Duane Morris on verge of joint venture with Arfat Selvam Alliance in Singapore

In a sign that the steep recession has done little to dampen the enthusiasm of Center City law firms for growth overseas, Duane Morris L.L.P. is set to announce a joint venture with a leading Sinapore firm it says will further open Asian markets to its U.S. clients while serving as an entree to new business revenue in the region.

The firm said it had recently won approval from regulators in Singapore to form a joint venture with the 17-lawyer firm of Arfat Selvam Alliance, the first such pairing of a Singapore firm with a U.S.-based law firm.

Duane Morris has a three-lawyer office in Singapore, headed by Eduardo Ramos Gomez, the former Mexican ambassador to Singapore. But its lawyers, though able to focus on transactional work in the region, are trained in U.S. law and cannot practice in Singapore courts.

The joint venture will link up clients from Duane Morris' 24 offices in the United States, London, Vietnam, and Singapore with Arfat Selvam lawyers who have practices in Singapore and elsewhere in Asia, said John Soroko, chairman and chief executive officer of Duane Morris.

Arfat Selvam has a substantial Islamic-law practice, helping clients ensure that transactions comply with requirements of the Quran, a key practice area for firms that seek to do business in Muslim regions of Southeast Asia and the Persian Gulf.

Both places are potential growth areas for Duane Morris, Soroko said.

Soroko said the combination would allow the firm to offer clients "an awful lot of transactional bench strength. This enables us to do two things. It enables us to offer our clients Singapore lawyers, but also increases [lawyer count] by five- or sixfold. That gives us a credible presence."

Soroko declined to discuss the economic terms of the agreement. Typically, in joint ventures involving a large firm and a smaller practice with highly targeted expertise, the larger firm brings advantages of capital, technology, and geographic reach. The smaller firm opens the door to a specialized market.

Besides its Islamic-law practice, Arfat Selvam focuses on mergers and acquisitions, takeovers, and other transactional matters.

Singapore is a magnet for international businesses, such as pharmaceutical companies, life-sciences firms, financial-services firms, and casino companies.

Duane Morris, founded by Quakers in Center City more than 100 years ago, employs more than 700 lawyers.

It has been steadily expanding in the United States and, to a more limited extent, abroad.

It opened its Singapore office in January 2007 and several months later announced the opening of offices in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam to position itself for growth in that country's booming market.

Soroko said the joint venture in Singapore would enhance Duane Morris' ability to conduct business in Vietnam, convincing business entrepreneurs that the firm has significant depth in Asia.

Opening a foreign office has at times proved a costly mistake for some firms, particularly those without well-established local lawyers. Soroko said the Singapore joint venture would protect against that potential downside because of Arfat Selvam's significant expertise in the region.