News

07 July 2017 – Leading law firm WongPartnership is pleased to announce the formation of a strategic alliance with leading Philippine law firm, ZGLaw.

With this new alliance, WongPartnership's regional network now spans nine cities across China, the Middle East and ASEAN.

Headquartered in Singapore, WongPartnership is a top-tier law firm with a twin focus on advisory/transactional work in the areas of finance, corporate and capital markets as well as complex and high-profile litigation and arbitration matters. WongPartnership is consistently ranked at the highest levels by international legal commentators and publications such as Chambers Global, Chambers Asia-Pacific, The Legal 500: Asia Pacific and IFLR1000, and has been at the forefront of Singapore's growth as a strategic legal hub in South East Asia. The firm has over 300 lawyers across its offices in Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai and Yangon, and seconded to its associate firms Foong & Partners in Kuala Lumpur, Makes & Partners in Jakarta, Al Aidarous International Legal Practice in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and now ZGLaw in Manila.

Based in the Philippines, ZGLaw is a full-service law firm headed by Ms Lily Gruba, a prominent tax lawyer. ZGLaw represents and advises blue chip local and foreign clients in the Philippines. ZGLaw has been consistently recognised by its peers and legal publications for its Tax practice, as well as its practice in Banking & Finance, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Dispute Resolution. ZGLaw was founded in 1993 by the late Atty. Daisy G. Zambrano and Atty. Lily K. Gruba, who is presently the firm's Managing Partner. In 2016, the firm's name was changed to Zambrano Gruba Caganda & Advincula and it currently has more than 20 lawyers.

Both firms already share a strong working relationship, having worked closely together on matters, including a recent Singapore International Arbitration Centre arbitration involving a dispute with claims of over US$600 million. "Working together, we discovered a shared ethos between our firms of providing exceptional legal service and putting our clients' interests first. Our alliance with ZGLaw is mutually beneficial. It will enable us to leverage their Philippine law capability to better serve our clients in the ASEAN region, while providing ZGLaw's clients access to our regional expertise in China, the Middle East and the rest of ASEAN," says Alvin Yeo, Senior Counsel, Chairman and Senior Partner of WongPartnership.

Echoing Alvin's sentiments, Atty. Lily K. Gruba says, "It is very heartening that our interactions across countries have brought us to another law firm and other lawyers who share our own ideas of personalised service and excellence in a global setting, who are very professional and with whom we are comfortable to work with. We found WongPartnership to espouse and share the values which our Firm believes in."

This alliance comes at an opportune time as Singapore and the Philippines, two of the five founding members of ASEAN, continue to bolster their economic and business cooperation. Singapore was the Philippines' fifth-largest trading partner in 2016 after Japan, Hong Kong, China, and the US, and the fifth-largest foreign investor after the Netherlands, Australia, the US and Japan.

"We are delighted to welcome ZGLaw to our growing regional network. This alliance strengthens our already strong regional offering and firmly positions WongPartnership as a leading law firm for clients wishing to capitalise on the projected growth of the ASEAN economies," says Ng Wai King, Managing Partner of WongPartnership.

For more information on WongPartnership, please click here.

For more information on ZGLaw, click here.

For media enquiries, please contact:

Jarrod Ng
Executive Director
DID: +65 6416 8095
Mobile: +65 8268 3279
Email: jarrod.ng@wongpartnership.com

Rafiq Jalil
Executive – Marketing & Communications
DID: +65 6416 8058
Email: rafiq.jalil@wongpartnership.com