A former DLA Piper partner who left in 2006 to open a Singapore office for US firm Duane Morris is standing trial for forgery, writes The American Lawyer.

Rudy Lim, 37, has been charged with falsely inflating his pay at DLA to obtain a better salary at Duane Morris.

Lim is accused of forging a payroll statement from DLA to show that his monthly drawings from the firm were $65,000 (£39,400) instead of $25,000 (£15,100), which would boost his annual pay from $300,000 (£182,000) at DLA to $780,000 (£472,000) at Duane Morris.

The Straits Times of Singapore reports that in January 2007, Lim began drawing $58,200 (£35,200) a month from his new firm – an annual salary of $698,400 (£423,000) before taxes. But the pay increase would only be temporary.

DLA Piper employees looking at electronic records stored on Lim's computer found the forged payroll statement and alerted Singapore's Commercial Affairs Department. Lim resigned from Duane Morris in May 2007 after finding out about the investigation, The Straits Times reports.

In Singapore, a forgery conviction carries a sentence of up to seven years in prison and a fine.

Lim, born in Indonesia of Chinese extraction, is admitted as a solicitor and barrister in Australia and as a solicitor in England and Wales. He previously worked at White & Case and Baker & McKenzie.

At DLA Piper, Lim advised public and private companies on cross-border and domestic M&A, foreign direct investments and joint ventures. He made partner at DLA in February 2006 and chaired the firm's Indonesia practice.

After the forgery charges against Lim were made public, the UK Solicitors Regulation Authority issued a report in March 2008 which found that Lim deliberately created a false document to aid him in salary negotiations with Duane Morris.

Lim defended himself at a disciplinary hearing, claiming he did not forge the payroll document for personal gain and that the accusations should not affect his professional standing. However, the Law Society disagreed and disbarred him.

Bernard Doray of Singapore firm Bernard & Rada is representing Lim in the trial, which began on Monday (2 November). Lim is currently free on $80,000 (£48,400) bail.

Doray did not immediately respond to a request for comment. DLA and Duane Morris declined to comment.

This article first appeared on The Am Law Daily blog on americanlawyer.com.