Gateway Law Corporation

2012-01-01T14:26:00.003+08:00

Happy 2012 to all friends, colleagues and people whom we have met the past year and who have contributed to a brighter and more meaningful year ahead! We wish you good cheer, good health and most importantly - all the happiness that 2012 will bring..

Singapore Law Watch

2011-08-15T12:32:00.000+08:00

Singapore Law Watch

There is a simple way to resolve this. Have 2-stage elections.

The first to narrow down to 2 candidates, then the second to elect the more popular candidate.

Question is: Will the additional cost and work involved, be justifiable?

Singapore Law Watch: S 'pore has 'robust protection for IP rights '

2011-05-10T17:39:00.001+08:00

max.ng@gateway-law.com thought you would be interested in the following item from singaporelawwatch.sg.

S 'pore has 'robust protection for IP rights '

The following personal message was also included:

Singapore Law Watch

2010-10-12T19:49:00.001+08:00

It was recently reported that Singapore may now be one the first countries to sign the new Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, the finalised draft of which has just been released and finally concluded.

Another coup for Singapore in the IP field!
For more details, see: Singapore Law Watch

EU IPR survey 2010 on IPR protection and enforcement in third countries

2010-08-17T11:33:00.000+08:00

Having conductd similar exercises in 2003 and 2006 (see http://ec.europa.eu/trade/creating-opportunities/trade-topics/intellectual-property/enforcement/), the European Commission has recently launched a new survey regarding IPR protection and enforcement in 3rd world countries (relevant from a EU trade policy perspective), targeting in the first place EU companies established or operating in third countries.

The survey can be accessed at http://ec.europa.eu/yourvoice/ipm/forms/dispatch?form=IPRsurvey2010.

The replies to this survey will be taken into acccount by the Director General of Trade in reviewing its priorities in this area. In particular, combined with other sources of input, it will enable the Commission to update its list of "priority countries" (cf. IPR Enforcement Report 2009).

In order to ensure representative conclusions, as many EU right holders as possible should participate in this survey should participate in this survey. I was therefore asked to disseminate this widely.

The survey will close on 31 October 2010.

"IP Golden Oldies": The First Salvo

2010-05-12T12:53:00.000+08:00

Interesting article from IP Kat, discussing an article from Pattishall way back in 1952 on TM issues!

"IP Golden Oldies": The First Salvo

Singapore Law Watch

2010-05-01T17:41:00.000+08:00

One of the more interesting recent developments in the legal scene. I guess we will have to wait for the memoirs 30 years from now, to read about the inside scoop of what really happened...

Singapore Law Watch

Trapped in a bad investment??

2010-03-16T23:39:00.002+08:00

Read this article with interest, but in all honesty - it would be best for the affected investors to simply get together, and hire a lawyer. That way, they can split the legal costs and still have their day in Court! The legal system is not perfect, but it is still the best available remedy at this time.

The investors should be thankful that they are at least living in a country with a good, honest and fairly expedient legal system (even if access to justice is getting more costly, but this is a post for another day...)

President's Speech

2009-11-02T20:20:00.000+08:00

At the recent Singapore Law Society Annual D&D, a couple of interesting speeches were delivered. The first is by the President of our Law Society, and the second is by our Law Minister. It can be seen from the respective speeches, the different focus that each had on the developments in the legal sector.

On my part, I do wonder what the future of the legal landscape will be in Singapore, in 10 years' time. Only time will tell, I guess...

10 benefits of working in a small law firm

2009-10-08T16:37:00.001+08:00

This is a post from OpenLaw (a cross-collaborative platform for law firms to share and exchange ideas), which I thought would be useful for all lawyers to read, and who might be thinking of joining a boutique or small law firm... Hopefully it will provoke some thoughts and discussions on the matter.

http://openlaw.com.sg/discussion/topic/show/244597?lpx=1

Weekend of introspection

2009-10-04T14:46:00.001+08:00

This weekend, it dawns upon me that 2009 is slowly but surely coming to an end... Wow, what a year it has been. It would usually be in December that I would do this, but somehow - 2009 has been an extraordinary year. First, there was the impact of the GFC, which caused markets to tumble all around the world, and if not for big Govts around the world and Central banks, we would no doubt be in a much worse shape than where we are today. The other surprising thing, is the way that the stock markets (until this weekend) and property markets (at least here in Singapore) have been so resilient in spite of it all... What gives? See the difference a year makes (December 2008: see http://www.ocbcresearch.com/Article.aspx?type=research&id=20081201110817_48685) and now (see http://www.propertyguru.com.sg/news/2009/10/26233/increase-in-price-for-singapore-private-homes and http://thestar.com.my/columnists/story.asp?col=insightdownsouth&file=/2009/9/19/columnists/insightdownsouth/4746157&sec=Insight%20Down%20South).

So 2009 has turned out to be a funny year of sorts... Well, there's a couple of months to go, so let's see...

Tokens of appreciation

2009-09-24T00:52:00.001+08:00

Regardless of however often one has received these little tokens, it is still always nice to be appreciated... This one is from the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore (circa 2007)..

