Though usually Financial Services draws the largest chunk, last year being spoken for by 30.9 percent of Singapore’s In-House Community, this year, only 13.1 percent of participants in Singapore work in that industry, placing it third. Manufacturing and Technology, Media and Telecommunications both claimed the highest representation with 15.5 percent, and the fourth most popular classification was Energy/Natural Resources with 10.7 percent. Team size Recruitment KEY ISSUES AND CONCERNS The impact of ASEAN integration was seen as a concern, with many citing relevant regulatory updates and legislative changes as being challenges that are currently facing in-house counsel. Managing costs and compliance were key ongoing concerns for others. Respondents anticipate that these issues along with an increasing workload that is not matched by an increase in resources will be the challenge to face going forward. Also, many saw preparing for a new technological era as something that will be important. Working with external counsel Asked about the pitfalls of outside counsel, excessive fees were the number one concern, with 46.4 percent claiming this was an issue they had been bothered by. Others were keen to point out that there is often a failure to completely understand the business (36.9 percent) and that external counsel frequently take too long to get back to them (35.7 percent). The same top three issues are consistent with last year’s survey. (Figure 24) As well as the majority of in-house counsel in Singapore expecting no additional employment in-house, most (63.9 percent) also expect no increased use of external counsel over the coming 12 months. 30.1 percent anticipate using law firms more and six percent predicted that they would use them less. It appears that a lot of the community in Singapore only refers to external counsel when it comes to litigation, with many saying they did not plan to use external counsel more because they only use them for these cases:“We hope to settle our disputes amicably, in the interest of maintaining business relationships. Only in extreme last-resort cases do we institute legal proceedings”. Similarly, some of the responses as to why the participant foresaw more external counsel use justified this by saying they expected to be involved in more litigation cases in the coming year. Budget and preferring to keep work in-house were also reasons some said the use of external counsel would remain the same: “Due to cost control measures we try to do all work in-house unless it’s cross-border or requires very specialised advice”. Another reason for stating external counsel would be used less was a web-based provider of information, showing that technology is being integrated into the jurisdiction’s approach to the sector more than it has been previously. Along with the desire to use external counsel for litigation cases and compliance and regulatory issues, which are common reasons in many jurisdictions for anticipating increased usage of external counsel, some noted ASEAN as being a reason to require extra outside aid. |
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