smu school of law brochure

SMU SCHOOL OF LAW 1

SMU SCHOOL OF LAWGrowing from Strength to Strength: Setting a Higher Bar

Comprehensive Law Education We train you to hone useful skill sets, through advocacy, active learning and mooting and other law competitions, global and local.

Global NetworkWe are the 1st and only non-European University to join the prestigious THEMIS network, amongst a wide global network of partners for student exchanges.

Diverse Career Paths in Law Our students are trained and well-equipped to excel across diverse legal areas of practise in both the private and public sectors.

Strong EmployabilityOur students go through at least 10 weeks of internship with established partners, both global and local, with multiple opportunities for employment.

2 SMU SCHOOL OF LAWSingapore Management University2

D E A N ’ S A D D R E S S

Set within the heart of Singapore’s thriving cosmopolitan cityscape and organised within a management university, the SMU School of Law has a close proximity to the Supreme Court and many prestigious law firms, which presents a unique proposition for learning the law in context.

Our undergraduate law programme is designed with the objective to develop holistic and excellent legal practitioners. Our students are thoroughly equipped with the skills to pick up any area of the law. The legal training empowers you to be discerning in your analysis and to present your clients’ cases accordingly; skills which are useful even if you choose a career path outside the legal profession.

To contribute to the learning journey of students, we regularly invite leading industry experts to share their knowledge and experience, and we challenge students to think critically. Internship and pro bono legal activities are part of your education, in addition to the opportunities to enrol in double-degree programmes as well as double-majors from other schools. Besides the vibrant discussions in the classroom, you will also benefit from the global exposure opportunities that our students enjoy.

As we look forward to the completion of the new School of Law building and the Kwa Geok Choo Law Library in 2017, the new cohort of 2016 will have opportunity to be a part of this momentous journey as we make the move to the new facilities. I look forward to your joining us to make legal history for Singapore.

Professor Yeo Tiong Min Yong Pung How Professor of LawDean, School of Law

SMU SCHOOL OF LAW 3Singapore Management University 3

C U R R I C U L U MAs a 4-year meritorious honours programme, our Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) comprises 36 course units (CU) worth of courses. The LL.B. curriculum which was originally formulated by legal academics and practitioners, and endorsed by the Ministry of Law and Singapore’s then Board of Legal Education, was revised thrice from 2011 to 2014 after extensive consultations with stakeholders.

Our curriculum consists of a deliberate mix of University Core courses, Law Core courses, Law-related courses, Law electives, and General Education courses to ensure that graduates possess the desired contextual and cross-border knowledge and expertise.

University Core Courses (3 CU)

1. Business, Government & Society2. Ethics & Social Responsibility3. Leadership & Team Building

Asian Studies Cluster (1 CU)

1. Any 1.0 CU course from Asian Studies Cluster

Globalisation Cluster (1 CU)

1. Any 1.0 CU course from Globalisation Cluster

Modes of Thinking Cluster (1 CU)

1. Managing in a Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous Context (1.0 CU)

2. Creative Thinking (0.5 CU)3. Analytical Skills (0.5 CU)

General Education Course (1 CU)

1. Any 1 General Education Course

Law Core Courses (17.5 CU)

1. Commercial Conflict of Laws2. Comparative Legal Systems3. Constitutional & Administrative Law

(1.5 CU)4. Contract Law 15. Contract Law 26. Corporate Law7. Criminal Law (1.5 CU)8. Law of Business Organisations9. Law of Equity & Trusts (1.5 CU)10. Law of Evidence11. Law of Property (1.5 CU)12. Law of Torts (1.5 CU)13. Legal Research & Writing14. Legal System, Legal Method & Analysis15. Legal Theory & Philosophy

Law Electives (Electives Offered May Vary for a Given Year) Students Must Complete 8.5 CU of Law Electives

1. Advocacy2. An Introduction to International Banking and

Financial Regulation (0.5 CU)3. Appellate Practice in Civil Litigation (0.5 CU)4. Banking Law5. Chinese Contract Law (Asian Studies

