Singapore's oldest law firm, Rodyk & Davidson, has merged with local rival Helen Yeo & Partners, the formal joint venture partner of US firm Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe.

The firms will officially merge at the beginning of November and will operate under the name Rodyk & Davidson.

The deal, which will create a 98-lawyer practice, is the largest merger between Singapore firms in recent years. The combined practice will rank as the jurisdiction's sixth-largest firm.

"Growing the firm organically would have taken us forever," said Helen Yeo, the name partner of Helen Yeo & Partners.

Yeo will become managing partner of the new firm, with Rodyks' senior partner, Lee Ai Ming, taking the role of deputy managing partner.

Seventeen-partner Rodyks is best known for its aviation, shipping and IP practices, while Helen Yeo & Partners focuses on banking and finance, construction and real estate. Helen Yeo & Partners has four Chinese-qualified lawyers and was the first Singapore firm to open an office in Shanghai.

The merger will boost its joint venture with San Francisco-based Orricks.
The move is the latest shake-up in the Singapore legal market, which has been hit by a downturn in work and criticism of the joint venture (JV) that was launched two years ago to allow international firms to work with local practices.

Rodyks had been in merger talks with Norton Rose earlier his year to form a joint venture. However, talks were called off in June with the City firm doubting the necessity for such close ties.

Meanwhile, last week also saw the formal break-up of the joint venture between Shearman & Sterling and local firm Stamford after months of wrangling. It is the second joint venture to break up this year after White & Case abandoned its tie-up with Colin Ng & Partners.

New York-based Shearmans has said that it will not seek another JV partner, instead servicing the market through its Singapore practice.

The two firms forged the JV in 2001 in a move led by high profile Singapore lawyer Lee Suet Fern, who had quit Clifford Chance's former JV partner, the Wong Partnership.

First reported on www.legalweek.net (2 August).