Another Australian law firm has entered the burgeoning Singapore legal market. Gadens Lawyers has appointed former Clifford Chance counsel Marc Rathbone as managing partner of its new Singapore office, which opened on January 1. Rathbone is an experienced energy and resources lawyer having been in the Singapore market for the past six years and a lawyer for more than 20 years.

“Gadens, like a lot of Australian firms, sees Asia as a key growth market for our clients,” Rathbone told ALB.  “Singapore is a natural extension for the firm in the Australasian region.”

 The firm already has an office in Port Moresby, which has been established for more than 40 years. “Our initial focus will be on energy and resources,” said Rathbone of the office. “Asia and Australia are in the prime driving seat for energy and resources worldwide.”

Fellow Australian firm AdventBalance opened its Singapore office nearly two years ago. The firm’s Asia managing director John Knox told ALB that since then the firm has grown to become the seventh largest foreign law firm in Singapore. “We have nearly 30 staff here now and about 100 across the region,” said Knox, who opened the firm with a handful of staff. “The Singapore market and Asia in general has continued to grow strongly over the past year. There are a growing number of multinational and Australian companies with operations in Singapore.”

Knox said that he was not surprised that more firms were entering the Singapore market. “There is no doubt there are more firms here than there was when we opened,” he said. “We think there are substantial growth opportunities in the region. I think we could double our lawyer numbers in Singapore.”