Cluster)6. Comparative Law of Sales7. Complex International Litigation8. Competition Law9. Construction Law10. Contract Negotiation and Drafting 11. Corporate Crime12. Corporate Insolvency Law13. Domestic and International Sales14. Drafting in Corporate Practice (0.5 CU)15. Drafting of Commercial Agreements (0.5

CU)16. Economic Analysis of Law17. Entertainment Law18. Family Law19. Financial & Securities Regulation20. Foreign Direct Investment Law & Practice21. Foundations of ASEAN Law & Practice

(Asian Studies Cluster)22. Global Issues in Trade, Law & Development

(Globalisation Cluster)23. Information Technology & the Law24. Insurance Law25. Intellectual Property Law26. International and Comparative Criminal

Justice (Globalisation Cluster)27. International Commercial Arbitration28. International Commercialisation of

Intellectual Property29. International Law & Global Politics

(Globalisation Cluster)30. International Moots31. International Patent Law and Policy32. Introduction to Chinese History, Culture,

Economy, Politics and Law (Asian Studies Cluster)

33. Introduction to Civil Procedure (0.5 CU)34. Islamic Commercial Law35. Jurisprudence: Modern & Critical Theories

of Law36. Law and the Changing Media Environment 37. Law and Policy of Ethnic Relations in

Singapore (Asian Studies Cluster)38. Law and Regulation39. Law and Society (Globalisation Cluster)40. Law of Confidential Information, Trade Secrets

and Privacy41. Law of Corporate Finance42. Law of Cybercrime and Digital Investigations43. Law of International Trade44. Law of Mergers & Acquisitions45. Law Study Mission to Asia (Asian Studies

Cluster)46. Law Study Mission (to non-Asian country –

Globalisation Cluster)47. Legal Issues in e-Commerce48. Negotiation & Mediation for Lawyers49. Pre-Trial Practice in Civil Litigation (0.5 CU)50. Principles of Singapore Income Tax51. Principles of Taxation of International

Business Transactions52. Public International Law (Globalisation Cluster)53. Public International Law and Domestic Law:

International Commerce54. Shipping & Admiralty Law55. Trade & Investment Law56. WTO: Law, Economics and Policy

(Globalisation Cluster)57. Directed Research

Law-Related Courses (2 CU)

1. Financial Accounting for Law2. Finance for Law

Elective from SMU (1 CU)

Any 1.0 CU from SMU (including Law Electives)


H O L I ST I C P E D A G O G Y

Holistic Pedagogy

Our students invest substantial efforts in pre-class preparatory reading and thinking, and participate in vibrant class discussions. Group presentations account for a significant amount of time in the class as part of our experiential and interactive participative learning culture. Through this, our students develop to become dynamic, articulate, confident and analytically agile individuals, with crucial attributes for excelling in the legal and corporate world.

To ensure a rigorous and holistic assessment of each student, a significant weightage of the assessment is given to class participation, term assignments, oral and written presentations. On the other hand, end-of-term examinations, which are usually open book, account for a maximum 50% of the final grade of the course.

To provide you the opportunity to learn from practical expertise and experience, we invite legal practitioners from law firms and members of the judiciary to participate in classroom teaching of the LL.B. course, which is a distinctive feature of the LL.B. programme.

As part of the curriculum to hone our students’ legal writing skills, each of them is required to submit, from Year 2 onwards, an individual written assignment of 2,000 to 3,000 words for one of the law courses read in each term.

Double Degree

With outstanding results, you will have the opportunity to enrol in a 5-year double degree programme (DDP) which combines law with other programmes in Accountancy, Business, Economics, Information Systems, and Social Sciences. Available to only a small number of students on a competitive basis, the DDP entails a 5-year study with the same number of law electives read as those in the single degree track. In order to fulfill both degree requirements, some law DDP students may have to undertake two internships. For e.g., an LL.B.-BAcc DDP student would have to undertake both a law internship as well as an accountancy internship.

Double Major

If you are keen to leverage on the knowledge gained from other disciplines, you can take additional courses from other SMU schools to form a second major.


