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SINGAPORE: Singapore needs to make the legal profession sustainable, not easier, said Minister for Law Edwin Tong on Tuesday (Jul 7).<\/p>\n
Responding to MPs\u2019 questions for parliament about the legal profession\u2019s sustainability, Mr Tong acknowledged the legal practice\u2019s demanding nature while noting its deeper purpose.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhilst pressures such as tight timelines, clients demands and economic pressures are not unique to the practice of law, what differs is the privilege of advocating for another person,\u201d he said in a written answer.<\/p>\n
Many lawyers have entered the profession because they find meaning in it, and are willing to take on the responsibility and stresses that come with it, said the minister.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe question is therefore not how to make the profession easier, but how to make it sustainable, so that those who are drawn to it for the right reasons are not driven out by the wrong ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
Four MPs had submitted questions related to a Law Society of Singapore (LawSoc) study, which found lawyers were leaving private practice amid toxic workplace cultures, bullying, unreasonable workloads and a profession that intrudes into their personal lives.<\/p>\n
Its findings, released in June, added to longstanding concerns about lawyer attrition also raised by Chief Justice Sundaresh Menon, who previously said that one in three new lawyers may quit within three years due to workload and poor culture.<\/p>\n
\u201cOverall, the survey has revealed some troubling findings, and they must be taken seriously, with decisive changes made where appropriate,\u201d said Mr Tong.<\/p>\n
LawSoc has convened a task force to examine the study\u2019s findings and implications, and make recommendations.<\/p>\n
A Judiciary-Law Soc committee was also established to address feedback within the courts’ purview.<\/p>\n
Efforts to improve retention must grapple with the various reasons lawyers leave, Mr Tong said, while noting that the practice\u2019s attrition rate has remained stable.<\/p>\n
He noted that lawyers are leaving the practice for multiple reasons.<\/p>\n
These include workload, workplace culture, inadequate supervision or mentorship and attractive opportunities elsewhere, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny serious effort at retention has to grapple with this range of reasons,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
However, he also pointed out that attrition has remained stable over the last decade.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat remains the overall picture,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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SINGAPORE: Singapore needs to make the legal profession sustainable, not easier, said Minister for Law Edwin Tong on Tuesday (Jul 7). Responding to MPs\u2019 questions…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":67292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dam.mediacorp.sg\/image\/upload\/s--h4VTTiPM--\/c_fill,g_auto,h_676,w_1200\/fl_relative,g_south_east,l_mediacorp:cna:watermark:2021-08:cna,w_0.1\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1\/mediacorp\/cna\/image\/2025\/03\/27\/robbery_scene_v1.00_00_30_14.still002.jpg?itok=yXEkUtFE","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[7271,8657,388,17417,22,4402,8300],"class_list":["post-67291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-news-sg-global","tag-easier","tag-edwin","tag-legal","tag-profession","tag-singapore","tag-sustainable","tag-tong","wpcat-2-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=67291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/67291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/67292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=67291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=67291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=67291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}