Soaring To New Heights

Global vice chair of the world’s largest law firm and newly minted Commercial Litigator of the Year, Philip Jeyaretnam tells TAN HWEE HWEE about his love for courtroom battles and belief in “efficient scheduling”.

- Tan Hwee Hwee

Philip jeyaretnam is widely regarded as one of the country’s top lawyers, but being welcomed into the establishment was not an easy task, especially during the early days of his career.

Even with excellent academic credentials — a first-class Honours degree in Law from Cambridge University — he found it a tough time securing a job on his return from England to Singapore, as many of the major law firms slammed their doors in his face.

The reason? He is the son of J B Jeyaretnam, the opposition politician famed for his battles against the ruling PAP.

“Senior partners in big law firms tend to be conservative,” says Jeyaretnam, now 52. “They were afraid that if they hired me, it would affect their business because of who my father was.”

The young law grad finally landed his first job with Robert W H Wang & Woo, where he worked for a few years before joining HelenYeo & Partners. In 2002, the latter merged with Singapore’s oldest law firm, Rodyk & Davidson, of which Jeyaretnam was named managing partner in 2011. He would go on to steer the firm’s successful combination with the world’s largest law firm, Dentons, in 2016, forming a global legal powerhouse now known as Dentons Rodyk. Post combination, Jeyaretnam holds the positions of Singapore chief executive officer and global vice-chair.