S C H O L A R S H I P S A N D A WA R D S

Top Awards

• Lai Kew Chai Prize for Top First Year Law Student• The School of Law Prize for Top Second Year Law Student• The Punch Coomaraswamy Prize for Top Third Year Law Student• Kwa Geok Choo Top Law Student Award• Rajah & Tann Prize for Top Graduating Law Student• DBS Bank School Valedictorian Award

Subject Awards

• David Marshall Prize for Top Student in Criminal Law (Year 1)• JM Nathan Memorial Prize for Best Law Student in Creative Thinking

(Year 1)• Phang Sing Eng Prize for Top Student in Contract Law (Year 1)• Rodyk Prize for Top Student in Legal Research & Writing (Year 1)• Emeritus Professor Gerald Dworkin Prize for Best Student in

Intellectual Property Law (from Year 2) • Rodyk Prize for Top Student in Corporate Law (Year 2)• Tan Boon Teik Prize for Top Student in Constitutional and

Administrative Law (Year 2)• Aljunied Prize for the Best Student in Islamic Commercial Law

(from Year 3)• Bird & Bird Prize for the Student with the Best Year Three Law

Research Paper (Year 3)• Drew & Napier Prize for Top Student in Advocacy (from Year 3)

• Harry Elias Partnership LLP Prize for the Top Student in Family Law (from Year 3)

• Michael Hwang Prize for Top Student in International Commercial Arbitration (from Year 3)

• Peggy Phang Prize for Top Student in Legal Theory and Philosophy (Year 3)

• Portcullis Trust Prize for Top Student in Law of Equity and Trusts (Year 3)

• Rajah & Tann Prize for Top Student in Shipping Law (from Year 3)• Stamford Law Prize for Top Student in Financial and Securities

Regulation (from Year 3)• Tan Sook Yee Prize for Top Student in Property Law (Year 2)• Amarjeet Singh SC Law Prize for Top Student in Public International

Law (from Year 3)

Moot Awards

• Rajah & Tann Moot Prizes for the Howard Hunter Internal Moots

Scholarships

• Kwa Geok Choo Scholarship• Wee Chong Jin Scholarship

We have made a large number of scholarships, bursaries and awards available to our students, through the generosity of our donors, to support them financially and encourage them to perform well academically.

6 SMU SCHOOL OF LAW

I N T E R N AT I O N A L E X C H A N G E P R O G R A M M E

You are highly encouraged to spend a term

overseas in one of over 200 reputable

university partners worldwide in order to

maximise your learning experience. Our

Law School partners with the following

universities in a direct law-to-law exchange

programme and is continually establishing

more linkages to expand its international

exchange programme offering. Law students

can also go on exchange to universities in

the listed University wide exchange partners.

United States• Emory University, School of Law• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,

College of Law• University of San Diego, School of Law

Sweden• Uppsala Universitet, Faculty of Law

United Kingdom• University of Exeter, School of Law• University of Leicester, School of Law• University of Manchester, School of Law• University of Southampton, School of Law• University of York, School of Law• University of London, School of Oriental and

African Studies

France• Universite Paris Est Creteil Val de Marne,

Faculty of Law

Spain• ESADE Law School• Universitat Pompeu Fabra Law School

Italy• Bocconi University, School of Law

Netherlands• Tilburg University, Tilburg Law School• Universiteit Maastrict, Faculty of Law

Germany• Bucerius Law School• EBS Universitat Law School• Freie Universitat Berlin, Department of Law• University of Mannheim, Department of Law

Switzerland• University of St. Gallen, Law School• University of Lucerne, Faculty of Law

Israel• Tel Aviv University, The Buchmann

Faculty of Law • Radzyner School of Law, The Interdisciplinary

Centre

India• NALSAR University of Law• National Law School of India University• O.P. Jindal Global University

China• China Youth University for Political Science,

Department of Law• Peking University, School of Law• Shanghai Jiao Tong University,

KoGuan Law School• Tsinghua University, School of Law

Taiwan• National Cheng Chi University, College of Law • National Chiao Tung University,

Institute of Technology Law• National Taiwan University, College of Law

Japan• Hitotsubashi University Graduate School of

International Corporate Strategy• Keio University Law School• Rikkyo University

Republic of Korea • Seoul National University, School of Law• Yonsei University, College of Law

Hong Kong SAR• University of Hong Kong, Faculty of Law • City University of Hong Kong

