Allen & Gledhill
Singapore's #2 ranked full-service law firm, part of the Big Four, founded 1902.
On the record
Checkpoint: Next Straits Times-Statista Singapore Best Law Firms survey and Chambers/Legal 500 ranking refresh
The call
Allen & Gledhill sits second in Singapore's ranked legal market, shielded by licensing rules that keep both foreign firms and AI tools out of core legal work.
Allen & Gledhill is a law firm that handles legal work for clients in Singapore and the region. Only lawyers licensed in Singapore can sign legal opinions or represent clients in court, which means global competitors and AI software cannot take over that work, no matter how smart they are. The main threat is not replacement, but squeezing: AI tools will make lawyers faster at routine tasks like reading contracts, so the firm may need fewer junior lawyers and promote fewer to partner, which could make it harder for young lawyers to build a profitable career, even if the firm itself stays strong.
Why
01
AI pressure: Generative AI tools like Harvey and internal systems such as A&G's own A&GEL. AI speeds up document review and citation checks, but only Singapore-qualified lawyers can sign opinions or appear in court. Could AI do the core job? Unlikely.
02
Bigger players: Rajah & Tann. Rajah & Tann holds the #1 spot in Singapore's Best Law Firms survey, with A&G at #2, both competing for the same top-tier mandates. Could a giant copy it? No, they are blocked.
03
What protects it. Singapore law reserves practice, opinions, and court representation to locally qualified lawyers, blocking foreign firms and AI systems from taking the core work.
What would change this call
A&G's tier standing in the 2027 Chambers and Legal 500 Singapore rankings refresh. Whether A&G holds, gains, or loses Band 1/Tier 1 status versus Rajah & Tann and WongPartnership.
Result of the Straits Times-Statista Best Law Firms survey next cycle (A&G vs Rajah & Tann rank order). Whether Rajah & Tann extends its #1 lead or A&G closes the gap.
Any Singapore government move to ease foreign law-firm rights to practice Singapore law. Would test the regulatory moat that currently blocks global firms from competing directly.
Result of the Straits Times-Statista Best Law Firms survey next cycle (A&G vs Rajah & Tann rank order). Whether Rajah & Tann extends its #1 lead or A&G closes the gap.
Any Singapore government move to ease foreign law-firm rights to practice Singapore law. Would test the regulatory moat that currently blocks global firms from competing directly.
Key numbers
- #2 rank in 2024 Singapore Best Law Firms survey
- 650+ lawyers across Singapore, Myanmar, Vietnam, China
- 124 years in operation since 1902 founding
Named risks
- AI-driven ~16% chargeable-hour reduction could compress associate leverage and partner-track economics.
- Domestic ranking slippage behind Rajah & Tann in annual Best Law Firms and Chambers surveys.
- Singapore deregulating foreign firms' practice of Singapore law would remove the statutory moat.
- Mass partner exodus or Chambers tier drop across two+ practice areas in one cycle.
Rivals, as read in July 2026
| Rival | Direction | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Rajah & Tann | gaining on | Ranked #1 in Best Law Firms survey 4th straight year, 1,000+ fee earners vs A&G's 650+, as of 2025-10-29 |
| Drew & Napier | gaining on | Described as 'resurgent,' moved up to overall #3 in 2024 Best Law Firms survey, published 2025-10-29 |
| WongPartnership | contesting | Fellow Big Four peer strong in banking finance and dispute resolution, per Chambers 2026 rankings |
| Ashurst and Gilbert + Tobin | gaining on | Named frontier-lab Harvey AI partnerships in June 2024 and February 2025, ahead of A&G's October 2025 in-house tool launch |
Questions people ask
- Is Allen & Gledhill profitable?
- As a private LLP, Allen & Gledhill does not disclose audited financials, but it shows strong deal flow, advising on Singlife's S$550 million MUFG financing facility in February 2026 and holding Band 1 Chambers rankings across most Singapore practice areas in 2026.
- Could AI replace Allen & Gledhill?
- No. Only Singapore-qualified lawyers can sign legal opinions or represent clients in court, a statutory monopoly AI cannot cross. A&G instead deploys its own generative-AI tool, A&GEL, launched October 2025, to automate document review and citation-checking, not replace lawyers.
- Who is Allen & Gledhill's biggest competitor?
- Rajah & Tann is A&G's closest domestic rival, ranked #1 in the Straits Times-Statista Singapore's Best Law Firms survey for a fourth consecutive year as of October 2025, versus A&G's #2 spot, and it has a larger regional network of 1,000+ fee earners.
- Who owns Allen & Gledhill?
- Allen & Gledhill is a private limited liability partnership owned by its equity partners, not publicly traded or backed by outside investors. Christina Ong serves as Chairman & Senior Partner and Jerry Koh as Managing Partner as of 2026.
- How is Allen & Gledhill using AI internally?
- In October 2025 A&G launched A&GEL, a secure generative-AI knowledge-management system built with Pand.AI and supported by Singapore's IMDA GenAI x Digital Leaders initiative, which the firm says summarizes up to 100-page documents in minutes and flags risky clauses.
- How big is Allen & Gledhill compared to other Singapore firms?
- Allen & Gledhill's A&G Asia network counts over 650 lawyers as of May 2026 across Singapore, Myanmar, Vietnam and China plus associate firms in Malaysia and Indonesia, smaller than Rajah & Tann's 1,000+ fee earners but ranked #2 overall in Singapore in 2024.
Timeline
- 2026-07-29Published Financial Services Bulletin July 2026 covering regulatory developments
- 2026-05-15Won FT Innovative Lawyers APAC and Legal 500 SE Asia 'Innovative Law Firm' awards
- 2026-03-05Industry report cited 69% of legal professionals personally using GenAI
- 2026-02-25Advised Singlife on S$550 million bilateral financing facility with MUFG Bank
- 2026-01-13PwC Law Firm Survey cited projecting ~16% chargeable-hour reduction from AI
- 2025-10-29Ranked #2 in Straits Times-Statista Singapore's Best Law Firms 2024 survey
- 2025-10-07Launched A&GEL generative-AI knowledge-management tool with Pand.AI
- 2025-08-04University of Melbourne snapshot report benchmarked law firm Gen AI adoption
- 2025-02Rival Gilbert + Tobin rolled out Harvey AI across 650 lawyers
- 2024-06Rival Ashurst partnered with Harvey AI on frontier-lab legal AI
Revision history
30 July 2026
First assessed. Hard to displace. The text above is fixed as of this date and is not edited afterwards.
In the same band
Sources
- Small firm Adi Law in Best 100 list as Rajah & Tann leads again (2025-10-29)
- Allen & Gledhill LLP, Asia-Pacific 2026
- Allen & Gledhill (2026-05-15)
- Allen & Gledhill LLP, Global 2026
- Allen & Gledhill
- Products, Competitors, Financials, Employees, Headquarters Locations (2026-02-25)
- Allen & Gledhill Company Profile: Service Breakdown & Team
- Benchmarking Singapore's best law firms (2020-11-16)
- Automating legal grunt work: How Allen & Gledhill cuts citation errors, speeds up analysis with secure Gen AI (2025-10-07)
- Allen & Gledhill Company Profile
- Rajah & Tann
- AI and the law: the time to wait and see is over (2026-01-13)