Singapore Singapore. Photo: /Shutterstock.com

Japan's Anderson Mori & Tomotsune has formed a formal law alliance in Singapore, becoming the second major Japanese law firm to gain access to local law practice in the city-state.

The alliance, which goes live July 1, is with Singapore's DOP Law Corp., a boutique firm previously known as David Ong & Partners. The seven-lawyer firm is led by managing director David Ong, who founded the firm in 1996. Ong, who speaks Japanese, has advised Japanese multinationals on transactions and disputes in Singapore and across Southeast Asia.

Anderson Mori is one of the largest domestic law firms in Japan. The firm has had an office in Singapore since 2013 and has 14 lawyers, including two partners Atsutoshi Maeda and Ko Hanamizu.

The alliance will enable Anderson Mori and DOP Law to provide one-stop legal services on Japanese and Singaporean law matters in Singapore and across the wider region, the two firms said in a statement. In addition to Singapore, Tokyo-based Anderson Mori also has Southeast Asian outposts in Bangkok, Jakarta and Ho Chi Minh City. The firm also has offices and affiliations in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

In June, Nishimura & Asahi became the first Japanese firm to formalize a Singaporean alliance. The other two of Japan's four largest law firms—Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu and Mori Hamada & Matsumoto—both operate Singapore offices and have over a dozen lawyers based there.