Australia • Bond University, Faculty of Law• University of New South Wales, Faculty of Law

Austria• Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien

South Africa• University of Pretoria

Law to Law Exchange Partners

*As of October 20, 2015

SMU SCHOOL OF LAW 7

China• Wuhan University• Xiamen University

Hong Kong SAR• City University of Hong Kong

Japan• Kwansei Gakuin University• Kyushu University

Philippines• De La Salle University

Kazakhstan• Kazakhstan Institute of

Management

New Zealand• University of Canterbury• Victoria University of Wellington

United States• University of Richmond

Argentina• Pontificia Universidad Católica

Chile• Pontifica Universidad Catolica de

Chile• Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez

Mexico• Tecnológico de Monterrey

Peru• Universidad del Pacifico

Austria• Vienna University of Economics &

Business Administration

Belgium• University of Antwerp (Faculty of

Applied Economic Sciences)• Ghent University

Finland• Hanken School of Economics

Ireland• Trinity College Dublin

Germany• Humboldt University of Berlin

Italy• LIUC Universita’ Cattaneo

Castellanza• Libera Università Internazionale

degli Studi Sociali Guido Carli (LUISS)

Netherlands• Utrecht University School of

Economics (USE)• Leiden University

Spain• IE University• Universidad Carlos III de Madrid

Switzerland• University of Bern

United Kingdom• University of Surrey

Turkey• Koc University

University Wide Exchange Partners


I N T E R N S H I P S

As part of the curriculum, our students are required to undertake a 10-week compulsory internship with:

• Law firms; and/or • Legal department of Government/Government-linked

corporations/Companies/Multi-national corporations, amongst others.

Internships are intended to acquaint you with the practical workings of the legal system and realities of law practice in both the public and private sectors. Students generally intern in several firms or organisations to gain greater exposure to various forms of legal work. The internship may include an overseas component as is the case with internships arranged through one of our partners, the New York State Bar Association.

Our students perform 80 hours of attachment at a Voluntary Welfare Organisation (VWO) or organisations involved in pro-bono and legal aid work. As a part of this 80 hours of community service, law students are required to complete 20 mandatory hours of pro-bono work in their 2nd or 3rd year.

We continually negotiate with other firms and organisations ofinterest to our students to ensure that they are given a wide range of internship opportunities.


I N T E R N S H I P PA R T N E R SCorporations (Legal Department)• Accenture Pte Ltd• Allianz SE Insurance Management

Asia Pacific• Asia Pacific Breweries Limited• BP Singapore Pte Ltd• Capitamalls Asia Limited• Changi Airport Group (Singapore)

Pte Ltd• CIMB Securities (Singapore) Pte Ltd• Coca-Cola Far East Limited• CrimsonLogic Pte Ltd• ESPN Star Sports• Financial Industry Disputes

Resolution Centre Ltd (FIDReC), Hong Leong Finance Limited

• Fox International Channels• GE Capital Services Pte Ltd• GE Healthcare• Google Asia Pacific Pte Ltd• Hewlett Packard Singapore Pte Ltd• Keppel Fels Limited• LexisNexis Singapore• McDonald’s Restaurants Pte Ltd• Monsanto Singapore Co (Pte) Ltd• NTUC Income Insurance

Cooperative Limited• Paypal SG• Pavilion Capital• Pontiac Land Group• Saxo Capital Markets Pte Ltd• Siemens Pte Ltd• Singapore Petroleum Company• SingPost• Starwood Hotels and Resorts• Symantec Asia Pacific Pte Ltd• Tellabs Asia Pacific Pte Ltd• Temasek (Pte) Ltd• Tiger Airways Singapore Pte Ltd• Vopak Asia Pte Ltd• YCH Group

Banks• ABN Amro Singapore• Barclays Capital Services Ltd• BSI Bank Limited Singapore• Credit Suisse• HSBC Singapore• LGT Bank (Singapore) Ltd• Societe Generale• Standard Chartered Bank• UBS AG• United Overseas Bank Limited

