
- The Benchmark Litigation Guide 2023 recognized the firm among leaders in Singapore for disputes in the areas of commercial and transactions, insolvency, labor and employment, and white collar crime in the domestic firms category; and for disputes in the area of international arbitration in the domestic and international firms categories.
- Asian Legal Business recognized the firm with the following:
- ALB Southeast Asia Law Awards 2024: M&A Deal of the Year Winner – VTAC’s Business Combination with 17Live Inc. (the deal team included lawyers located in our Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, and Pittsburgh offices).
- Annual M&A Rankings 2023 – Singapore (International)
- Three lawyers from the Singapore office were listed among the 2025 Best Lawyers in SingaporeTM.
The K&L Gates energy, projects and infrastructure team has been growing their capabilities in Asia, in particular, in renewables and clean gasses (ammonia/ hydrogen). The team is responsive, sharp and problem solving oriented, providing effective legal services for our projects. They certainly deserve recognition in rankings for their expertise and growing practice.
They are incredibly prompt, always commercial and solution-oriented, and very down to earth.
One of their strengths is that their breadth of services is quite wide, and that breadth has helped with the engagement.
The team has a very good understanding of international law, the ability to get to the main and critical issues quickly, and the lawyers are very meticulous in their approach.
