Mediation drives legal hiring growth in Singapore

Corporate and commercial law is also set to boost hiring in 2025 amid M&As.

Dispute resolution and international arbitration are fueling legal hiring in Singapore, and the momentum is likely to continue into 2025.

Data from job portal foundit showed that as of end-September 2024, mediators accounted for 24% of jobs in the legal sector. Hiring in the legal sector rose 38% from a year earlier.

Stefanie Yuen Thio, joint managing partner at TSMP Law Corp., said the firm also reported growth in their dispute and international arbitration practice this year. 

Agnes Yee, executive director and legal practice lead at Kerry Consulting, attributed the growth in dispute resolution and international arbitration to Singapore’s push to become a leading arbitration hub.

Growth in the practice in 2025 is expected to be particularly strong in international arbitration, according to Anurag Sinha, chief product and technology officer at foundit. He added that regulatory changes would drive demand for international arbitration.

Sinha said corporate and commercial law would grow next year with the expected surge in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), corporate restructuring, and cross-border transactions. 

Thio said corporate and commercial law has been a strong sector for TSMP in 2024, particularly in M&A, driven by increased private equity fund deployment in the second half.

As of end-September, the practice accounted for 32% of  jobs in the legal sector.

Other key fields law firms hired for in 2024 included banking and finance (17%), tech & intellectual property (12%), real estate and construction (11%), and environmental and ESG (environmental, social and governance) standards (4%), according to foundit.

Within these fields, Yee and Sinha said fintech, cryptocurrency regulations, technology law, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence ethics, data privacy, and sustainability and environmental compliance will see increased demand in 2025.

Sinha said firms should provide tailored career development programmes to support practitioners in fields like cryptocurrency law, AI regulation, and global arbitration.

“By providing specialised certifications and courses in these high-demand areas, firms can differentiate themselves from competitors,” he said, adding that these programmes could help firms attract more talent.

Law firms with clear and merit-based promotion criteria are also more likely to attract and keep talent..

Yee said having a “curated blueprint” for career trajectory could help legal professionals know where they can be years from now based on their performance.

Ten years ago, Yee said a junior lawyer could not be a partner within five years, but things have changed, and some firms have decided to take the performance of their staff into account.

TSMP is amongst those firms. According to Thio, TSMP takes “fast-track promotion to partner seriously.” 

“Our newly promoted partners this year, Leon Lim and Nanthini Vijayakumar, have both been with the firm since their traineeship,” she said.

Sinha said formal mentorship programmes are important in keeping talent because they create “an environment where new hires feel supported and integrated.”

For younger talents, investing in legal tech is the way to go, Yee said. “Legal tech has become an important attraction. Millennial candidates or the Gen Zs, they want to work in a smart and efficient firm.”

Sinha noted that legal tech such as AI-powered research tools, contract automation software, and e-discovery platforms boosts firm efficiency whilst also appealing to younger, tech-savvy lawyers seeking modern work environments.