Local Law Firms• Advocatus Law LLP• Aequitas Law LLP• Allen & Gledhill LLP• Amarick Gill LLC• Amica Law LLC• Ang & Partners• Arul Chew & Partners• Beacon Law Corporation• Bernard & Rada Law Corporation• Bih Li & Lee

• Bird & Bird ATMD• Braddell Brothers LLP• Characterist LLC• Chia Wong LLP• Chong Chia & Lim LLC• Christopher Bridges Advocates &

Solicitors• Clifford Law LLP• Colin Ng & Partners LLP• David Lim & Partners• Donaldson & Burkinshaw• Drew & Napier LLC• East Asia Law Corporation• Eldan Law LLP• Engelin Teh and Partners• Fortis Law Corporation• Gateway Law Corporation• Global Law Alliance LLC• Goodwins Law Corporation• Gurbani & Co• Haridass Ho and Partners• Harry Elias Partnership• Hill Dickinson LLP• Ignatius J & Associates • Infinitus Law Corporation• JLIM Law Corporation F.K.A JLIM &

Chew Law Corporation• Joo Toon LLC• Joseph Tan Jude Benny LLP• Joyce A. Tan & Partners• Kalco Law LLC• Kelvin Chia Partnership• Keystone Law Corporation• KSCGP Juris LLP F.K.A Navin & Co

LLP• Lawhub LLC• Lee & Lee• Lee Chai & Boon• Legal Clinic LLC• Legal Solutions LLC• L F Violet Netto • Lexcompass LLC• Michael Hwang Chambers• Michael Khoo & Partners• Mirandah Law LLP• MG/Chambers LLC F.K.A Mark Goh

& Co• Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC• Nicholas & Tan Partnership LLP• NLC Law Asia LLP• Oliver Quek & Associates • Oon & Bazul LLP• Optimus Chambers LLC• Peter Low LLC• Pinnacle Law LLC• Prestige Legal LLP• Providence Law Asia LLC• Q.E.D. Law Corporation• Quahe Woo & Palmer LLC• Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP• Rajan Chettiar & Co• Ramdas & Wong Singapore• RHTLaw Taylor Wessing LLP• Robert Wang & Woo LLC• Rodyk & Davidson LLP• Samuel Seow Law Corporation• Shook Lin & Bok LLP

• Straits Law Practice LLC• Tan Andrea Seah & Partners • Tan Kok Quan Partnership• Tan Rajah & Cheah (TRC)• Thiru & Co. • Tito Isaac & Co. LLP• TJ Cheng Law Corporation• TSMP Law Corporation• Wee Swee Teow & Co• Wee Tay & Lim• WongPartnership LLP• Wong Tan & Molly Lim LLC• Yeo-Leong & Peh LLC

Joint-Law Venture Firms• Baker & McKenzie.Wong & Leow• Clyde & Co Clasis Singapore

Pte Ltd• Dacheng Wong Alliance LLP• Duane Morris & Selvam LLP• Watson Farley & Williams Asia

Practice LLP• Withers KhattarWong

Qualifying Foreign Law Practices / Foreign Law Practices Based in Singapore• Allen & Overy LLP• AV & P Legal, Solicitors• Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP• Bryan Cave LLP• Clifford Chance LLP• Conyers Dill & Pearman Pte Ltd• Cotty Vivant Marchisio & Lauzeral

(Singapore) Pte Ltd• DLA Piper Singapore Pte Ltd• Herbert Smith Freehills LLP• Holman Fenwick Willan Singapore

Pte Ltd• Linklaters Singapore Pte Ltd.• Luther LLP• Morrison & Foerster (Singapore)

LLP• Norton Rose Fulbright• O’Melveny & Myers LLP• Squire Sanders (Singapore) LLP• Stephenson Harwood LLP• White & Case Pte Ltd

Overseas Law FirmsBrussels• FratiniVerganoChina• KhattarWong (Shanghai)• Nixon Peabody LLP (Shanghai)• WongPartnership LLP (Shanghai)Hong Kong• Clyde & Co• Denis Chang’s Chambers• Des Voeux Chambers• Norton Rose LLP• Plowman Chambers• Temple Chambers• The High Court of Hong Kong

India• AZB & Partners (Mumbai)• Bharucha & Partners (Mumbai)• Luthra & Luthra Law Offices

