Allen & Gledhill (A&G)has boosted its disputes team with the hire of five partners from Rajah & Tann (R&T) and the chief executive of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC).

The team joining A&G from its Singaporean rival include Chong Yee Leong, who heads R&T's international arbitration and construction practice and Chong Boon Leong, who specialises in power and telecoms disputes.

Also moving across is Kamilah Kasim, a foreign lawyer and expert in engineering and commercial cases, Allen Choong, who focuses on commercial arbitration, energy and infrastructure work and Chua Kee Loon, an arbitrator and co-head of R&T in Vietnam.

In a statement, R&T said the partners' departure was due to "professional disagreements".

A&G said the move was opportunistic, though its decision to hire the team coincides with Singapore's growing role as an international arbitration hub for the region.

"Allen & Gledhill was presented with an opportunity to take on board an experienced team of five partners who will be retiring from another large Singapore law firm," said chairman and senior partner Lucien Wong.

"We are pleased to be able to tap into this opportunity to enhance our bench strength and, in particular, to complement our capabilities in international arbitration and energy, infrastructure and projects practices. We expect this team to come on board in early May."

The CEO of SIAC, Minn Naing Oo has also been hired, and is joining the firm on 1 June to develop a presence for A&G in Myanmar. 

He will be tasked with building a team of lawyers including Myanmar-qualified solicitors, and establishing a strong presence in Myanmar for A&G to service clients entering the market. 

A&G has more than 300 lawyers, and is one of the largest local law firms in Singapore next to Rajah & Tann, Wong Partnership and Drew & Napier.

This is the second time the R&T five-partner team has left the firm for another outfit at all once. In 2003 the partners moved to US firm Jones Day, as part of a group of approximately 20 lawyers. They rejoined R&T in 2007.

R&T has since appointed senior partner Andre Yeap as its new head of international arbitration.