Legal Practice Evolving strategies and trends to attract and retain legal talent

Vivek Kathpalia has over 24 years of experience, 16 of which have been in Singapore as a licensed foreign lawyer. He has vast experience of advising varied international clientele in Singapore, Japan, USA and globally, with respect to their Indian law requirements.  He has been a part of marquee transactions and has assisted leading companies enter India.

His experience is in broad range of practise areas including M&A, PE & VC, Transactions , Technology, Telecom and Education. He also practised as a solicitor in the Bombay high court in his early days as an advocate.

He is a registered foreign lawyer in Singapore since 2007.

Jonathan Lai has practiced law for over 28 years and is currently the Managing Partner of the Hawaii law firm Watanabe Ing. Jonathan graduated with a J.D./M.B.A. from the University of Southern California and his practice focuses on creditors’ rights, business law, bankruptcy, real estate and commercial litigation.  He represented an international syndicate of lenders in the $300 million foreclosure of the former Ritz Carlton Residences at Kapalua Bay as well as numerous foreign businesses in legal disputes. Jonathan has also repre

Jonathan has served as the Chairperson for the Hawaii Community Development Authority, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hawaii Foundation, and the Bankruptcy Section and Business Law Section of the Hawaii State Bar Association. He is currently the Vice Chair of the Advisory Board of Legus International, an international network of law firms.

Founding and managing partner of Nascimento e Mourão Advogados based in São Paulo, she is former president of the Professional Ethics Committee of the International Bar Association and at present member of its Section on Public and Professional Interest Council. Professor of Negotiation for Lawyers at Fundação Getúlio Vargas Law School (Brazil) and guest lecturer for the Portuguese Catholic University – Lisbon. Law Degree from the Law School of the University of São Paulo (Brazil) where she also obtained her post-graduation degree. Specialist in Negotiations by the PIL (Harvard Law School and Harvard Business School).

With articles published in local newspapers and plataforms, she is co-author of the book “Conflict Resolution: Fundamentals of Negotiation for the Legal Environment” and author of “Negotiation Techniques for Lawyers “. Member of the Swiss Chinese Law Association (Geneve/Shenzhen). Considered one of the most admired Brazilian attorneys by Análise Advocacia guide.

Lindsay practised as a solicitor before going into legal management. She worked at Clyde & Co and then Hill Dickinson Davies Campbell before going in-house and working with Informa plc.

She was the CEO of Matrix Chambers for 12 years before joining 39 Essex Chambers as CEO at the end of 2017. 

She is very interested in all things related to management and is a non-executive director of Investors in People (IIP). She regularly writes and speaks on management issues and has specific interests in developing and retaining legal talent.

Ji En recently left practice to build Chambers Lab, a legal innovation startup focused on helping lawyers practice better. He believes that, with intelligent use of technology and global human resources, the practice of law can be effective and enjoyable at the same time. Prior to this, Ji En was an associate at an international law firm in Singapore. He has extensive experience in dispute resolution (both civil and criminal matters) and competition law. Ji En has argued in the Singapore High Court and Court of Appeal and worked with leading King’s Counsel on various complex and high-profile matters.

Ji En has been actively involved in the legal tech and legal innovation space for the past 9 years. He was the founding Deputy Chairperson of the Asia-Pacific Legal Innovation and Technology Association (ALITA) and the Chapter Organiser of Legal Hackers Singapore. Ji En was also part of a Working Group formed by the Singapore Computer Society and the Singapore Academy of Law to help the Singapore government develop strategies for the legal workforce in view of tech disruption in the industry. He is a regular speaker on issues relating to technology and innovation in law and have been invited to speak at conferences in many countries, including Singapore, Korea, Italy, Thailand and the United Kingdom.

Ji En read law at the National University of Singapore on the ASEAN Undergraduate Scholarship and graduated in 2017. He also teaches Law Firm Management at the University of Malaya's Faculty of Law.