Rodyk & Davidson

Dentons Rodyk & Davidson LLP is one of Singapore's largest law firms, with around 200 lawyers who are qualified in various jurisdictions such as those of Singapore, Australia, England and Wales and India, and with offices in Singapore and Myanmar.

Dentons Rodyk & Davidson LLP

Headquarters	Polycentric - Singapore Office: Dentons Rodyk
No. of offices	Over 200
No. of attorneys	Over 200
No. of employees	450
Major practice areas	Corporate, Finance, Intellectual Property & Technology, Litigation & Arbitration, and Real Estate
Key people	Gerald Singham, JP, BBM, PBM (Dentons Rodyk Managing Partner, Dentons ASEAN CEO, and Global Vice Chair) Lek Siang Pheng (Deputy Managing Partner) Edric Pan (Deputy Managing Partner) Loh Kia Meng (Chief Operating Officer and Senior Partner)
Date founded	1861
Founder	Robert Carr Woods; James Guthrie Davidson
Company type	Limited liability partnership
Website	http://www.dentons.rodyk.com

They practice in corporate law, finance law, intellectual property & technology, litigation & arbitration, and real estate with a specialist practice in competition.

History

The firm is Singapore's first and oldest law practice and celebrated its 160th year as one of Singapore's largest full service law firms in 2021.^[1] It traces its beginnings to the partnership of Woods & Davidson, founded by Robert Carr Woods and James Guthrie Davidson in 1861. After the death of Woods, Bernard Rodyk joined Davidson in 1877. The firm was renamed Rodyk & Davidson. The firm was the first foreign law office to be granted a license for Shanghai and established its Shanghai office in 1996.

The firm is registered under the Limited Liability Partnership Act, on and from April 2007.

In 2011, Phillip Jeyaretnam was elected as its managing partner and was later replaced by Gerald Singham after the former was appointed as a judicial commissioner of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 2020.^[2]

In 2016, the firm combined with global law firm Dentons and was renamed Dentons Rodyk & Davidson LLP. The tie-up created a combined entity that would have over 7,000 lawyers internationally.^[3] This combination made Dentons Rodyk part of a multinational law firm with over 200 locations in more than 80 countries,^[3][4] and making Rodyk the first firm in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to combine with Dentons.^[5] Dentons ASEAN is the first global pan-ASEAN law firm to have a presence in seven ASEAN Countries, including Singapore, Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.^[4][6][7]

In 2017, the company established the Dentons Rodyk Dialogue, an annual event hosted jointly by Dentons Rodyk and Singapore Management University (SMU). It serves as a platform to discuss topics shaping Asia's legal, business, cultural, and economic landscape.^[8][9][10]

Main Practice Groups

The firm specialises in the following areas:

• Corporate
• Finance
• Intellectual Property & Technology
• Litigation & Arbitration
• Real Estate

Notable lawyers and alumni

• James Guthrie Davidson, founding partner of the firm.
• Philip Jeyaretnam, SC, Judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore.
• Quentin Loh, SC, former Judge of the Appellate Division of the High Court of the Supreme Court of Singapore^[11]
• Robert Carr Woods, founding partner and first editor of the Straits Times.

Charitable initiatives

In 2021, Dentons Rodyk collaborated with the Singapore Association of Women Lawyers (SAWL) in its 160th anniversary to raise funds of over US $120,000 for the SAWL Scholarship Fund. The funds were given to address educational imbalances and improve access to education for students with physical or mental disabilities who demonstrate academic potential.^[12][10] In 2022, the firm established a practice focused on philanthropy and non-profits to assist clients with charitable objectives. This practice is representative of Dentons Rodyk's initiatives to provide legal advice and assistance for clients in this sector.^[10][13]

Dentons Rodyk has been an anchor firm with the Law Society of Singapore's Community Legal Clinics. The firm has also supported its Criminal Legal Aid Scheme (Clas) since the scheme's inception in 2015, and has implemented a pro bono policy in 2018, with a targeted 40 hours of pro bono work per lawyer per year.^[13]

The firm was recognized in the Charities, Not-for-profit Associations and Pro Bono category of The Straits Times Singapore's Best Law Firms rankings in 2023 and 2024.^[10]

In 2022 and 2024, Dentons Rodyk was a conferee of the Champions of Good title, an initiative organized by the Singapore National Volunteer & Philanthropy Centre.^[13][14]