Herbert Smith Freehills (HSF) has formed a 'best friends' relationship with a local outfit in Singapore as its US counterpart White & Case awaits a government decision on whether it will have its Singapore practice licence renewed.

The two firms were among six international outfits awarded five-year Qualifying Foreign Law Practice (QFLP), or local licences, in 2008, which HSF said last February it was not renewing. White & Case was awarded a one-year conditional permit.

HSF has since entered into an exclusive association with three-lawyer Singapore firm Prolegis, whose single partner Ban Leong Oo previously worked for HSF in London. The agreement, which says that the two firms will advise jointly on deals with Singapore law and foreign law aspects, allows HSF to continue offering its clients access to local law capability.

White & Case declined to comment on the status of its QFLP renewal, but a statement from the Singapore Ministry of Law said a final decision on the licence extension would be made before 30 April.

Should the firm not be granted the renewal, the alternative could also be a local tie up – likely in the form of Joint Law Venture (JLV) or Foreign Law Alliance (FLA).

International firms have long struggled to grapple with Singapore's local restrictions as the country continues to push Singapore law as the governing law for regional transactions.

Under current rules, only those outfits with a QFLP licence can advise on Singapore law independently, and to have their licences renewed are assessed on targets relating to offshore revenues and the number of lawyers in their Singapore offices.

In a statement last February, HSF said it no longer wanted to "commit to growth targets" or be "tied to specific numbers", and would look at alternative ways to provide Singapore law capability to clients.

However, one partner in the market said they were surprised by the firm's decision to form a 'best friends' relationship instead of a JLV or FLA, which are more common but take time to process and require a minimum number of Singapore lawyers.

The HSF-Prolegis association was launched in November and published on the firm's website, but a press release was not sent out to the media.

"I don't think we made a conscious choice to go down one road or another," the firm's managing partner for South East Asia Alastair Henderson told Legal Week in an interview.

"We wanted to have Singapore law capability, and the opportunity to enter into a relationship straight away with Prolegis was a good one and so we took it.

"It's not that different [from having the QFLP] – we are continuing to advise clients with Prolegis on matters on Singapore law but the Singapore component now comes from Prolegis rather than from our own people. But I have also been very determined in this relationship to make it as close and collaborative as possible… The advice they give from matters we work on jointly should feel like advice from part of our extended team."

Asked whether there was a plan to convert the relationship into a JLV or FLA, he added: "We'll see how it develops. I'm not saying there is or isn't a plan. I'm open-minded as to what structure that could have in the future."

White & Case meanwhile has not announced any plans for a tie-up, suggesting it is hopeful of obtaining a QFLP renewal, despite reportedly not meeting its 2007 targets and seeing a string of lawyers exit its Singapore practice since mid-2013.

Departees include local energy partner Lian Yok Tan, who moved to K&L Gates in August that year, banking partner Kate Allchurch, who moved to Ashurst September 2013, arbitration partner Nandakumar Ponniya, who exited for Baker & McKenzie in October 2014, and another local partner – banking and finance lawyer Jamie Thomas, who joined Gibson Dunn & Crutcher last month. However, the firm did relocate banking partner John Shum from the Hong Kong to Singapore office last April.

A partner in the market said the government might be flexible with W&C, arguing that the first round of QFLP firms had found it particularly tough to meet targets set just before the global financial crisis.

"I think it was harder for the first lot than the second lot. Everybody had to go into protection mode.

"White & Case were very careful not to retrench people in the downturn market – they didn't cut people. But accordingly they didn't grow at all and there was natural attrition. And before you know it your group [may have] shrunk by about 25% at a time when in your original submission maybe the goals were a bit more ambitious. I think that was [the case for] firms generally."

But the source added that the recent departures were less related to the QFLP renewal process than White & Case's business model in Asia.

"It needs to decide what it wants to focus on and what it wants to do. Does it want to be a Clifford Chance and be something for everything? Or does it want to be a focused machine like Milbank? You can't do everything half-heartedly."

In a statement, a spokesperson for White & Case said: "We continually review our strategy to best align with the needs of our clients. We are taking steps to strengthen key areas of our business across Asia – an important region for the firm – and further align our business there with the cross-border focus of the firm."