September - a month of talks, seminars and more talks

2009-09-03T00:58:00.001+08:00

It has been a crazy month for some of us here at Gateway Law. New clients, new matters, a deadline to file an appeal, secondment to clients, etc. have let to some of us getting very little sleep indeed... But I think we are all happy and some of us seem to be more cheerful in spite of all the stress. I only wish that I could be like some of the lawyers - with always a smile and a chuckle, regardless. This is also a crazy month for me personally, as I think at last count that I have at least 3 or 4 presentations to give this month and the next! I ask that everyone bear with me if I am a little cranky the next few days...

We also have a couple of new faces on board, and I urge the current team to welcome these young ones into the fold here at Gateway.

For those who are fasting during this holy month, we wish them all the best in the month of Ramadhan and soon it will be Hari Raya Puasa.

And to Junnel, please have a safe journey back home - we think you deserve a good rest for the next fortnight!

Already the END of May

2009-05-30T00:23:00.002+08:00

Technology seems to be constantly evolving. the other day, I was introduced to "Street View" by Google maps - and this is simple the most fantastic invention ever. With this function, you can literally travel and see the streets of another country, without even being there! Well, this is certainly one way to avoid getting the H1N1 flu... simply travel from your arm chair. I'm downloading this app onto my phone...

It's already May!!

2009-05-01T00:55:00.003+08:00

Thought for the day: How many young lawyers today actually enjoy or are passionate about what they do? By young - I mean lawyers from 1 to 10 years PQE. I welcome any readers out there to share their views and sentiments on this subject.

I think it would also be worth it to do a straw poll on this subject, comparing the degree of happiness vs the size of their firm vs the amount of $$ they are drawing up now... would be interesting to see the correlations here...

has the recession hit the legal industry in Singapore??

2009-04-13T19:38:00.005+08:00

One would think that it has not, judging by the perceptions of some young lawyers and pupils I have come across recently. One would think that in today's economic environment, these young lawyers or lawyers-to-be should be happy to even be employed, since:
1) they have yet to be tested or tried;
2) they have yet to develop any real legal skills;
3) there are many foreign lawyers who are willing to work as hard, but for a much lesser salary.

Can I have some feedback as to what young lawyers are earning these days?

I came across this posting on salaries at: http://thinkhappiness.blogspot.com/2009/03/2009-salaries-for-newly-qualifed.html, and wonder if there is any truth or merit to the figures posted there? Does anyone know?

No offence intended, but I think that young lawyers these days do not see or cannot understand the real issues in legal practice. Surely they must realise that with larger salaries, come larger expectations on them. Are these young lawyers really willing to sacrifice all their waking hours for a few hundred/thousand dollars more? For the sake of money, so many young lawyers have thrown themselves into the billings rat-race, with the end result that not many of them will ever love (or last in) practice. And that is surely a pity...

Why do all lawyers want to do Corporate Law?

2009-04-02T22:08:00.002+08:00

In recent times, I have wondered why so many of the young lawyers today want to specialise in corporate law (or M&A, or securities, or REITs, etc.). Is it for the money, the glamour, the perceived opportunities of working on sexy deals, the associated prestige or the opportunities to wear power suits and work around the clock?

Or is it simply a case that the alternatives are unpalatable? That litigation work is too stressful (I wonder why... I see corporate lawyers who looked just as stressed all the time), that conveyancing is too boring, or that IP law is too specialised?

Perhaps the young lawyers out there can share their views on this.

Initial Musings

2009-03-29T01:14:00.001+08:00

For the longest time, I have been fascinated by the intersection between the practice, profession and business of law. In my early years, I only knew of law - what you would see from the television, those glamourised notions of the legal profession and the complicated and sensationalised lives that lawyer live on TV. When at long last I made it into law school, you realise that the study of law is something else all together. All those cases to read and to understand, within a very short time - and not made any easier by the very very small and fine print used. Thank goodness for casenotes!

Very soon after that though, I was thrust into the practice of law, and another phase of my legal life began. As a young lawyer in one of the oldest (if not oldest) firms, you feel a little awed initially when the more senior practitioners deign to share some of the history of the firm with you. In the boardroom, one scrutinises the old photos and faces of some of the partners, as they looked - a good number of years ago. But apart from that and the camaderie between all us young lawyers, those years were mostly about getting the work done on time, getting it right, trying to get your draft letters sounding right and not returned with all kinds of corrections and dripping in red (or pink) ink, long hours spent in the office and wondering why as the years went by - more and more of my cohort of lawyers were leaving, and how such departures were so readily accepted by the partners. As a lawyer becomes more senior, the realities of the business of law are slowly but inexorably entrusted upon him (or her), and you wonder why issues like billing targets, billable hours and charge out rates were simply not explained to you right from the start.

To cut a long story short, after many years and hours spent finessing my legal skills in one of the most respected firms - I finally made a very difficult decision to move into the next phase of my life, which is to establish a legal practice of my own - that stood for the principles and issues that I believed in, a practice that would develop in a way that was sustainable, and that would serve its clients with pride and favour.

As I embark on this journey, I have met and made many new friends and partners. Not all will stay the course with me; some intersections are more transient, whilst others have moved on to much better things - and I am happy for them. But there will be those that stay the course, the ones that will occassionally surprise you with their tenacity, commitment and loyalty - the ones who make the journey worthwhile at the end of it all. And sometimes, clients too become friends, good friends - and some friends become good clients. Isn't this what the life and practice of the law should accomplish, inter alia? :)

As I continue this journey, I would like to use this platform to invite all who share this vision to join me, in one way or another - to explore this crazy life and practice of the law.