Small firm Adi Law in Best 100 list as Rajah & Tann leads again

Being small gives firm advantages over bigger practices, such as being able to act fast, its managing director says

- K.C. Vijayan

Each year, new entrants break into the ST-Statista Singapore's Best Law Firms ranking, excelling in a particular field of legal practice. This year, it's the turn of boutique law firm Adi Law, which topped the field of investment funds.

The firm says its technical expertise and emphasis on knowledge-building over marketing and expansion helped it stand out against the big-name firms in the fast-paced asset and wealth management landscape.

Adi Law's managing director, Mr Amit Dhume, said he was "humbled that Adi Law has topped the list for investment funds legal practice in our debut entry".

Overall, Rajah & Tann remained the gold standard in the annual rankings for a record fourth time, taking top spot in eight fields of legal practice. Allen & Gledhill was next in a close second overall, followed by a resurgent Drew & Napier, which moved up from fourth in the survey in 2023.

This fifth edition of the annual survey by The Straits Times and Munich-based international market researcher Statista identifies Singapore's 100 best law firms in 18 areas of legal practice. This year, the new field of ESG (environmental, social and governance) was added.

The results were based on more than 12,000 recommendations from a total of 5,966 lawyers, in-house counsel, related professionals and clients.

The American Corporate Counsel Association Singapore Chapter also invited its members to take part in the survey and Statista reported an increase in responses following this.

Statista analyst Nane Fritz said the survey in 2024 "overall saw again a great amount of participation and recommendations, even surpassing the previous year".

She said about 75 per cent of the recommendations were made by clients and 25 per cent by lawyers, which was an indication of the very high number of participants overall. "The overall picture therefore shows a really encouraging growth and interest in our survey," added Ms Fritz.