Dentons Rodyk & Davidson LLP is a law firm based in Singapore. It employs around 200 lawyers qualified in jurisdictions including Singapore, Australia, England and Wales and India. The firm maintains offices in Singapore and Myanmar. Established in 1861 as Woods & Davidson, the firm was subsequently renamed as Rodyk & Davidson. The firm combined with Dentons in 2016 and was later renamed as Dentons Rodyk & Davidson.
The firm handles legal matters in banking and finance, energy, and infrastructure. It advises on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, regulatory issues, fintech, and trusts, estates, and wealth preservation. Dentons Rodyk also covers intellectual property, technology, and corporate real estate. Additionally, it manages commercial litigation, international arbitration, restructuring, insolvency and bankruptcy, as well as white collar crime investigations.
History
The firm is Singapore's first and oldest law practice and celebrated its 160th year as one of Singapore's largest full service law firms in 2021.[1] The firm traces its beginnings to the partnership of Woods & Davidson, founded by Robert Carr Woods and James Guthrie Davidson in 1861. After the death of Woods, Bernard Rodyk joined Davidson in 1877. The firm was renamed Rodyk & Davidson. The firm was the first foreign law office to be granted a license for Shanghai and established its Shanghai office in 1996.
In 2011, Phillip Jeyaretnam was elected as its managing partner and was later replaced by Gerald Singham after the former was appointed as a judicial commissioner of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 2020.[2] Singham, like Jeyaretnam, serves as the Global Vice-Chair and Asean CEO of the wider Dentons group.[3]
Combinations with Dentons
In 2016, the firm combined with global law firm Dentons and was renamed Dentons Rodyk & Davidson LLP. The tie-up created a combined entity that would have over 7,000 lawyers internationally.[4] This combination made Dentons Rodyk part of a global law firm with over 12,500 lawyers and 21,000 legal professionals operating from 215 offices across 83 countries.[4][5]
Dentons ASEAN
Denton Rodyk is the first firm in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to combine with Dentons.[6] Dentons ASEAN is the first global pan-ASEAN law firm to have a presence in seven ASEAN Countries, including Singapore, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.[5][7][8]
This combination made Dentons Rodyk part of a multinational law firm with over 200 locations in more than 80 countries,[4][5]and making Dentons Rodyk the first firm in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to combine with Dentons.
Major events
In 2017, the firm established the Dentons Rodyk Dialogue, an annual event hosted jointly by Dentons Rodyk and Singapore Management University (SMU). It serves as a platform to discuss topics shaping Asia's legal, business, cultural, and economic landscape.[9][10][11] Luminaries who have spoken at the Dialogue include Piyush Gupta[12] and Grace Fu.[13]
Doreen Sim, Senior Partner and head of the firm’s Finance practice.
Edmund Leow, SC, Senior Partner and former Judicial Commissioner of the Supreme Court of Singapore.
Edric Pan, current Deputy Managing Partner and head of the firm’s Aviation practice.
Gerald Singham, current Managing Partner and Dentons’ Global Vice Chair and ASEAN CEO.
Gilbert Leong, Senior Partner and Head of the firm’s Intellectual Property & Technology practice
Howard Cashin, former Partner who was known as Singapore's top criminal lawyer at the time.[5]
Lek Siang Pheng, current Deputy Managing Partner and Head of the firm’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice.
Leong Pat Lynn, Senior Partner and head of the firm’s Real Estate practice.
Loh Kia Meng, current Chief Operating Officer and co-head of the firm’s Trust, Estates & Wealth Preservation and High Net Worth & Family Office practices.
Lok Vi Ming, SC, former Senior Partner.
Ng Eng Leng, Senior Partner and head of the firm’s Corporate practice.
Bernard Rodyk, founding partner of the firm.
Helen Yeo, former managing partner of the firm.
ESG, Diversity and Charitable initiatives
In 2021, Dentons Rodyk launched its environmental, social, and governance practice to serve new and existing clients in the expanding sector. The practice caters to clients seeking advice on developing their environmental strategy to align a part of their existing portfolios with global ESG trends.[15]
In 2021, Dentons Rodyk collaborated with the Singapore Association of Women Lawyers (SAWL) in its 160th anniversary to raise funds of over US $120,000 for the SAWL Scholarship Fund. The funds were given to address educational imbalances and improve access to education for students with physical or mental disabilities who demonstrate academic potential.[16][11] In 2022, the firm established a practice focused on philanthropy and non-profits to assist clients with charitable objectives. This practice is representative of Dentons Rodyk's initiatives to provide legal advice and assistance for clients in this sector.[11][15]
Dentons Rodyk has been an anchor firm with the Law Society of Singapore's Community Legal Clinics. The firm has also supported its Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (Clas) since the scheme's inception in 2015, and has implemented a pro bono policy in 2018, with a targeted 40 hours of pro bono work per lawyer per year.[15]
The firm was recognized in the Charities, Not-for-profit Associations and Pro Bono category of The Straits Times Singapore's Best Law Firms rankings in 2023 and 2024.[11]
In 2022 and 2024, Dentons Rodyk was a conferee of the Champions of Good title, an initiative organized by the Singapore National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre recognizes organizations that use their assets and capabilities for broader societal value creation and benefit.[15][17]
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