(Mumbai and Delhi)• Surana & Surana International

AttorneysMalaysia• Raslan Loong (Kuala Lumpur)Middle East• WongPartnership LLPUnited Kingdom• Fasken Martineau LLP• Howard Kennedy FSIUnited States• Alston & Bird LLP (New York City)• Duane Morris LLP (New York City)• Epstein Becker Green

(New York City)• Pollack, Pollack, Isaac & DeCicco

LLP (New York City)• Schwartz LLC (New York City)

Government• A*STAR• Attorney-General’s Chambers• Civil Aviation Authority of Singapore• Competition Commission of

Singapore• Inland Revenue Authority of

Singapore (IRAS)• Insolvency & Public Trustee’s Office• Intellectual Property Office of

Singapore (IPOS)• IP Academy• Legal Aid Bureau Internship

Programme• Ministry of Law Internship

Programme• National Environment Agency (NEA) • National Research Foundation• Singapore Academy of Law

Litigation Internship Programme• Singapore Land Authority,

Legal Department• Singapore Legal Service• Sport Singapore• Spring Singapore• The State Courts of Singapore• The Supreme Court of Singapore

Internship Programme• The Law Society of Singapore

NGOs• Commonwealth Human Rights

Initiative (Delhi, India)

Others• Senior Counsel Forum• Hague Conference on Private

International Law• International Institute for Conflict

Prevention & Resolution (CPR Institute)

• United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda


N AT I O N A L A N D I N T E R N AT I O N A L C O M P E T I T I O N S

As part of our commitment to holistic education, we currently host the Howard Hunter Moots in collaboration with the legal community, with the promise of a wider array of competitions to cater to our diverse student community. Our students also participate actively in national and international competitions and have consistently done us proud in these competitions. In local competitions, we have won 18 of the 30 competitions that were open to NUS and SMU since 2011. In international moot competitions, we have won seven national rounds, 14 championship finals, 14 1st runners-up titles, and more than 70 Best Oralist and Best Memorial prizes to date.

We made our debut in international moot competitions in 2009, less than two years after admitting our first cohort, and emerged 1st runners-up at the 4th edition of the LawAsia Moot. The following year, before graduating a single student, our students tasted success in not one but two international mooting competitions – the 3rd edition of the Monroe E Price Moot and the 12th edition of the Asia Cup Moot. Our students were also placed 1st, 5th and 7th in an international online negotiation competition hosted by Smart Settle in the same year.

In 2012, our Willem C Vis Moot team set a tournament record by winning 6 Honourable Mention awards for written and oral submissions. In 2013, we reached the international final of the Philip C Jessup Moot which saw a record turnout of 632 teams. Although we did not win the final, we set the record of being the fastest and youngest ever law school to reach the international final. In 2014, we again reached the international final of Jessup Moot. In the same year, we also won the Asia Cup and LawAsia championships as well as the inaugural Choice of Court Convention Moot. 2015 was the best season yet, with our team winning five championships in eight finals, including the Vis East and International Criminal Court moots.

It is unheard of for a young Law School to attain this level of achievements in such a short period of time. We remain fully committed to training and preparing our students for international competitions and believe that greater success lie down the road.


FA C I L I T I E S

Our new SoL building will be a distinctive landmark with state-of-its-art facilities, and will be ready by 2017.

In addition to its strategic proximity and convenient access to the Courts, business partners and prestigious law firms, a key feature of our new building is the Kwa Geok Choo Law Library, named in memory of the late Madam Kwa Geok Choo; wife of the late former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. The Library will be fully equipped with modern technology wired for legal research.

The David Marshall Moot Court as well as the SMU Pro Bono Centre, and other research centres will also be housed within the new building.

The seminar rooms where our classes will be conducted will have access to the campus-wide wireless network and every seat is equipped with power sockets. The tiered and U-shaped configuration is thoughtfully designed to facilitate a seminar-styled delivery.

12 SMU SCHOOL OF LAW

School of Law 60 Stamford Road #04-11Singapore 178900www.law.smu.edu.sgUndergraduate Enquiries: [email protected]

Printed in February 2016

smu school of law brochure

Documents