Law firm, Bedell Cristin has strengthened its presence and commitment to Singapore and the wider South East Asia region with a move to new premises.
The Jersey headquartered firm, with offices also in the BVI, Cayman Islands, Guernsey and London, has re-located to a more expansive office space in an historic conservation shop house in Stanley Street, a move designed to support their growing South East Asian business from their base in Singapore.
It is a further step in their expansion plans which follows the summer time recruitment of Joanne Verbiesen, an experienced senior private client and offshore litigation lawyer, as a partner at the firm.
The office move also coincides with the announcement that the firm has been included in the second edition of The Straits Times’ ‘Singapore’s Best Law Firms 2022’ in the offshore category, further recognition for the firm as it develops its presence in the region.
The Straits Times survey was conducted with international market researcher Statista to identify Singapore’s best law firms in different areas of legal practice. The results are based on more than 10,000 recommendations from over 4,000 lawyers, clients and colleagues. This latest award from The Straits Times follows on the firm’s inclusion in the ‘Offshore Law Firm of the Year’ shortlist in the prestigious Asian Legal Business SE Asia Awards – for the fourth year running.
Specialising in the provision of BVI, Cayman Islands, Guernsey and Jersey law, Bedell Cristin is an independent law firm which first established an office in Singapore in 2012. Locally, the firm supports the Singapore legal industry with offshore legal advice that spans a wide range of banking, corporate finance, dispute resolution, funds, insolvency, private client, regulatory, and restructuring work in the Asian time zone.
The team say that have a very strong understanding of the unique culture of South East Asia and significant regional and international experience, with backgrounds in both law and commerce.
Joanne has substantial offshore experience working for top-tier firms in the Cayman Islands and Hong Kong and was most recently a Senior Legal Counsel for HSBC. She commented: “We have positioned ourselves to provide a full suite of legal services for clients requiring offshore wealth planning, philanthropic, private equity, family office, trust or probate services directly from our office in Singapore. The focus is on securing commercial, cost-effective outcomes for our clients in their time zone.”
She is working alongside Kristian Wilson, a Bedell Cristin partner and experienced commercial lawyer who worked at leading law firms in London and Paris and practised offshore law in Jersey and the BVI before moving to Singapore with Bedell Cristin. He commented: “With Singapore looking to strengthen its position as a global family office hub, our on the ground expertise gives us the perfect platform to contribute to the sector here. A number of our clients in the corporate and commercial sector are family offices who come to us to assist with their offshore investment structures.”
The firm plans to use the new spacious office accommodation for increasing collaboration and the sharing of knowledge through events.
Tim Pearce, Global Managing Partner, Bedell Cristin, added: “Our recognition in the list of top offshore law firms in Singapore firmly positions us as a leading offshore legal practice in the region at the same time as we strengthen our footprint in Singapore. It is our intention over time to look to recruit more locally based lawyers with an international focus as we build our business in the region. The move is part of our international growth strategy where we focus on providing comprehensive offshore legal services from an experienced, highly skilled partner led team across our key markets.”
The new address details are: 98 Stanley St., Singapore 068728.
Main image shows Joanne Verbiesen (left) and Kristian Wilson (right).
