The QFLP is one such policy:
http://www.thelawyer.com/news/regio...bert-smith-freehills-opts-out/3016941.article
What needs to be distinguished is the areas that foreign law firms can advise on local law - this is always contentious in non-mature jurisdictions as even traditional British firms faced the same pressure when the American firms set up shop and paid double the salaries and chased the same work. It is also cyclical as when the financial crisis hit in 2008, a number of finance lawyers were laid off because banks were all hit.
The idea that there are too many FT lawyers is too simplistic as unless singkie lawyers are qualified under UK or US law then it is unlikely that they would be more suitable hires than FTs who are qualified in those jurisdictions as typically major big ticket transactions are governed by English law and not singkie law. The change in recent years has been the growth of arbitration under singkie law thus creating more opportunities for local lawyers to engage in such work. Don't forget that a major contributor to lawyers leaving the practice is lack of opportunity to become partners. Nobody wants to be doing the grunt work 7 days a week and not move up. And not everyone can become partner.
So I don't think it's necessarily a question of numbers but singkie lawyers having the right qualifications to take up such type of work - it's the transactional work that is squeezing the bottom line of local firms who exclusively would provide local law and regulatory advice. Litigation and conveyancing of HDB flats is not within the remit of foreign firms but arbitration is and that again has squeezed local firms.
Most local-foreign firms have notoriously failed including Sherman and Sterlings tie-up in the late 90s with Lee Suet Fern's firm.
Here are some interesting reads:
http://www.thelawyer.com/singapore-...s-revealed/1012180.article?cmpid=dnews_151798
This article points to the pressure on the government to liberalise even further and you can guess how the big local firms are resisting any such further intrusion:
http://www.thelawyer.com/analysis/b...in-singapore-without-the-qflp/3017033.article
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