Lucien Wong leaves Allen & Gledhill to become Singapore AG

However, Wong’s appointment is somewhat unusual given his lack of specific experience — he has specialised in corporate law since he started his legal career at Drew & Napier in 1979. He joined Allen & Gledhill in 1987 and became managing partner there a decade later, but has never practised as a barrister or worked in the attorney-general’s chambers.

“Sometimes, a fresh or a different approach to things will be useful,” said Shashi Nathan, a senior criminal lawyer in Singapore, to the Straits Times.

During his tenure, the firm has grown from a small practice with a handful of partners to a leading law firm with more than 350 lawyers in Singapore and around 100 lawyers in its South-East Asia regional network.

“I am leaving Allen & Gledhill, with bittersweet feelings, after having spent 30 years at the firm,” he said in a statement released by the firm. “Over that period, I have had the immense privilege of working with exceptional colleagues and remarkable clients.”

Indeed, his client list has included all of Singapore’s top corporations, many of which are arms of the government, in work that has spanned the region and indeed the world during the past three decades. There is probably not a single lawyer in Singapore with better connections.

Wong will be succeeded by Christina Ong and Penny Goh, who will take over as co-chairs and senior partners. Ong is currently head of the financial services team while Goh heads the corporate real estate practice.

They will be supported by Lee Kim Shin, who took over from Wong as managing partner in 2012, and newly appointed deputy managing partner Jerry Koh. Lee is a corporate and mergers and acquisitions specialists, while Koh is a leading capital markets lawyer.