At a recent law conference, Singapore’s Law Minister K. Shanmugam highlighted that Singapore could soon have more lawyers than jobs for them all. The number of practising lawyers has leapt by nearly 25 per cent to more than 4,400 over a span of four years. Though efforts have been made by the Singapore government to grow the legal market, the exponential increase cannot be absorbed by the industry.
Mr Shanmugam also shared that this surge is mainly caused by the number of Singaporeans heading overseas to pursue their law degree. For the UK, the number of Singapore law students more than tripled from 350 in 2008 to 1,142 last year. The number going to Australia has also risen - from 303 in 2011 to 386 last year.
As a result, graduates will have to compete for the limited number of training contracts, which is necessary for those who wish to be admitted to the Singapore Bar. For others who cannot find employment, they may need to consider alternative paths, such as in education, financial services, media and the government sector.
This is a very different message from what we have been seeing. For years, the government has been introducing measures and schemes, such as allowing the inflow of foreign firms and making it easier for overseas Singapore lawyers to practice - all to grow the talent pool and to make the legal sector more vibrant. Even the 2013 recommendations from the 4th Committee on the Supply of Lawyers included setting up of the third law school and increasing student intake by the other two local law schools.
At this point, the list of approved UK universities for law is under review. A message of such from the Law Minister, especially when the findings are expected to be released soon, may be an indication of a possible tightening, to control the number of overseas trained lawyers.
It may also dissuade some students from choosing this course and apply for other subjects instead. Considering this is such a popular course among Singaporeans, we will continue to monitor and keep universities informed of future developments.